UN News Today 17 September 2024 |

Venezuela: Rights probe points to ‘unprecedented’ repression of critics

Violence used against opponents of the Venezuelan authorities has reached unprecedented levels, a top independent human rights probe alleged on Tuesday, citing arrests, sexual abuse and torture as just some of the methods used by the Government of President Nicolas Maduro to stay in power.

In a new report, the investigators – who were appointed by the Human Rights Council – described how security forces had raided dozens of homes of suspected critics of the Government “just using social media videos as the only evidence to arrest people”.

The rights probe said that more than 2,000 arrests were made after protests that followed the disputed Presidential election on 28 July which returned Mr. Maduro to office for the third time. Here’s Marta Valiñas, Chair of the investigation, speaking in Geneva:

“In the post-election context, we have documented 25 confirmed deaths, most of them young people under 30 years old from popular neighbourhoods. There are two children among them. One of the victims is a member of the Bolivarian National Guard. Of these 25 victims, we have confirmed that 24 died from gunshot wounds. The other was beaten to death.”

The independent rights expert described “an intensification of the State’s repressive machinery”, representing “a continuation of previous patterns” that the independent rights panel had already condemned as likely crimes against humanity.

At least 1,800 people have died in Myanmar jails since coup, says OHCHR

To Myanmar, where at least 1,800 people have died in the country’s jails since the military coup in February 2021, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

In a new report on the crisis in Myanmar, OHCHR said that at least 5,350 civilians have been killed and more than 3.3 million displaced, amid intensifying hostilities between the security forces and armed opposition groups.

With more on the deaths of those held by the authorities, OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell said that arrests have increased since mandatory conscription was introduced in February this year:

“Credible sources indicate that at least 1,853 have died in custody including 88 children and 125 women. Many of these individuals have been verified as dying after being subjected to abusive interrogation, other ill treatment in detention or denial of access to adequate health care.”

Since 1 April 2023, there has been a 50 per cent increase in civilian deaths across Myanmar linked to the fighting, including 547 women and 334 children, compared with the preceding 15 months, according to the UN human rights office report.

It attributed the rising number of civilian deaths to military reprisals including airstrikes, especially in Sagaing region.

Opposition armed groups have also targeted non-combatants, OHCHR said, citing 124 reports of killings in the first half of this year of civil servants and their families who were accused of being military informants.

UN aid teams warn of increasing challenges delivering relief in war-torn Ukraine

UN aid teams in Ukraine have reported mounting challenges which include deadly attacks on frontline staff, amid ongoing conflict across the country.

In an update on the situation in Ukraine, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported 16 incidents where humanitarian workers or facilities were targeted in July and August.

Two aid workers from partner organizations were killed and four more were injured in three separate incidents in Kherson oblast in south Ukraine, OCHA said.

In Pokrovsk town in the Donetsk region, the UN aid office reported that military activity intensified, leading to a sharp drop in the civilian population and increasing risks to humanitarians.

OCHA also described the difficulty of delivering aid to locations near the front line in Donetsk and Kherson oblasts owing to a spike in hostilities and “changes in control” in Pokrovsk district and the danger of operating along the Dnipro river in Kherson.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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