Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro delivers a speech next to a bodyguard during opening ceremony of the judicial year at the Supreme Tribunal of Justice building in Caracas [File: Yuri Cortez/AFP]
Judges and prosecutors in Venezuela have played a significant role in serious rights violations against government opponents, UN investigators have said.
In a new report released on Thursday, the UN team tasked with probing the rights situation in Venezuela slammed a dire lack of judicial independence in the country while detailing how deficiencies in the justice system have allowed certain violations, including the use of torture, to continue with impunity.
Venezuela judiciary perpetuates rights abuses: UN investigators | Human Rights News | Al Jazeera