GENEVA: The UN human rights chief voiced alarm Monday at widespread rights abuses in Venezuela, warning of possible “crimes against humanity” in the crisis-wracked country.
“My investigation suggests the possibility that crimes against humanity may have been committed,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said at the opening of the 36th session of the Human Rights Council, calling for an international probe.
Venezuela’s crisis has caused food and medicine shortages, deadly unrest and calls for President Nicolas Maduro to quit.
Clashes with security forces at anti-government protests left 125 people dead from April to July.
“There is a very real danger that tensions will further escalate, with the government crushing democratic institutions and critical voices,” Zeid warned.
He said an investigation by his office had noted the widespread use of “criminal proceedings against opposition leaders, recourse to arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force and ill-treatment of detainees, which in some cases amounts to torture.”
Late last month, Zeid echoed international concerns that Venezuela was slipping into dictatorship, cautioning that democracy in the country was “barely alive, if still alive.”
His office has previously criticized Venezuela’s all-powerful constituent assembly and its “truth commission,” which has been tasked with investigating several opposition leaders for treason.
On Monday, Zeid said he supported the concept of a truth commission, but stressed that “the current mechanism is inadequate.”
“I therefore urge that it be reconfigured with the support and involvement of the international community,” he said.
He urged the UN rights council “to establish an international investigation into the human rights violations in Venezuela.”
Zeid also pointed out that Venezuela currently holds one of the 47 rotating seats on the Human Rights Council, and thus has a particular duty to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.”
Without naming Venezuela specifically, he also called on the council to consider “the need to exclude from this body states involved in the most egregious violations of human rights.”
UN warns of possible ‘crimes against humanity’ in Venezuela
UN warns of possible ‘crimes against humanity’ in Venezuela
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver, says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday a temporary authorization allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil
DUBAI: Russia sees a US sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilize global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
“We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilize energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide,” Peskov said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday a temporary authorization which allows countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea, extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorization would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
He said: “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”
However, the move has met with a mixed reaction in European capitals, with many fearing it could aid Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
“I am concerned that we are further filling Putin’s war chest,” German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche added that she saw both sides to the US’ decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, and understood the increasing economic and political strife caused by the oil crisis.
“It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high,” Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions on Russia for any reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 on Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran’s leader called for the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the US and Israel.
With the conflict heading toward its third week and showing no sign of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
