MADRID, Spain.- The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Venezuela reported on Tuesday that at least 158 children were detained during the first protests that broke out after the presidential elections in the country. Among those arrested are minors with disabilities, accused of serious crimes such as terrorism and inciting hatred. These arrests are part of the more than 2,200 people arrested, according to figures provided by the Venezuelan government itself.
The mission, created by the UN Human Rights Council to document rights violations in Venezuela, denounced that the regime Nicolas Maduro is committing crimes against humanity for political reasons.
Marta Valiñas, president of the mission and Portuguese jurist, He stated that the government apparatus has focused its efforts on crushing all peaceful opposition through a continuous and coordinated plan to silence and repress those who dissent from official rhetoric. “We are witnessing an intensification of the State’s repressive apparatus. Although this is a continuation of previous patterns, the recent repression, due to its intensity and systematic nature, represents a very serious attack on the fundamental rights of the Venezuelan people,” said Valiñas during the presentation of the report in Geneva.
The report, which covers the period between September 2023 and August 2024, highlights that the current crisis in Venezuela is “the worst in recent history” and that, following the presidential elections on July 28, “a new milestone in the deterioration of the rule of law” has been reached. According to the mission, the Venezuelan authorities no longer attempt to feign independence, leaving citizens totally defenseless against state arbitrariness and causing many judicial guarantees to lose their effectiveness.
Documented incidents include 48 arrests between December and March on conspiracy charges, as well as 120 arrests in July during the election campaign. In total, more than 2,000 people were arrested following the vote count. The mission, which also includes Chilean lawyer Francisco Cox and Argentine expert Patricia Tappatá, will officially present its report to the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, denouncing how the Venezuelan state’s escalation of repression has plunged the country into an unprecedented crisis.
