UN Human Rights Council Confronts Venezuela

Before the session, 115 NGOs, including 81 from Venezuela, called on the council to address the country’s human rights situation. Human Rights Watch and the other groups highlighted a range of issues, including the brutal crackdown on massive anti-government protests since early April by security forces and armed pro-government groups called “colectivos,” the prosecution of hundreds of opponents in military courts, the frighteningly broad powers of the government’s Constituent Assembly, and ongoing severe shortages of medicine and food. More…