Venezuelan diplomat calls on UN to set up HR observation post in Venezuela

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, April 04, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Andean Commission of Jurists has announced that it has sent a report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) warning that President Hugo Chavez Frias attempting to monopolize State organs and institutions. 

Speaking on behalf of the Jurists, Venezuelan Enrique ter Horst claims that President Hugo Chavez Frias' insistence on carrying through his political project is fast losing the legitimacy he gained in winning two presidential elections.  " The absence of advances in government-opposition negotiations has kept alive the temptation among the radicals on both sides to seek a quick fix to the political crisis" 

Ter Horst proposes that the UN open a human rights observation post in Venezuela to investigate and generate confidence in an electoral solution. 

The former UN diplomat accuses Chavez Frias of: 

• Violating the principle of separation of State powers
• Placing unconditional supporters to head public institutions 
• Firing up social hatred 
• Organizing armed bands to attack opponents. "Last year there were 50 deaths and more than 700 injuries during pacific marches, sabotaging investigations into deaths of opponents"
• Using judges and state prosecutors at his service to politically persecute opposition leaders
• Allowing security agents or supporters to attack 200 journalists 
• Diverting the Armed Force (FAN) from its constitutional mandate
• Allocating exchange control permits at whim.

Enrique Ter Horst has been in charge of UN special missions on Haiti and El Salvador, as well as UN Adjunct High Commissioner for Human Rights (1998).