Venezuelan Envoy Rejects UN Report

Venezuelan Envoy Rejects UN Report

GENEVA (AP) -- A top Venezuelan diplomat has blasted the "biased vision" of a report by the U.N. human rights chief chronicling torture, sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings in the country, and demanded it be "corrected."

Deputy Foreign Minister William Castillo insisted the report from High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet "does not reflect the reality in our country." He said Venezuela would heed "constructive" recommendations.

Through a translator, Castillo told the U.N-backed Human Rights Council: "We demand that its contents be corrected, and we urge you to act in a balanced and respectful way."

He spoke Friday after Bachelet presented the report published a day earlier.

She summarized findings about a "pattern of torture" under President Nicolas Maduro's government, with violations including arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and enforced disappearances.

(KA)

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