UN human rights panel looking at 'crimes against humanity' in Venezuela

Guardian:
The UN rights chief has warned of possible “crimes against humanity” in Venezuela, prompting the crisis-hit country to accuse his office of wielding human rights as “a political weapon”.

Venezuela’s crisis has caused food and medicine shortages, deadly unrest and calls for President Nicolas Maduro to quit.

Hunger eats away at Venezuela’s soul as its people struggle to survive
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Clashes with security forces at anti-government protests have left around 130 people dead since April.

“My investigation suggests the possibility that crimes against humanity may have been committed,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said at the opening of the 36th session of the human rights council, the United Nations’ top rights body.

International powers accuse Maduro of dismantling democracy by taking over state institutions in order to resist the opposition pressure.

“There is a very real danger that tensions will further escalate, with the government crushing democratic institutions and critical voices,” Zeid warned, calling for an international probe.

He said an investigation by his office had noted the widespread use of “criminal proceedings against opposition leaders, recourse to arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force and ill-treatment of detainees, which in some cases amounts to torture”.
...
I am somewhat surprised, not because the inquiry is not needed, but because the UN panel has generally ignored real problems in the past.  If Maduro loved his country and his people he would voluntarily leave.  He has botched governance like only a true believer in socialism can.  Socialism does not work and never will.  It is a corrupt enterprise that is destroying a once prosperous country.

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