Security forces in Venezuela have carried out hundreds of unjustified killings without any apparent consequences, the United Nations has said in a new report, drawing a rejection from government officials in Caracas..

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that Venezuelan officers accused of questionable killings appear to be evading any charges.

It called on the government to bring perpetrators to justice and said it was sending its report to the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation in February.

"The rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in the report. "The impunity must end."

The government of President Nicolas Maduro rejected the report as "grotesque media farce", which omits information officials in Caracas provided to investigators.

The findings are part of an international push against the country led by officials in the United States, the ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

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"Venezuela reiterates its unrelenting commitment to human rights set out in Venezuela's Constitution and international treaties," the statement added.

The UN report cited "credible, shocking" accounts of extrajudicial killings of young men during crime-fighting operations in poor neighbourhoods conducted without arrest warrants. It said security forces would tamper with the scene so that there appeared to have been an exchange of fire.

The report also said that between 2015 and 2017, some 357 officers were placed under investigation stemming from 505 killings during supposed neighbourhood raids.

But Venezuela's attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who was critical of Maduro, was replaced last August, and no more information about the prosecutions became public.

#Venezuela: "Given that the State appears neither able nor willing to prosecute serious #HumanRights violations, there is a strong case to be made for deeper involvement by the #ICC" – UN Human Rights Chief Zeid. Read: https://t.co/omAzVKLfg8 pic.twitter.com/hkHJfRd2We — UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) June 22, 2018

Critics say Maduro has used increasingly authoritarian tactics as the OPEC nation's economy has spiralled deeper into recession and hyperinflation, increasing discontent and prompting hundreds of thousands to emigrate in the past year.

About 125 people died in anti-government protests last year.

Security forces were allegedly responsible for killing at least 46 of them, UN rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a news briefing, adding: "Evidence has reportedly disappeared from case files."

Al-Hussein called on the UN Human Rights Council on Monday to set up an international commission of inquiry into alleged violations in Venezuela - one of its 47 member states.

"The repression is still there; it's more targeted," Tamara Taraciuk, senior researcher for the United States at Human Rights Watch, a US-based rights group, told Al Jazeera

"We've seen increasing participation of intelligence services that go and participate in the arrests - and in the abuses against detainees, including cases of torture," added Taraciuk.

Maduro has cast the release of dozens of opposition members as a peace gesture following his controversial re-election to a new six-year term last month, which was condemned by most Western nations as an undemocratic farce.

His government denies the detainees are political prisoners.

Venezuela is suffering from an economic collapse that includes chronic shortages of food and medicine and huge inflation numbers.

Maduro blames an "economic war" directed by the opposition and the US - which has imposed new sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.</s>The United Nations office for human rights released a report Friday severely condemning serious human rights abuses and an absence of the rule of law in Venezuela and said there was a strong case to bring the country before the International Criminal Court.

The scathing analysis from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights accused the authorities in the restive South American nation of failing to bring perpetrators responsible for human rights violations, such as the use of excessive force and the extrajudicial killing of protesters, to justice.</s>Venezuelan security forces have carried out hundreds of arbitrary killings under the guise of fighting crime, the UN’s human rights body has said.

In a report, it cites “shocking” accounts of young men being killed during operations, often in poor districts, over the past three years, BBC reported on Friday.

The UN’s human rights chief said no-one was being held to account, suggesting the rule of law was “virtually absent”.

Venezuela has in the past dismissed human rights allegations as “lies”.

The country is going through a protracted political and economic crisis.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. When socialist President Hugo Chávez was in power, from 1999 until his death in 2013, he used oil money to finance social programmes.

But the opposition says much of the income was lost to mismanagement, patronage, and corruption.

Critics accuse Chavez’s successor, President Nicolas Maduro, of using increasingly authoritarian tactics as the economy collapsed, prompting hundreds of thousands of people to flee abroad.

Last year dozens of protesters were killed in clashes during protests against hyperinflation and food shortages.

Maduro was re-elected in May, in a poll boycotted by the opposition and criticised by the UN and other international bodies.

The UN Human Rights Office alleges that extra-judicial killings were carried out by officers involved with the Operations for the Liberation of the People, ostensibly a crime-reduction initiative.

These officers may have killed more than 500 people since July 2015 as a way to showcase crime-reduction results, it says. They are alleged to have faked evidence to make it look as though the victims died in exchanges of fire.

UN investigators have been denied access to Venezuela. They made their findings from interviews with about 150 witnesses and victims contacted through “internet-based technologies”, the report says.

A number of interview with exiles were also held in Geneva, it adds. Some of the other evidence comes from former Attorney General Luisa Ortega. She was fired by Maduro last year and went into exile.

The report says that under her replacement, investigations into allegations of abuses have virtually stopped.</s>GENEVA (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces suspected of killing hundreds of demonstrators and alleged criminals enjoy immunity from prosecution, indicating that the rule of law is “virtually absent” in the country, the United Nations said on Friday.

In a report, the U.N. human rights office called on the government to bring perpetrators to justice, citing what it said were shocking accounts of extrajudicial killings of young men during crime-fighting operations conducted without arrest warrants in poor neighbourhoods.

Critics say President Nicolas Maduro has resorted to increasingly authoritarian tactics as the OPEC nation’s economy has spiralled deeper into recession and hyperinflation, fuelling discontent and prompting hundreds of thousands to emigrate in the past year.

About 125 people died in anti-government protests last year.

Maduro says the opposition protests were aimed at overthrowing him and accuses the United States of directing an “economic war” against Venezuela.

“The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. “The impunity must end.”

Zeid, addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, called on the 47-member forum to set up a commission of inquiry into alleged violations in Venezuela - one of its member states.

“The time has come for the Council to use its voice to speak out before this tragic downward spiral becomes irreversible,” Leila Swan of Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Friday.

The unpopular Maduro has cast the release of dozens of opposition members as a peace gesture following his re-election to a new six-year term last month, which was condemned by most Western nations as an undemocratic farce. His government denies the detainees are political prisoners.

Venezuela is suffering from an economic collapse that includes chronic shortages of food and medicine and annualised inflation around 25,000 percent. Maduro blames an “economic war” directed by the opposition and the United States - which has imposed new sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry.

Under the previous attorney-general - Luisa Ortega Diaz, who fled the country last year - 357 security officers were believed to be under investigation for crime-related killings, but there has been no public information since then, the U.N. report said.

A key obstacle was that the Bureau for scientific, criminal and forensic investigations that is in charge of the inquiries is also “allegedly responsible for most of the killings,” it said.</s>GENEVA, (Reuters) – Venezuelan security forces suspected of killing hundreds of demonstrators and alleged criminals enjoy immunity from prosecution, indicating that the rule of law is “virtually absent” in the country, the United Nations said yesterday.

The U.N. human rights office called on the government to bring perpetrators to justice and said it was sending its report to the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation in February.

The U.N. report cited “credible, shocking” accounts of extrajudicial killings of young men during crime-fighting operations in poor neighbourhoods conducted without arrest warrants. Security forces would tamper with the scene so that there appeared to have been an exchange of fire, it said.

There was no immediate response from the government of President Nicolas Maduro to the report.

Critics say Maduro has used increasingly authoritarian tactics as the OPEC nation’s economy has spiralled deeper into recession and hyperinflation, fuelling discontent and prompting hundreds of thousands to emigrate in the past year.

About 125 people died in anti-government protests last year.

Security forces were allegedly responsible for killing at least 46 of them, U.N. rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a news briefing, adding: “Evidence has reportedly disappeared from case files.”

Maduro says the opposition protests were aimed at overthrowing him and accuses the United States of directing an “economic war” against Venezuela.

“The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela,” said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. “The impunity must end.”

Zeid called on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday to set up an international commission of inquiry into alleged violations in Venezuela — one of its 47 member states.

“The time has come for the Council to use its voice to speak out before this tragic downward spiral becomes irreversible,” Leila Swan of Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Friday.

The unpopular Maduro has cast the release of dozens of opposition members as a peace gesture following his re-election to a new six-year term last month, which was condemned by most Western nations as an undemocratic farce. His government denies the detainees are political prisoners.

Venezuela is suffering from an economic collapse that includes chronic shortages of food and medicine and annualised inflation around 25,000 percent. Maduro blames an “economic war” directed by the opposition and the United States — which has imposed new sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry.

Under previous attorney-general Luisa Ortega Diaz, who fled Venezuela last year, 357 security officers were believed to be under investigation for crime-related killings, but there has been no public information since then, the report said.</s>Venezuelan security forces suspected of killing hundreds of demonstrators and alleged criminals enjoy immunity from prosecution, indicating that the rule of law is “virtually absent” in the country, the United Nations said on Friday.

In a report, the U.N. human rights office called on the government to bring perpetrators to justice, citing what it said were shocking accounts of extrajudicial killings of young men during crime-fighting operations conducted without arrest warrants in poor neighborhoods.

Critics say President Nicolas Maduro has resorted to increasingly authoritarian tactics as the OPEC nation’s economy has spiraled deeper into recession and hyperinflation, fuelling discontent and prompting hundreds of thousands to emigrate in the past year.</s>GENEVA (22 June 2018) – A UN Human Rights report published on Friday spotlights the failure of Venezuelan authorities to hold accountable perpetrators of serious human rights violations that include killings, the use of excessive force against demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, ill-treatment and torture. The report also lays bare the grave impact of the economic and social crisis in the country on the rights to food and health.

The report provides an update on several key human rights violations documented in the August 2017 UN Human Rights Office report on Venezuela. While the previous report focused on the excessive use of force and alleged extrajudicial killings in the context of demonstrations, this new report also documents credible, shocking accounts of extrajudicial killings in the course of purported crime-fighting operations carried out since 2015, known as the Operations for the Liberation of the People (OLPs). From July 2015 to March 2017, the then-Attorney-General’s Office had recorded the killing of 505 people by security forces during such operations. Witness accounts suggest a pattern: raids in poor neighbourhoods conducted to arrest “criminals” without a judicial warrant; the killing of young men who fit the profile, in some cases in their homes; and finally security forces tampering with the scene so that the killings would appear to have occurred in an exchange of fire.

“Victims’ accounts raise questions as to whether OLPs were really meant to dismember criminal groups,” the report states. “A number of elements seem to indicate they were an instrument for the Government to showcase alleged results in crime reduction.”

Under the previous Attorney-General, who was replaced in August 2017, 357 security officers were reportedly under investigation in relation to the killings. But since then, there has been no information publicly available about the cases, with a key obstacle being that the Bureau for Scientific, Criminal, and Forensic Investigations (CICPC) that is in charge of the investigations, is also allegedly responsible for most of the killings.

The OLPs were in January 2017 replaced with another operation, called the Operations for the Humanitarian Liberation of the People, which is much less transparent and difficult to track than the OLPs, but civil society accounts suggest that the killings have continued. The report also documents the killing of 39 detainees in the state of Amazonas in 2017 and of seven members of an alleged armed group in Caracas in 2018, where security forces allegedly used excessive force.

Impunity also appears to be pervasive in favour of security officers allegedly responsible for the killing of at least 46 people during protestors last year. The former Attorney-General had issued at least 54 arrest warrants but so far, the UN Human Rights Office is aware of only one case in which a formal trial has started. Evidence has reportedly disappeared from case files, and members of the Attorney-General’s office in charge of investigating the cases were replaced when the new Attorney-General took office in August last year. The Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has also reportedly blocked investigations.

“State authorities have failed to promptly and effectively investigate the excessive use of force and the killings of protestors by security forces,” the report states, citing testimony from several relatives of victims stating that “they had lost trust in the justice system and did not expect the Government to ensure accountability.”

According to information received, security forces suspected of extrajudicial killings of demonstrators have in some cases been released despite judicial detention orders. All of the victims’ relatives interviewed said they did not have faith in the Government’s Commission on Truth, Justice, Peace and Public Tranquility.

“The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said. “For years now, institutional checks and balances and the democratic space in Venezuela have been chiseled away, leaving little room to hold the State to account. The impunity must end.”

As the Venezuelan Government has not granted the UN Human Rights Office access to the country despite repeated requests, and given the scale and scope of violations, High Commissioner Zeid has recommended that the UN Human Rights Council establish a Commission of Inquiry into the situation in Venezuela.

“Given that the State appears neither able nor willing to prosecute serious human rights violations, there is also a strong case to be made for deeper involvement by the International Criminal Court,” Zeid added.

Several health professionals also described to the UN Human Rights Office the acute deterioration of healthcare facilities.

Systemic shortages of key supplies and medicine; doctors leaving the country, unable to make ends meet on meagre salaries given hyperinflation; and the lack of transparency by the Government, which on occasion has reportedly responded to criticism by threatening or even detaining healthcare workers and journalists who are critical of the healthcare situation, all appear to be contributing to the dramatic healthcare crisis in the country.

Similarly, the Government has refused to acknowledge the scale of the food crisis in the country, failing to comply with its international obligations to put every possible effort into fulfilling the rights to health and food, the report notes. Available data indicates a rapid increase in child malnutrition.

“Families are having to search for food in rubbish bins. By some measures, 87 per cent of the population of Venezuela is affected by poverty, with extreme poverty at 61.2 per cent and 1.5 million people having fled the country since 2014,” High Commissioner Zeid said. “The human rights situation of the people of Venezuela is dismal. When a box of hypertension pills costs more than the monthly minimum wage and baby milk formula more than two months’ salary, but protesting against such an impossible situation can land you in jail, the extreme injustice of it all is stark.”

“I urge the Government and the international community to take immediate action to prevent further deterioration.”

Civil society organizations working on human rights issues also continue to face severe legal restrictions, smear campaigns, threats and harassment, as well as accusations of terrorism, treason and other crimes. Arbitrary and unlawful detentions, while at a lower rate than the numbers during the mass protests last year, continued in a more targeted fashion. In one case, a group of young friends exchanging messages on social media about joining a protest were arrested and deprived of any contact with their families or lawyers for more than four months. They have recently been conditionally released.

The UN Human Rights Office understands that at least 280 individuals who had been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for their political opinions, for exercising their human rights, or because they were perceived as a threat to the Government, remain in detention in dreadful conditions.* According to civil society estimates, more than 7,000 others were conditionally released, but live in fear of re-arrest or await the start of trial proceedings against them. Systematic violations of due process rights continued to occur. The report also documents some 90 cases of detainees subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment since 2014, which in many cases could constitute torture. It details the degrading ill-treatment which some family members are subjected to when they visit detainees.

The report was compiled following some 150 interviews and meetings with Venezuelans, including with at least 78 victims or witnesses, as well as the review of information from a wide range of sources. The findings of the report indicate the continued existence of a policy to repress dissent.
• Figure updated beyond the time frame covered by the report. Read the full report: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/VE/VenezuelaReport2018_EN.pdf

B-roll video including the High Commissioner speaking available on demand.

For more information and media requests, please contact: Rupert Colville - + 41 22 917 9767 7 rcolville@ohchr.org or Ravina Shamdasani + 41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org or Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9466 / ethrossell@ohchr.org</s>Venezuelan security forces have carried out hundreds of arbitrary killings under the guise of fighting crime, the UN's human rights body says. In the report it cites “shocking”accounts of young men being killed during operations, often in poor districts, over the past three years.

The UN's human rights chief said no-one was being held to account, suggesting the rule of law was virtually absent. Venezuela has in the past dismissed human rights allegations as lies. But the country is going through a protracted political and economic crisis.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves. When populist President Hugo Chávez was in power, from 1999 until his death in 2013, he used oil money to finance social programs. But the opposition says much of the income was lost to mismanagement, patronage, and corruption.

Critics accuse Mr Chavez's successor, President Nicolás Maduro, of using increasingly authoritarian tactics as the economy collapsed, prompting hundreds of thousands of people to flee abroad.

 Last year dozens of protesters were killed in clashes during protests against hyperinflation and food shortages. Mr Maduro was re-elected in May, in a poll boycotted by the opposition and criticised by the UN and other international bodies.

The UN Human Rights Office alleges that extra-judicial killings were carried out by officers involved with the Operations for the Liberation of the People, ostensibly a crime-reduction initiative.

These officers may have killed more than 500 people since July 2015 as a way to showcase crime-reduction results. UN officials were denied access to Venezuela and they made their findings from interviews with about 150 witnesses and victims contacted through internet-based technologies, the report says.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, accused Venezuela of failing to acknowledge the depth of its crisis.

When a box of hypertension pills costs more than the monthly minimum wage and baby milk formula more than two months' salary, but protesting against such an impossible situation can land you in jail, the extreme injustice of it all is stark, he added.

Mr Hussein suggested the International Criminal Court could become involved.</s>The United Nations human rights chief called yesterday for an international investigation into atrocities in Venezuela, blasting the government's chronic refusal to probe security officers over the alleged killings of civilians.

"The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, as his office launched a new report on the crisis-stricken country.

Zeid asked the UN Human Rights Council to set up its highest-level probe - a Commission of Inquiry - for Venezuela and said the International Criminal Court may need to get further involved.

The Hague-based ICC in February opened a preliminary investigation into crimes allegedly committed by the security forces during a wave of protests against President Nicolas Maduro.

The UN rights office, which examined Maduro's crackdown on protesters in a report last year, said its new findings relate mostly to alleged abuses committed during purported anti-crime operations.

The report highlights alleged extra-judicial killings by officers involved in the Operations for the Liberation of the People.

It said those officers, supposedly tasked with fighting crime, may have been responsible for more than 500 killings between July 2015 and March 2017, largely carried out in poor neighbourhoods.</s>Venezuelan security forces killing hundreds, UN says, with rule of law 'virtually absent'

Government security forces in Venezuela are carrying out unjustified killings without any apparent consequences as the rule of law in the country quickly vanishes, according to the United Nations.

A report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Venezuelan officers accused in some 500 questionable killings appeared to be evading any charges.

That is a sign that checks and balances have been chiselled away, leaving state authorities unaccountable, high commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said.

The UN report highlighted a case from early this year in which rebel police officer Oscar Perez and six in his group were shot to death as they tried to surrender.

UN officials say they believe the group was killed on orders from top government officials, in violation of their basic rights.

"The rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," Mr Zeid said in the report.

Venezuela rejected the UN report as a "grotesque media farce", saying it omitted information officials in Caracas provided to investigators.

The findings were part of an international push against Venezuela led by officials in Washington, the ministry said.

"Venezuela reiterates its unrelenting commitment to human rights set out in Venezuela's Constitution and international treaties," officials in Caracas said in a statement.

However, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres "believes that the numbers are truly shocking," deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said later on Friday at UN headquarters.

He said Mr Guterres felt the report "attests to the need for political dialogue and a fully inclusive political solution" to the problems roiling Venezuela.

The report shed light on the death of Mr Perez, who was killed in January when government forces hunted his group down to a mountain hideout outside Caracas.

He had been Venezuela's most-wanted fugitive after attacking government buildings in a stolen police helicopter.

The report said 400 officers armed with assault rifles and an anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher surrounded Mr Perez, who was seen on video calling to surrender.

Police later recovered four rifles, a pistol and two hand grenades from the hideout.

UN officials said their investigation led them to believe that officials who reported directly to socialist President Nicolas Maduro killed the seven rebels in violation of their human rights, and then destroyed evidence.

Venezuela is in the grips of a deepening political and economic crisis marked by food and medicine shortages and soaring inflation that has driven thousands to flee the country in search of a better life.

The country's government has drawn international condemnation since last year, when officials loyal to Mr Maduro formed a constitutional assembly, robbing power from the democratically-elected congress, which is controlled by the opposition.

The UN report looked at cases of excessive government force seen beyond violent street protests and also cites examples of officials threatening or detaining health care workers for shedding light on the lack of medicine and poor conditions.

The report concluded that between 2015 and 2017, some 357 officers were placed under investigation stemming from 505 killings during supposed neighbourhood raids.

But Venezuela's attorney-general, who was critical of Mr Maduro, was replaced last August, and no more information about the prosecutions had been made public, the report said.

It added that evidence appeared to have vanished from case files.

"The state appears neither able nor willing to prosecute serious human rights violations," Mr Zeid said, suggesting the International Criminal Court play a deeper role.

Venezuelan officials did not allow UN officials into the country to compile the report.

Investigators gathered information remotely and included interviews with victims, witnesses, lawyers and doctors.
A report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accuses the Venezuelan government of allowing its security forces to participate in hundreds of extrajudicial killings over the past year.