What just happened?
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela published its first report on 16 September 2020. In this, it recognised the numerous cases of extrajudicial executions, torture, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions et al under the regime of Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela.[1] It also reported that the government of Venezuela was not only silent to the atrocious human rights violations in the country since 2014, but instead oversaw, gave orders and supplied resources to carry on such crimes against humanity.[2]
What does this mean?
As horrific as the report sounds, it is unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg. The situation in Venezuela is a result of systematic control and exploitation of power. The report investigated 223 such cases, of which 16 cases were of police, military or joint operations that resulted in 53 extrajudicial executions.[3] It would not be surprising, albeit extremely heartbreaking, to discover that the target of such degrading treatment were mostly political dissidents, human rights activists and people that took part in mass opposition protests.[4] They were subjected to electric shocks, mutilation, forced nudity, sexual violence, psychological torture and various other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment in the wake of obtaining confessions or as a punishment under false charges.[5] Just when we thought we had left behind such ruthless accounts of incidents reminiscent of autocratic governments and military dictatorships in the 20th century, these accounts are enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Earlier this year, the Venezuelan military under Nicolás Maduro opened fire on a largely Indigenous community, blocking aid and punishing protesters.
The government of the United States of America levied sanctions on the Venezuelan state oil company (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PdVSA), government and central bank to increase economic pressure on the Maduro government surmising that the step would lead to its fall.[6] Conversely, this did nothing but add to the misery of the people of Venezuela who were already badly affected by the actions of its own government.[7] If the mala-fide intention of the Venezuelan government were not evident already, an inference could be drawn from the fact that the UN team was not extended any cooperation from the government to carry on with this report. Instead, the government banned the team from travelling into the country.[8] The research and investigations were done with the aid of modern information technology.[9]
The report presented in the 45th session of UN Human Rights Council is definitely hard-hitting and urges the need to take some concrete actions to end the atrocious situation in Venezuela. Unfortunately, since the UN Human Rights Council does not have the power to issue sanctions, we can only hope that the matter is urgently taken to the UN Security Council to find some substantial solutions to the problem. This would also pave a way for the matter to be taken up by the International Criminal Court[10] to ensure justice to the victims and fair trial for the perpetrators of such heinous crimes against humanity. The dark days are ongoing in Venezuela but hopefully, very soon we shall see a glimpse of light to mark an end to such days. After all, ‘the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn’[11], does it not?
Written by Neha Singh
References:
[1] UNHRC ‘Venezuela: UN report urges accountability for crimes against humanity’ (UN News, 16 September 2020) <https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26247&LangID=E> accessed 19 September 2020
[2] ibid
[3] Franciso Toro, ‘In Venezuela, the Torturers have won’ (The Washington Post, 18 September 2020) < https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/18/venezuela-torturers-have-won/> accessed 19 September 2020
[4] UNHRC (n1)
[5] ‘Venezuela: Hard-hitting UN report back claims of crimes against humanity and identifies possible perpetrators’ (Amnesty International, 16 September 2020) < https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/venezuela-informe-onu-avala-denuncia-crimenes-lesa-humanidad/> accessed 19 September 2020
[6] Congressional Research Service, ‘Venezuela: Overview if UN sanctions’ (In Focus, 20 August 2020) < https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10715.pdf> accessed 20 September 2020
[7] Toro (n3)
[8] Imogen Foulkes, ‘Venezuela: UN investigators accuse authorities of crimes against humanity’ (BBC, 17 September 2020) < https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-54176927> accessed 19 September 2020
[9] ibid
[10] Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) art 13 (b)
[11] Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist (1993)
Disclaimer: This article (and any information accessed through links in this article) is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.