By: Max Cohen
Impunity Watch News Reporter, South America
CARACAS, Venezuela – The United Nations has released a report chastising the Venezuelan government over extensive human rights violations committed in the wake of anti-government protests. Additionally, Venezuelan authorities have opened an investigation into Lilian Tintori, the wife of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, after allegedly discovering a large amount of cash in her car. She has since been barred from traveling outside the country to attend meetings with European leaders scheduled for the week of September 3rd-9th.
The UN report documents the systematic use of excessive force during demonstrations and the arbitrary detention of protesters, noting that all evidence indicates that these were not the actions of a few isolated officials. It calls on the UN Human Rights Council, of which Venezuela is a member, to take measures to prevent the human rights situation from worsening. Venezuela’s government has slammed the report as shoddy and biased, though the report says that victims’ accounts were consistent and corroborated by medical reports and NGO reports.
The report also indicates that of the 124 deaths linked to the protests, security forces are allegedly responsible for 46, while pro-government armed groups are responsible for 27. More than 5,000 people have been detained since the protests began in April, with 1,000 still being held.
On Thursday, August 31st, Venezuelan authorities discovered around 200 million bolivars, equal to about $60,000, on the nation’s weakest official exchange rate or $10,000 on the more commonly used black market rate, in the car of Lilian Tintori. It’s unclear what crimes she has being investigated for, since possession of cash in Venezuela is not a crime. However, Tintori is convinced that the actions are government sanctioned persecution targeted towards her.
She also claims that the money was to pay for emergencies, including the hospitalization of her grandmother. Tintori claims that cash was necessary since inflation has decimated the value of Venezuela’s currency, and because no bank would give a credit card or open an account for the wife of an opposition leader. She has also since been banned from leaving the country, a move that came a day after she was ordered to appear before a judge on September 5th. Tintori was expected to travel to Europe to convince leaders there to institute sanctions against Venezuela.
For more information, please see:
ABC – Venezuela probes wife of opposition’s Lopez for cash in car – 1 Sept, 2017
