World is less safe after US action in Venezuela, says UN Human Rights Office

BERLIN, Jan 6: The world community must make clear that US intervention in Venezuela is a violation of international law that makes the world less safe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
US forces ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a surprise operation at the weekend. He faces four criminal charges in the US, including narco-terrorism, and Maduro's vice president has been sworn in as interim president.
"It is clear that the operation undermined a fundamental principle of international law, that states must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," said the Office.
"The international community needs to come together with one voice to insist on that," chief spokesperson for the Office, Ravina Shamdasani, told reporters.
Far from being a victory for human rights, the military intervention damages the architecture of international security and makes every country less safe, she said.
"It sends a signal that the powerful can do whatever they like," she added.
The future of Venezuela must be determined by its people alone, she said, adding instability and further militarization would only make the human rights situation there worse.
"States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva.
Her comments came after Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday amid airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
Shamdasani dismissed US justifications of the Venezuelan government's "longstanding and appalling human rights violations" for the raid.
"Accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law," she insisted.
She highlighted that the UN rights office had for a decade consistently reported on "the continued deterioration of the situation in Venezuela".
"We fear that the current instability and further militarisation in the country resulting from the US intervention will only make the situation worse."
    �"REUTERS, AFP