UN rights chief calls for probe into abuses by Venezuela forces

GENEVA: The United Nations human rights chief called Friday for an international investigation of atrocities in Venezuela, blasting the government’s chronic refusal to probe security officers over the alleged killings of civilians. “The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela,” said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, as his office launched a new report on reported abuses in the crisis-stricken country. Zeid asked the UN Human Rights Council to set up its highest-level probe — a Commission of Inquiry — for Venezuela and suggested The Hague-based International Criminal Court may need to get involved.