The United Nations warns the US military operation in Venezuela undermines international law and could worsen the country’s human rights situation.
GENEVA: The United Nations voiced deep concern over the dramatic US operation in Venezuela.
UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani warned it clearly “undermined a fundamental principle of international law”.
“States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” she told reporters in Geneva.
Her comments followed the forcible removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by US commandos.
The operation early on Saturday included airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
Shamdasani dismissed US justifications citing the Venezuelan government’s “longstanding and appalling human rights violations”.
“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 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.”
