“There is currently a climate of fear in the country. We urge the government to ensure that all steps are taken in accordance with international human rights law. with transparency and that steps are taken to resolve this dispute peacefully,” OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The alert is just the latest of many warnings from the UN, leading independent human rights experts and independent researchers appointed by the Human Rights Council about the violent suppression of dissent in the South American country.
“People are being detained for exercising their right to political participation, their freedom of expression and their freedom of assembly,” Ms Shamdasani said, a day after authorities called for the arrest of Edmundo Gonzalez.
His campaign against President Nicolas Maduro, who was declared the winner of the July elections, proved unsuccessful. Opposition supporters dispute the outcome, claiming that the official electoral authorities did not provide the vote figures to prove the victory.
Polling Result Query
According to news reports, Mr. Gonzalez’s arrest followed the publication by his camp of detailed polling data showing he had easily won the election. He is accused of numerous crimes, including falsifying documents.
Although the UN human rights office does not have a presence in Venezuela, Ms Shamdasani noted that OHCHR has continued to have “contact” and “engagement” with authorities in Caracas amid street protests and online criticism following the election results, which returned Mr Maduro to power.
“We continue to raise our concerns with them; we continue to urge all parties to resolve all election disputes peacefully and There must be a climate in which the human rights of all individuals, regardless of their political affiliation, are fully protected.“, Mrs. Shamdasani insisted.
State sponsored violence
According to the fact-finding mission to Venezuela appointed by the Human Rights Councilthe election protests were met with “fierce repression by the state, as ordered by its highest authorities, creating a climate of widespread fear. The Mission recorded 23 deaths, the vast majority caused by gunfire, between July 28 and August 8 in the context of the protests. In 18 of these cases, the victims were men under the age of 30.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed those concerns last month: noticed that more than 2,400 people have been arrested in Venezuela since July 29, after the presidential elections.
“It is particularly disturbing that so many people are being detained, accused or charged, either for incitement to hatred or under counter-terrorism laws. Criminal law must never be used to unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” the High Commissioner said.