UN mission concludes that crimes against humanity were committed in Venezuela

The UN International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela presented on Friday a report to the Human Rights Council that claimed that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity occurred in Venezuela."

"There is a situation of impunity that must be addressed," said the president of the Mission, Marta Valiñas. "Shortly after the publication of the second report, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Court," according to a statement from the National Communication Center.

Valiñas added that there is great concern about "human rights violations committed by state security officials" and that "the lack of data" from the regime "continues to be an obstacle."

Valiñas claimed that in recent months there have been some advances in specific cases addressed by the Mission. "The relatives of the victims of human rights violations have the right to participate in the investigations,” she added.

She also mentioned the lack of medical attention for people who are unjustly imprisoned in Venezuela. "There are dozens of people who have been detained for more than three years without trial. In the second half of 2021 there were two deaths in prison related to lack of medical care," she added.

"Today the daily life of Venezuelans continues to be affected. They have endured a decade of political, social, economic, and human rights crisis. The proof of all this are the more than six million who had to leave the country. We will continue to work independently and impartially in the country," she concluded.

The Mission was created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2019 to investigate human rights violations against the regime’s political opponents.

In September 2021, the Mission delivered a report in which it conducted "177 interviews, many of them with actors of the justice system, as well as a survey of former Venezuelan judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.”

The Mission also conducted an "extensive analysis of thousands of pages of court records and other official documents," and of "183 arrests of real or perceived opponents of the government" between 2014 and August 2021, and documented "irregularities that taint all stages of the criminal process."