The organization Amnesty International (AI) stated, in the publication of its annual report, that the “policy of repression” applied by the Nicolás Maduro regime continued in Venezuela, as well as new cases of extrajudicial executions, excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, torture and other cruel treatment.
“Human rights defenders, journalists and activists were subjected to intimidation, harassment, assault and detention,” AI said in its report.
The organization recalled that, in January of last year, 14 men died during a security operation in the La Vega sector, west of Caracas, in circumstances that indicated “that they could have been victims of extrajudicial execution.”
“According to the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, police forces had killed more than 200 people by March. The Mission stated that it would investigate the circumstances of the killings and the involvement of FAES (Special Action Forces),” he said.
He also added that several security operations were carried out in the capital of the Caribbean country against criminal gangs, during which military and police forces made “unnecessary and illegal use of force”.
According to Amnesty International, criminal procedures and tribunals were used “improperly” to silence dissent.
“The use of military jurisdiction to prosecute civilians was common, as was the use of special courts against 'terrorism',” he stressed.
He also indicated that, under the pretext of COVID-19 restrictions, “the authorities prohibited detainees from receiving visits from family members and lawyers, leaving many of them incommunicado and without sufficient time to prepare their defence.”
Amnesty International argued that efforts to demand “truth, justice and reparation” through international mechanisms, in the face of the “lack of effective remedies at the national level”, continued to be frustrated by authorities' attempts to avoid “international scrutiny.”
On the other hand, the organization stated that, since 2021, “the humanitarian emergency has worsened” and “violations of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights have persisted, with an increasingly weakened health system and scarcity of water, fuel, food and electricity.”
He cited the National Survey of Living Conditions (Encovi), according to which 94.5% of the population lived in poverty and 76.6% in extreme poverty, at least until last year.
The Venezuelan regime ignores the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the supervision of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
While the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) retains the mandate of technical cooperation with senior executive officials, invitations to visit the country remain outstanding.
(With information from EFE)
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