Overview

• Venezuela’s National Assembly issued a unanimous resolution labeling UN High Commissioner Volker Türk persona non grata in retaliation for his public criticism of state abuses.
• Türk’s recent address to the UN Human Rights Council detailed escalating arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and documented torture surrounding the May 24 parliamentary elections.
• After being expelled from Caracas in February 2024, the UN rights office now operates from Panama and Geneva and relies on NGOs and clandestine networks for monitoring.
• Non-governmental organizations such as Foro Penal report more than 1,500 political prisoners, including 114 minors, held in inhumane conditions with limited medical care and basic necessities.
• Lawmakers criticized Türk for failing to highlight the rights of Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States to prisons in El Salvador, deepening the diplomatic rift.