The United Nations has said that US air strikes on Venezuela and the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend clearly undermined a fundamental principle of international law, warning that unilateral military action threatens global security.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said states must refrain from the use of force against the sovereignty of other nations.
“States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” Shamdasani said. “And this is what we are seeing.”
She urged the international community to respond collectively, stressing the need for a unified stance against violations of international norms.
“We call on the international community to come together with one voice… to make clear that this is an action that is in contravention of the international law that was set up by member states,” she added.
US commandos, backed by air strikes, naval forces and warplanes, seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the early hours of Saturday. Maduro appeared in a New York court on Monday, where he denied US drug trafficking and other criminal charges, insisting he had been kidnapped and remains Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Maduro, who took office in 2013 following the death of former president Hugo Chávez, has been accused by the United States and the European Union of rigging elections — most recently in 2024 — jailing political opponents and presiding over widespread corruption.
Shamdasani acknowledged that the UN human rights office has for years documented the “continued deterioration” of human rights conditions in Venezuela. However, she rejected Washington’s justification for the military operation.
“Accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law,” she said.
“Using human rights arguments as a justification for this kind of military intervention is unacceptable,” Shamdasani added, warning that the US action “will only make the situation worse”.
She also expressed concern over the state of emergency declared by Venezuelan authorities on Saturday, which allows property seizures, restricts freedom of movement and suspends the right to protest.
“Far from being a victory for human rights, this military intervention… damages the architecture of international security, making every country less safe,” she said.
The UN rights office has been monitoring the situation from Panama since its international staff were expelled from Venezuela in early 2024.
Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said that nearly eight million people — about a quarter of Venezuela’s population — required humanitarian assistance even before the US operation.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said it has not yet observed signs of mass displacement since Saturday. Its spokesperson, Eujin Byun, said the agency was closely monitoring developments and stood ready to “support emergency relief efforts and to protect displaced people in need as required”.
