By Am Utc
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥 Venezuela鈥檚 ruling party-controlled National Assembly on Tuesday declared Volker T眉rk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, persona non grata, criticizing the U.N. official for failing to protect the rights of Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador.
The rare diplomatic designation has no immediate practical effect but reflected the broader anger of President Nicol谩s Maduro at the U.N. agency that monitors and defends human rights. It comes just days after T眉rk said his office has documented increasing arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and torture under Maduro鈥檚 government.
鈥淭眉rk turns a blind eye to atrocious crimes,鈥 said National Assembly President Jorge Rodr铆guez, who is also Maduro鈥檚 chief negotiator with the U.S. 鈥淗e does nothing for the human rights of Venezuelans in the United States and El Salvador.鈥
El Salvador is holding 252 Venezuelans deported from the U.S. in a maximum-security prison. T眉rk recently urged the U.S. to halt deportations of Venezuelans who may be at risk of arrest in their home country and raised concerns about the lack of due process in mass deportations from the U.S.
The ire of Venezuela鈥檚 National Assembly appeared to have been energized by T眉rk鈥檚 speech to the Human Rights Council in Geneva last Friday.
T眉rk raised alarm over an intensifying crackdown on civil liberties in the wake of Venezuela鈥檚 parliamentary elections in June and the unrest that followed Maduro鈥檚 disputed re-election last year 鈥 echoing past statements of concern from his agency and other watchdogs.
Electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner of the July 2024 presidential election despite credible evidence to the contrary.
鈥淚 am very concerned by detention conditions, including people being denied access to medical care, and lacking access to food and water,鈥 he told the council last week. 鈥淪ome prisoners were subjected to incommunicado detention.鈥
Lawmakers called on Maduro to withdraw Venezuela鈥檚 membership from the Human Rights Council while T眉rk remains in his post.
T眉rk鈥檚 office offered no immediate response to the National Assembly decision.
The move Tuesday raised new questions over the status of the U.N. human rights office in Venezuela鈥檚 capital of Caracas, which partially resumed operations last December 鈥 months after Maduro鈥檚 government forced it to close and expelled its staff, accusing the agency鈥檚 employees of aiding 鈥渃oup-plotters and terrorists鈥 as tensions surged in the run-up to the presidential election.
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