IAHRC president places Venezuela as top human rights violator

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Inter American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) president, Marta Altoaguirre has placed Venezuela in the same league with Colombia, Haiti and Cuba as countries where greatest human rights violations take place. 

The Guatemalan lady does not specify the human rights violated in Venezuela,  except to express a general concern about the "political polarization which has made peaceful co-existence among citizens impossible." 

Altoaguirre says the Venezuelan government is one of the promoters of the polarization process which leads to violence and the impossibility of reaching a pacific agreement. 

The Venezuelan government comes under fire for allegedly failing to disarm civilians and for not fixing a date for a IAHRC delegation to visit Venezuela to verify human rights violations ... "no arguments have been forwarded about the visit and the government prefers that we don't repeat the visit."

Referring to neighboring Colombia, Altoaguirre says the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is the biggest HR violator ... the Colombian government apparently is given a clean bill of health.