More than 350 people in Venezuela have been arrested this week during demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro’s Government, the UN rights chief said on Friday, calling for immediate talks to defuse the “increasingly incendiary atmosphere”.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said her office had “reports of large-scale detention of demonstrators — well over 350 in total (this week), including 320 on 23 January alone”.
Bachelet called for a full investigation into alleged violations by the state, including summary executions. Civil society groups in Venezuela have put the death toll from days of street protests at 26.
The rights office, citing “credible local sources,” said it also had indications that at least 20 people “have died after allegedly being shot by security forces or members of pro-government armed groups during demonstrations on Tuesday and Wednesday”.
Bachelet, a former president of Chile who dealt with Maduro in her previous role, called for “immediate talks to defuse the increasingly incendiary atmosphere” in Venezuela.