The United Nations announced on Monday that it had partially resumed operations in Venezuela. The announcement was made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at his annual press conference to mark International Human Rights Day.
according to Reuters“We have been able to partially resume our activities,” Turck revealed. Turck added that he hoped the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) would be able to restart “what we have done in the past,” including “Inspect prisons, monitor trials and comment on legislation”. According to news agency reports Effie.
In February this year, the OHCHR forced the government of Nicolás Maduro to pause its operations in Venezuela. staff are Given 72 hours Leave the country and the Maduro government defendant The group has a “colonial, abusive and aggressive attitude” and claims it is involved in assassination and coup plots. before pausing, about a dozen Foreign employees work for OHCHR in Venezuela.
Turks explained Despite the expulsion of UN staff from Venezuela, OHCHR “has remained able to maintain contact with government authorities, human rights defenders, civil society and members of the opposition.”
Discussing the detention of political and civil society figures, it was reported that Increase Since Maduro was re-elected in July, Turque said: “Some content has been released, but we want more. This is absolutely crucial and we also hope to be able to refocus efforts on bringing different political actors together. , to create a future for the country.”
Turk’s announcement of a partial resumption of U.N. activities comes a week after the Venezuelan government responded to a statement by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan.
sweat Announce On December 2, Venezuela “must engage the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as promised to me in writing previously.” “I have not seen the concrete implementation of the laws and practices that I hoped for in Venezuela,” he continued. He added, “The ball is in Venezuela’s court.”
The next day, the Venezuelan government release Its own statement rejected Khan’s opinion. “Venezuela finds it worrying” that Khan was not informed of the various measures it has taken “at the domestic level” to better “comply with the commitments made under the Rome Statute and agreed in the two memorandums” Commitment. The statement mentioned that the 1998 Statute of the International Criminal Court established core international crimes such as genocide and war crimes.
The government claimed that these measures included the resumption of OHCHR activities in Venezuela, which it said had been approved in November.
