CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government “dramatically intensified” efforts to crush peaceful protest and ramped up its repressive machinery following the country’s presidential election in July, according to a report from a UN fact-finding mission published Tuesday.
Venezuelan authorities acted to dismantle and demobilize the opposition, inhibit the dissemination of independent information and critical opinions, and prevent peaceful protests in a “conscious and deliberate” manner, the report said.
“We are witnessing an intensification of the state’s repressive machinery in response to what it perceives as critical views, opposition or dissent,” said Marta Valinas, chair of the fact-finding mission.
Venezuela’s electoral authorities and top court said President Nicolas Maduro won the elections, without showing all the voting tallies, prompting supporters of opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez to accuse the ruling party of fraud.
The opposition said its own count shows a victory for Gonzalez, who earlier this month requested political asylum in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Some 25 people were killed amid protests following the election while 2,400 were arrested, according to official spokespeople.
The repressive response to the protests marked a new milestone in the deterioration of the rule of law, according to the fact-finding mission.
“The main public authorities abandoned all semblance of independence and openly deferred to the executive,” the report said.
The report noted that the “repression” of the demonstrations led to a climate of fear among Venezuela’s population and formed a policy to silence and discourage the opposition.
Maduro’s government has blamed the opposition for deaths in the protests and called protesters “extremists” and “fascists.”
According to the fact-finding mission, 24 out of the 25 deaths were caused by gunshot wounds, mostly to the neck.
Arrests under operation “knock knock” – so called to refer to authorities rapping on the doors of opponents or dissidents – affected ordinary citizens in poor neighborhoods, the report said.
Allegations of unobserved “forced disappearances” have increased since 2019, as have reports of cruel treatment and torture, it added.
The United Nations Human Rights Council established the fact-finding mission on Venezuela in 2019, which had its mandate extended until this September.
(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Stephen Coates)
