UN says in talks to reestablish rights office in Venezuela

GENEVA: The United Nations rights office said Tuesday that it is in discussions with Caracas to reestablish an office in Venezuela, two years after it was kicked out.

UN rights chief Volker Turk spoke by telephone with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez on January 26, his spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

During this discussion, Turk “offered our support to help Venezuela work on a roadmap for dialogue and reconciliation in which human rights should be at the centre” of the process, she said.

Turk, she said, was eager to reopen “an office presence in the country”.

To that end, he had deployed a team to Caracas for a five-day visit ending on February 4.

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The team met with Venezuelan authorities, as well as with numerous civil society organisations and recently-released rights defenders, as well as family members of activists who remain behind bars.

“Talks are continuing on reestablishing the presence,” Shamdasani said.

The rights office has been monitoring from Panama since its international staff were expelled from Venezuela in February 2024.

They were asked to leave after expressing deep concern about the detention of human rights lawyer Rocio San Miguel.

The prominent activist is among numerous prisoners recently released by the interim government, under US pressure.

Rodriguez has released hundreds of prisoners jailed under former president Nicolas Maduro, since he was captured in a  US military operation last month.

Yet families and rights groups have denounced the slow pace of releases, estimating that about 700 people are still waiting to be freed.

A national assembly vote scheduled for Tuesday to grant amnesty to political dissidents and others was also suddenly postponed to an unspecified date.

The amnesty law bill “is a positive step to further social cohesion, national reconciliation and coexistence”, Shamdasani said.

But, she insisted, “the terms of the law must be compliant with international human rights standards”.

“The legislation should encompass all individuals arbitrarily detained and be part of a broader strategy that includes reparation, accountability and legal reform.”