UN Urges Venezuela to Probe Opposition Politician's Death

The United Nations on Tuesday urged Venezuelan officials to perform an independent and transparent investigation into the death of an opposition councilman jailed by Venezuela's intelligence police on allegations that he plotted to kill President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan officials said that Fernando Alban killed himself by leaping from the 10th floor of the state police agency's headquarters. But opposition leaders denied the official version. Ravina Shamdasani with the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva said the UN's Human Rights Council has mandated the human rights arm to do a report on Venezuela, but was unclear if the councilman's death would be covered in that report. "We will be looking at all issues that are related to the human rights situation in Venezuela," Shamdasani said. "I can't tell you now if this case will be part of it, but we will certainly be investigating all of these issues as much as we can." More…