….Raid to remove Maduro morally right — Badenoch
The United Nations, UN, yesterday, voiced deep concern over the dramatic US operation in Venezuela, warning that it clearly undermined a fundamental principle of international law.
“States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
Her comments came after Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday, amid airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
Shamdasani dismissed US justifications of the Venezuelan government’s “longstanding and appalling human rights violations” for the raid.
She insisted: “Accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law.”
She highlighted that the UN rights office had for a decade consistently reported on “the continued deterioration of the situation in Venezuela.
“We fear that the current instability and further militarisation in the country, resulting from the US intervention, will only make the situation worse.”
Raid to remove Maduro morally right– Badenoch
Meanwhile, conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has defended the United States’ military operation that removed Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, from power, describing the raid as “morally right”, despite legal and diplomatic controversy.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, Badenoch said she did not fully understand the legal basis for the operation but argued that Maduro was overseeing a “brutal regime,” and she was “glad he’s gone.”
She said: “Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do.”
She added that her childhood in Nigeria under military dictatorships gave her insight into life under authoritarian rule.
“I grew up under a military dictatorship, so I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge,” she said.
However, Badenoch cautioned that the raid raised “serious questions about the rules-based order,” and stressed that it was different from interventions in democratic countries.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Citing Greenland, she said the territory’s future was rightly a matter for Denmark and its people.
The UK government has so far avoided directly criticising the US action, describing Maduro as an “illegitimate president.”
Opposition parties, including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, and the SNP, have called on the government to condemn the operation and declare it illegal.
Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, defended the government’s approach, arguing that the prime minister was acting in the UK’s national interest and the “best interests of the people of Venezuela.”
Critics, including Labour MP, Emily Thornberry, have warned that the raid could embolden countries such as Russia and China, and stressed that the UK should clarify its stance on international law.
Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said she had reminded her US counterpart of his obligations under international law but reiterated that it was for the US to set out the legal justification for its actions.