Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez rejected this Wednesday the report of the UN International Mission that denounces serious violations of human rights in Venezuela, considering that it is a “politically motivated document.”
The report on the “alleged Independent International Mission” of the UN in Venezuela “lacks technical rigor, objectivity and impartiality,” according to the foreign minister, who expressed his disagreement through a message on Twitter.
Informe de supuesta Misión Internacional Independiente de @UN sobre #DDHH en Venezuela carece d rigor técnico, objetividad e imparcialidad.
Rechazamos este documento políticamente motivado, parte de la campaña de descrédito liderada por EEUU contra ese hermano pueblo y gobierno.
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) September 23, 2020
“We reject this politically motivated document, part of the discrediting campaign led by the U.S. against that brotherly people and government,” he concluded.
Cuba’s reaction came a few days after the publication of the report of the International Mission to analyze possible human rights violations in Venezuela, which details crimes against humanity committed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela and Cuba have maintained a close political and economic alliance for two decades, a closeness that in the last two years has motivated the United States to tighten sanctions against the Caribbean island, whose government it accuses of propping up Chavismo in power.
Cuba acusa a EEUU de crear el “clima” para una “intervención militar” en Venezuela
The document, presented yesterday before the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council, denounces extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, torture and other crimes committed by the Venezuelan regime.
To draw up the 411-page report, the United Nations International Mission thoroughly analyzed 223 specific cases and investigated some 4,600 deaths at the hands of Venezuelan security forces, as well as more than 3,400 complaints of arbitrary detentions for political reasons.
These violations were perpetrated, according to the mission, by members of the Venezuelan state security forces and intelligence services, both civilian and military.
Portuguese Marta Valiñas, president of the UN International Mission, demanded that the Venezuelan authorities guarantee the accountability of those responsible, although the report suggests that courts outside Venezuela, including the International Criminal Court, judge these violations of human rights and freedoms.
"The violations must stop. #Impunity must end. Venezuelan authorities must bring perpetrators to account. Victims must have full redress for the harm they suffered” – Marta Valiñas #FFMVenezuela
Press release: https://t.co/6vMmMtxaIX
Comunicado de prensa: https://t.co/gWaiivGvpz pic.twitter.com/AhTyWMD3SF— United Nations Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) September 16, 2020
Venezuela’s delegation to the UN immediately rejected the report and accused the United States and the Latin American countries of the Lima Group of having prepared it to discredit the Maduro government. Venezuela currently forms part of the Human Rights Council.