Probe ‘violations’ in Venezuela – top UN official

– Venezuelan security forces suspected of killing hundreds of demonstrators and alleged criminals enjoy immunity from prosecution, indicating the rule of law is “virtually absent” in the country, the United Nations said yesterday.

In a report, the UN human rights office called on the government to bring the 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 economy has spiralled deeper into recession, fuelling discontent. About 125 people died in anti-government protests last year.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressing the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, called on it to set up a commission of inquiry into violations in Venezuela.

“The time has come for the Council to speak out before this tragic downward spiral becomes irreversible,” Leila Swan of Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

Under the previous attor- ney-general, who fled the country last year, 357 security officers were under investigation for crime-related killings, but there has been no public information since then, the UN said.

A key obstacle was that the Bureau for Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigations, which is in charge of the inquiries, is also “allegedly responsible for most of the killings”, it said. –