GENEVA (AP) 鈥 Independent U.N. human rights experts said in a new report Tuesday that their findings show Venezuela's government has intensified the use of 鈥渉arshest and most violent" tools of repression following the disputed July presidential election.
The official results of the July 28 vote have been widely criticized as undemocratic, opaque and aimed to maintain in power.
In its report, the fact-finding mission on Venezuela, commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, denounced rights violations including arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence by the country's security forces that 鈥渢aken as a whole, constitute the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds.鈥
鈥淒uring the period covered by this report, and especially after the presidential election of July 28, 2024, the state reactivated and intensified the harshest and most violent mechanisms of its repressive apparatus,鈥 said the through Aug. 31.
The Venezuela diplomatic mission in Geneva said it does not recognize the mandate of the fact-finding mission and declined to comment on the report to The Associated Press, though it was likely to address the report when it comes up for presentation to the council later this week.
The findings echo concerns from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, , Human Rights Watch, and others about Venezuela and its democracy, including and the subsequent flight into .
Marta Vali帽as, head of the experts team, said Venezuelan authorities acknowledged they arrested more than 2,200 people between July 29 and Aug. 6.
"Of these, we have confirmed the arrest of at least 158 children 鈥 some with disabilities," Vali帽as told reporters at a news conference Tuesday in Geneva, noting that some had been accused of serious crimes, such as terrorism.
鈥淭his phenomenon is something new and extremely worrying,鈥 she said. "We are facing a systematic, coordinated and deliberate repression by the Venezuelan government which responds to a conscious plan to silence any form of dissent.鈥
Venezuela鈥檚 好色tv Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, said he won the election with 52% of the vote. But opposition supporters collected tally sheets from 80% of the nation's electronic voting machines, and said that indicated Gonz谩lez had won the election 鈥 with twice as many votes as Maduro.
Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela鈥檚 Supreme Tribunal of Justice, whose members are aligned with the ruling party, to audit the results. The high court reaffirmed his victory.
The independent experts, who do not represent the United Nations, comprise a fact-finding mission created in 2019. They have been reporting on rights violations 鈥 including alleged for years. This report, the fifth of its kind, decried the government's efforts to crush peaceful opposition to its rule.
The justice system 鈥 led by the Supreme Tribunal 鈥 鈥渋s clearly subordinated鈥 to the interests of Maduro and his close allies and served as a 鈥渒ey instrument in its plan to repress all forms of political and social opposition,鈥 they wrote.
In the hours after Maduro was declared the winner, thousands of people . The protests were largely peaceful, but demonstrators also , the late Hugo Ch谩vez, threw rocks at law enforcement officers and buildings, and burned police motorcycles and government propaganda.
Maduro's government responded to the demonstrations with full force, carrying out arbitrary detentions, prosecutions as well as a campaign that encourages people to report relatives, neighbors and other acquaintances who participated in the protests or cast doubt on the results.
Patricia Tappat谩 Valdez, a member of the expert team, said it had verified that at least 143 arrests involved members of seven opposition parties, including 66 leaders of political movements.
鈥淧olitically motivated persecution is evident," she said. "These figures represent a level of repression that we have not seen since 2019.鈥
The independent experts said they compiled the report through interviews with 383 people and reviews of court case files and other documents while also acknowledging limits to their information-gathering in the post-election period.
The experts said their requests for information from Venezuelan authorities were 鈥渋gnored鈥 despite appeals for cooperation from the rights council, which is made up of a rotating membership among 47 U.N. member countries.
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Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
