A United Nations report says Venezuelan forces committed killings and torture at the behest of President Nicolas Maduro and his interior and defence ministers,
UN investigators say Venezuelan security forces and allied groups have committed systematic human rights violations including killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity.It found evidence of crimes against humanity and systematic use of tortureReasonable grounds existed to believe that President Nicolas Maduro and his interior and defence ministers ordered or contributed to the crimes documented in the report in order to silence opposition, they said.
"The way SEBIN worked ... was to do intelligence on people beforehand and these people that were targeted — and we have reasonable grounds to believe that the President Maduro did give orders to the director of SEBIN as to who to target," Francisco Cox of the UN fact-finding mission told a news briefing.
"So we have involvement and contribution to the crime by Mr Maduro, either directly through the chain of command and sometimes circumventing the chain of command and giving the direct order." Most unlawful executions by state agents have not been prosecuted in Venezuela, where the rule of law and democratic institutions have broken down, the fact-finding mission found.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
UN says the world is 'exterminating all non-human living beings' by missing 2020 targetsCountries are set to miss all of the targets they set themselves a decade ago to preserve nature and save Earth's vital biodiversity, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Read more »
An asylum seeker 'weeks from death' remains in Australian detention, despite UN letterThe Sydney lawyer for an Eastern European asylum seeker in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre says every day she speaks to her client she fears it will be the last.
Read more »
Venezuela charges US 'spy' carrying a coin allegedly linking him to the CIA with terrorismVenezuela's chief prosecutor announces charges of terrorism and weapons trafficking against an alleged US 'spy' who was detained last week in the South American country.
Read more »
Overhaul of elite special forces being considered ahead of findings from war crimes inquirySweeping changes to Australia's SAS are being considered as elite soldiers brace for the findings of a long-awaited inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Read more »
Man accused of illegally entering WA ran out of fuel on outback track, court hearsA court has heard that a 59-year-old man who allegedly crossed the SA border into WA had his application for a travel exemption refused earlier this year.
Read more »
Trial begins for man accused of raping sleeping woman in her homeA sleeping woman was twice raped inside her Adelaide home and started to suspect the man was not her boyfriend because the sexual encounter was 'just too rough' and he tasted of cigarettes, a District Court jury has heard.
Read more »