Venezuela’s people must be heard, insists UN human rights chief

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Responding to the seizure of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro by the United States, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday reiterated deep concerns that the military operation undermined fundamental protections for sovereign countries.

The US action made “all States less safe around the world”, said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the High Commissioner.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Ms. Shamdasani rejected the US justification for its intervention on the grounds of the Venezuelan Government’s “longstanding and appalling” human rights record. 

“Accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law,” she insisted.

“Far from being a victory for human rights, this military intervention, which is in contravention of Venezuelan sovereignty and the UN Charter, damages the architecture of international security…And this is a point that the Secretary-General has also made.”

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Ms. Shamdasani explained the High Commissioner’s position that the military operation “violates the fundamental principle of international law (and) the UN Charter, which states that States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State”.

Calling out abuse

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, was expelled from Venezuela in February 2024, following its consistent reporting on the deteriorating situation there. Independent probes commissioned by the Human Rights Council have also detailed grave and ongoing abuses against opponents of the country’s ruling party.

“The people of Venezuela deserve accountability through a fair victim-centred process,” Ms. Shamdasani said, adding that the rights of the Venezuelan people “have been violated for too long”. 

The OHCHR spokesperson expressed concerns that the instability and further militarization in the country in response to the US intervention might make the situation worse.

A state of emergency was declared on Saturday that restricts the free movement of people, the seizure of property necessary for national defence and the suspension of the right to assembly and to protest, Ms. Shamdasani noted. “We’re particularly concerned, given the record that the Government has in suppressing free speech, protest, freedom of assembly, using the pretext of national security.”

“The High Commissioner calls on the US and the Venezuelan authorities, as well as the international community, to ensure full respect for international law, including human rights,” she said, adding that the future of Venezuela “must be determined by the Venezuelan people alone, with full respect for their human rights, including the right to self-determination, and sovereignty over their lives and their resources”.

One in four Venezuelans need aid

Beyond the political crisis in Venezuela, almost eight million people, or one in four people, need humanitarian assistance today, after years of economic decline, repression and instability.

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that a response plan remains in place requiring approximately $600 million.

“It’s very dramatic what has happened on the political level in Venezuela. But for the broad mass of people, their humanitarian day-to-day situation hasn’t changed that radically,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke.

“So, the situation as it was immediately before [the US intervention] has continued until this day and that is the basis for our work on the humanitarian side going forward this year.”

Out of the eight million identified as needing assistance, 900,000 have “very high” multisectoral needs including food, nutrition, education, health services; “basically all the things that the state of Venezuela has not been able to provide to its citizens for a number of years”, Mr. Laerke said.

The OCHA spokesperson added that Venezuela was one of the least-funded aid operations globally. Despite this obstacle, the UN had managed to reach some two million people with aid in 2025.

Refugees in flux

The situation remains tense for the millions of refugees living outside Venezuela, too, although for the moment there has been no major displacement across the country’s borders linked to Saturday’s US military operation, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

“Of course, we’re closely monitoring the situation and the border, cross-border movement and then we stand together with other UN agency and humanitarian partners to support the emergency relief effort and to protect the displace people in need as required,” said UNHCR spokesperson Eujin Byun, also in Geneva.

The agency says that nearly 7.9 million people have left Venezuela in search of protection and a better life. The majority – more than 6.9 million people – have found shelter in in Latin American and Caribbean countries. 

UNHCR works in the Americas and beyond to support the inclusion of Venezuelans in the societies that have welcomed them and find solutions, create stability and foster growth and development in these communities.