TalCual: Venezuela Naked at the UN Latin American Herald Tribune november 12, 2014
It was a total disgrace the appearance of Venezuela before the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) because of the notable intellectual weakness of all its delegation members
The truth is that it was a total disaster the appearance of the Venezuelan government before the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT).
And not only because its delegation had to deal with a team of dedicated human rights professionals, but because of the notable intellectual weakness of its members.
José Vicente Rangel Jr., who chaired the commission, did nothing but repeat the same old sad litanies of the Revolution when he was required to give straight answers to the straight questions asked, to the terrible allegations that were put on the table.
The Prosecutor’s Office appointee, María Mercedes Berthé, left everyone dumbstruck when she she told the panel not to "worry about a thing" about the rape in prison of former Supreme Court justice María Lourdes Afiuni because she "never filed a formal complaint." It’s indeed very shameful.
But what is interesting about this matter is that a series of events in the country, deemed monstrosities elsewhere, ended up "normalizing," being filed away, in large part of the national conscience.
Overall, the members of the Venezuelan commission not only gave rise to feelings of repudiation but of astonishment as well. The Afiuni case would have caused not one but several shocks in another country, said a UN Commissioner for Human Rights. Another one claimed that it is the first time he heard a case like this one: a Supreme Court justice who was attacked, imprisoned and raped just for doing her job.
It is worth remembering that this was the biggest attack of the late Hugo Chávez against the autonomy of the Judiciary, not only for the gruesome nature of the case but for the terrifying effect it caused over other justices who dared to disobey an executive order from Miraflores.
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