Venezuela suspends UN Human Rights office and expels employees

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Yvan Gilannounced this Thursday the Government’s decision to “suspend the activities” of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country, installed in 2019, and ordered its employees to leave within 72 hours.

The announcement follows a statement from the UN entity that expressed “deep concern” for the arrest of Venezuelan activist Rocío San Miguel, critic of the president Nicolás Maduro and accused of “terrorism”.

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“This decision is taken due to the undue role that this institution has played, which, far from showing it as an impartial entity, has led it to become the private law firm of the group of coup plotters and terrorists who permanently conspire against the country. ”Gil said.

The suspension will remain “until they publicly rectify their colonialist, abusive and violative attitude before the international community”added the chancellor.

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Gil highlighted that the government will “a comprehensive review of the terms of technical cooperation described in the Letter of Understanding signed with the aforementioned office, within the next 30 days” and ordered “that the personnel assigned to this office leave the country within the next 72 hours”.

The Technical Advisory Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was installed in Venezuela in 2019, when the former president Michelle Bachelet He held that position.

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Before leaving office, Bachelet said she had seen progress on human rights in Venezuela, but there was still work to be done. “lots to do”.

His successor, Volker Türk, visited Venezuela in January 2023, when it was agreed that the office would continue to function for another two years. During his stay, he encouraged authorities to release all those arbitrarily detained and insisted on measures to end torture.

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The commissioner then met with various sectors of civil society, as well as government authorities, and addressed complaints about extrajudicial executions. He noted that there were restrictions on access to some detention centers in the country.

The main task of the technical office is to “provide support for the effective implementation of the recommendations issued” in the reports that the High Commissioner presents to the Human Rights Council. Since 2019, there have been at least six reports on the situation in Venezuela.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.