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Venezuelan Envoy Rejects 'Biased' Report at UN Rights Body

Associated Press

   GENEVA - 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.

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