During a visit to the South American crisis-ridden Venezuela, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, met Head of State Nicolás Maduro. Authoritarian Maduro described the meeting in the capital Caracas on Friday (local time) on Twitter as a “fruitful meeting”. However, the situation in the country is tense.
The human rights organization Amnesty International had previously asked Türk to be particularly vigilant in view of the human rights situation in Venezuela and to work for the release of 300 prisoners described as political.
According to Venezuelan activists, Maduro’s government is pursuing a policy of systematic intimidation and reprisals against civil society organizations. Activists are being threatened, intimidated and attacked in Venezuela.
At the start of his three-day visit, Türk strengthened the role of non-governmental organizations. “All countries need and deserve a free and lively civil society space,” he wrote on Twitter on Friday night (local time).
Türk was received by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil. Later he met with representatives of non-governmental organizations. He initially gave no information about the meeting with Maduro. Türk ends his trip with a press conference on Saturday.
Venezuela has been in a deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis for years. According to the UN, more than seven million people have left the country, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, because of poverty and violence. The authoritarian government is taking massive action against members of the opposition, and numerous government critics are in prison.
