According to the High Commissioner, the UN, national and international actors, and the High Commissioner must help Venezuela get out of its problems. He also said that it was important to start healing the deep divisions between Venezuelans and to rebuild the social contract.

“Frank dialogues” regarding changes and trust-building

According to a press release from the UN human rights office, or OHCHR, which Mr. Türk runs, “During candid conversations with the authorities, I raised issues related to civic space, conditions of detention, and judicial delays, among others, and urged them to take real steps toward reforming the justice and security sectors.”

Also, he asked the government to build trust with victims and civil society groups, pay attention to them, talk to them, and take action to improve their lives.

To do this, the High Commissioner said that he had heard stories of people being locked up and tortured without reason and family members being killed during security operations and protests. He also said that one of the women cried as she told how her sister had been taken, raped, and tortured two years earlier.

“Abolish torture for good”

“In my talks with the President and ministers, I demanded the release of everyone who had been arrested without cause.” Mr. Türk stressed that this is also part of his global call to all countries to free everyone who has been wrongfully jailed for exercising their fundamental human rights.

He told the government to stop torture for good by ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which aims to stop torture and improve detention conditions. He said he was told that complaints of hell would be dealt with “decisively, fully investigated, and the people who did it would be brought to justice.”

Social and economic problems made worse by sanctions

The UN human rights chief went on to say, “The economic and social problems Venezuela has, such as the minimum wage and pensions, and how this affects people’s daily lives by limiting their rights to food, water, healthcare, education, and other economic and social rights, were made clear to me in my meetings with civil society, trade unionists, and pensioners, among others.

He said he had talked to many different people, including humanitarian organizations and UN agencies, about how sectoral sanctions make it hard for the country to recover and develop, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they hurt the most vulnerable people.

Mr. Türk said again that he thinks member states should stop or eliminate measures that hurt people’s rights and worsen the humanitarian situation. “Even though Venezuela’s economic problems started before economic sanctions were put in place, it is clear that sectoral sanctions put in place since August 2017 have hurt human rights,” he said.

Talk about Mexico

The High Commissioner also said that he had reaffirmed his support for the current talks and stressed the need to listen to victims during the political process. He also said that he had heard from both the government and the Unitary Platform delegations to the Mexico Dialogue political process.

“I don’t downplay the problems that lie ahead in any way, but I did ask them to talk and listen to each other to come up with a shared vision for the future.” All parties must consider the future they see for Venezuela, and he emphasized that his office was prepared to link the people and the state institutions.

Regarding Venezuelans living outside the country, Mr Türk stated that he had asked the Venezuelan government to continue and strengthen its collaboration with UN agencies in order to ensure that everyone who wishes to return can do so in a safe and dignified manner.

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The High Commissioner also talked about some of his overall impressions, like how Venezuelan society is broken up and divided, how many people want and need to make connections to try to bridge these gaps, and how hard it is for the country to respect human rights in civil, political, economic, and social life.

Mr. Türk said he talked about the importance of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year in every conversation he had. He said this is a real opportunity to address and make progress on many long-standing issues, promote discussion, and foster healing after decades of rupture. “This is not just a day in the calendar or a miracle text,” he said.