Venezuela denies torture allegations

German Saltron, Venezuela's human rights representative to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), has said that the accusations of human rights violations made by the political opposition against the government of his country are baseless.

"None of the accusations of torture have been proven," Xinhua quoted the government representative as saying at an IACHR meeting Monday.

"The press has even widely reported the case of a citizen who claimed to have been raped but never showed up for the medical exam to verify if that was true," said Saltron, adding that the national government had taken steps and arrested those responsible.

"Authorities confirmed that excessive force was used in three of the recent arrests of violent protestors in the ongoing anti-government demonstrations. The officers of the National Guard using force would face legal penalties," Saltron added.

According to the official, the accusations are part of a right-wing smear campaign to discredit the government for political gains.

"It's a campaign to claim that human rights are being violated in Venezuela to justify a foreign intervention," said Saltron.

He added most of those arrested were released in less than 48 hours with a warning.

Most of the protestors were trained to stir up violence. The government had followed all the norms outlined by international agencies and reacted responsibly to the four weeks of protests.