HRW: Maduro used the state of emergency for COVID-19 to intensify control

The illegitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, used the state of emergency decreed by the arrival of COVID-19 to intensify his control of the population, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced in a report.

In its annual report, HRW affirms that the Chavista Maduro regime and its security forces “They are responsible for extrajudicial executions, disappearances for a short period of time, as well as the imprisonment of opponents, prosecuting civilians in military courts and torturing prisoners.”

“They used the state of emergency put in place in response to COVID-19 as a pretext to intensify their control over the population. The lack of judicial independence contributed to the impunity of their crimes. The judicial authorities have participated or been complicit in the abuses”, he highlights.

In this regard, it recalls that the UN independent international fact-finding mission on Venezuela “identified patterns of violations” of human rights and crimes that were part of a systematic and widespread conduct.

In this sense, the NGO assures that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, announced last November his decision to formally open an investigation into the commission of possible crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela.

HRW also recalls that Venezuela is facing a severe humanitarian emergency with “millions of people without access to health care or adequate nutrition”.

“Limited access to safe water in homes, health care facilities, and a vaccination plan affected by opacity may have contributed to the spread of COVID-19″, says the report.

The organization also recalls that the electoral observation mission of the European Union (EOM-EU) in the local and regional elections on November 21 reported that some opponents were “arbitrarily disqualified” and a “unequal access to the media.

In addition to “The lack of judicial independence respecting the rule of law undermined the impartiality and transparency of the election”.

Among the concerns that persist, he includes the “abject conditions” in prisons, impunity for human rights violations and harassment of human rights defenders and independent media.

“The exodus of Venezuelans fleeing repression and the humanitarian emergency represents the largest migration crisis in the recent history of Latin America”, he reiterates.

Arbitrary arrests

In its report, HRW also says that “The government has arrested political opponents”, eliminating them from possible races to be chosen in elections.

He cites the report of the NGO Foro Penal from last October 25, at which time they reported that there were 254 detainees whom they described as political prisoners, a figure that they updated this Wednesday to 243.

Likewise, it highlights that security agents and security forces “have tortured several detainees and their relatives”, while recalling that the 2020 report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment of those arrested.

HRW also echoes the abuses reported during the fighting that broke out in March 2021 in Apure state (border with Colombia) between the Armed Forces and FARC dissidents.

“The (military) operation led to the execution of at least four peasants, arbitrary arrests and the trial of civilians in military courts, as well as the torture of neighbors accused of collaborating with armed groups.”, He stressed.

Regarding the environment, he affirms that mining is the main problem for deforestation in the Venezuelan Amazon, after agriculture.

He mentions a study by the NGO SOS Orinoco that assured that, after the “illegal” statement by Maduro who created in 2016 a special zone for mining in the north of the southern state of Bolívar, that area has lost more than 230,000 hectares of forest cover.