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SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | The Jewish Home
The Week In News F
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Sparkle under the stars.
Venezuela’s Crime Against Humanity
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According to the United Nations, the Venezuelan government has been committing crimes against humanity. The report by a UN-backed fact-finding mission was published last week and investigated 223 cases of alleged extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and torture and reviewed an additional 2,891 instances to corroborate patterns of violations and crimes. In conclusion, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela found that the Venezuelan government, as well as other state agents and groups working with them, had committed “egregious violations.” “The Mission found reasonable grounds to believe that Venezuelan authorities and security forces have since 2014 planned and executed serious human rights violations, some of which – including arbitrary killings and the systematic use of torture – amount to crimes against humanity,” said Marta Valiñas, chairperson of the UN mission. “Far from being isolated acts, these crimes were coordinated and committed pursuant to State policies, with the knowledge or direct support of commanding officers and senior government officials.” The 411-page report is the first published by the UN mission. Commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, it includes 48 in-depth case studies and expands on the extrajudicial executions and politically motivated detentions and torture, as well as protest-related violence. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has repeatedly criti-
cized the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as “biased.” The report singles out two Venezuelan security forces as being responsible for nearly two-thirds of all extrajudicial killings: the Scientific, Criminal and Criminological Investigator Corps (CICPC) and the Special Action Forces (FAES) of the National Bolivarian Police (PNB). Dressed in black uniforms and sometimes wearing Halloween-style masks, FAES special forces generally show up in large numbers in some of Venezuela’s poorest neighborhoods – the barrios – and target young men seemingly at random. According to the UN report, superiors grant FAES officers a “green light to kill.” “High-ranking officials had effective command and control over the perpetrators and knowledge of their actions but failed to prevent or repress the violations,” said Marta Valiñas. “The killings appear part of a policy to eliminate unwanted members of society under the cover of combating crime.” The UN report calls for FAES to be dismantled and for those responsible for its actions to be held accountable. Violence in Venezuela is not restricted to state security forces, especially in recent years as the government began to increasingly rely on armed civilian groups – known as colectivos – to help maintain public order. The report found that authorities failed to intervene when protesters were killed by these groups. “The violations must stop. And impunity must end. Venezuelan authorities must immediately carry out prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into the violations and crimes, bringing perpetrators to account and providing justice for victims,” Valiñas said, calling for other international bodies, like the International Criminal Court, to consider legal action against those responsible for the crimes identified by the UN mission. “Victims must have full redress for the harm they suffered.”
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