The regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela announced this Thursday its decision to suspend the operations of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and ordered its 13 officials to leave the country within 72 hours.
The chancellor, Yván Gil, indicated that in addition, “a comprehensive review of the terms of technical cooperation described in the letter of understanding” signed in 2019 with that office was ordered, and its officials were given a deadline to leave the country “until they
rectify publicly before the international community
its colonialist, abusive and violating attitude of the United Nations Charter.”
He also said that they have “the will to continue cooperating with international mechanisms for the protection of human rights, always on the basis of genuine dialogue and in strict adherence to the principles of objectivity, non-selectivity, impartiality, respect for sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.”
The suspension occurs amid complaints about human rights violations following the arrest of lawyer and activist Rocío San Miguel, detained after being linked to an alleged plot to attack Maduro's life.
Technical Advisory Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday, February 15, 2024. Associated Press
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, based in Geneva, Switzerland, said the agency regretted the decision and is evaluating next steps.
“We continue to talk with the authorities and other actors,” Shamdasani said.
“Our guiding principles have been and will continue to be the promotion and
protection of the human rights of Venezuelans
.”
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On Tuesday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner published on the social network
Venezuelan lawyer Rocío San Miguel speaks during a conference in Caracas, Venezuela, on September 14, 2011.Associated Press
Hours before the Venezuelan Foreign Minister's statements, the commissioner's office also published on the social network has been confirmed and four relatives have been released on parole.”
He insisted that “the guarantees of due process, including the right to defense, must be respected.”
The day before, the Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab,
rejected complaints about alleged violations of due process
and what many consider to be the forced disappearance of the activist.
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Human rights organizations, her lawyers and relatives reported that since her arrest last Friday — at an airport in the capital when she was preparing to travel to Miami with her daughter — San Miguel has not had access to her defense team and has remained incommunicado. .
Her arrest generated condemnations inside and outside the South American country.
The 57-year-old lawyer – president of the Citizen Control organization, specialized in the defense of rights, security and the Armed Forces – is accused of being linked to a plot to assassinate Maduro and other officials and attack military units.
Saab
denied that it was a forced disappearance
and maintained that an arrest warrant had been issued against the activist since January.
He added that the Second Anti-Terrorism Court of Caracas established the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) as the place of detention in San Miguel, but did not specify which of its headquarters.
A woman calls for the release of lawyer Rocío San Miguel, outside the office of the UN Development Program in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, February 14, 2024. Associated Press
Without directly mentioning the case of San Miguel, the chancellor stated that the decision was made “due to the improper role that this institution has developed, which, far from showing it as an impartial entity, has led it to become the private law firm of the coup groups. and terrorists who constantly conspire against the country."
Gil accused the Office of the High Commissioner of maintaining a “clearly biased and partial position, constantly seeking to generate impunity for people involved in various assassination attempts, coups d'état, conspiracies and other serious attacks against the sovereignty and Constitution” of Venezuela. .
At the end of his visit to Venezuela in January of last year, the high commissioner, Volker Türk, expressed his concern at having found
a deeply divided country where human rights violations
such as extrajudicial homicides, among others, persisted.
Furthermore, he urged the authorities to invigorate necessary judicial reforms and take definitive steps in the prevention of torture.
Türk, however, then stated that he was encouraged by what he described as the Maduro regime's willingness to investigate the complaints and renew the cooperation and technical assistance agreement.
Gil assured journalists that the president agreed to cooperate with the high commissioner in 2019 to establish the local technical advisory office in Caracas, to show the world "Venezuela's progress in human rights."
The agreement since then allowed a continuous presence in the country of a UN team that currently numbered 13 officials.
With information from
The Associated Press