UN rights chief warns of deepening repression in Venezuela, rising toll in Ukraine

Presenting oral updates to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the situation in Venezuela has not improved since his last briefing in June.

“The crackdown on civic space has intensified, suffocating people’s freedoms,” Mr. Türk said, pointing to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, alongside deepening social and economic hardship.

He said recently adopted legislation granted the Government expanded emergency powers based on perceived external threats, but noted the text remains unpublished – shielding the authorities from scrutiny.

Increasing militarisation

Public life, Mr. Türk warned, is becoming increasingly militarised, heightening the risk of violence in a society grappling with high levels of crime.

His Office, OHCHR, has received reports of coerced enlistment into the Bolivarian Militia, including of adolescents and older people, as well as accounts that authorities are encouraging citizens to report on relatives and neighbours through a State-sponsored mobile app.

“Such policies breed fear, mistrust, and self-censorship,” he said.

Journalists, human rights defenders, opposition figures and humanitarian workers continue to face threats, harassment and the risk of arbitrary detention, Mr. Türk added, driving many into exile.

“When human rights defenders and journalists leave, truth and accountability leave with them,” he warned.

Detained for exercising civil rights

The High Commissioner voiced grave concern over detention conditions, citing persistent shortages of food and medicine and denial of family visits, impacting detainees’ physical and mental health – with fatal results in some cases.

While noting the release of at least 51 detainees since June, he urged the unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained just for exercising their civil rights and an end to enforced disappearances and incommunicado detention.

He warned that attempts to strip opposition figures of their nationality violates international law.

Ukraine: Silence the guns now

Turning to Ukraine, the High Commissioner said that nearly four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, civilians are facing intensifying harm, with a 24 per cent rise in casualties compared with last year, largely due to expanded missile and drone attacks by Moscow.

“No part of the country is safe,” he said, citing nationwide strikes on energy infrastructure that have left millions without power, heating and water as winter sets in.

Mr. Türk condemned extrajudicial executions, torture and sexual violence against prisoners of war and urged both Russia and Ukraine to uphold international law, stressing that accountability remains essential.

“They need the silencing of the guns,” he underscored.