CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government "categorically" rejected a United Nations human rights report on Friday criticizing repression of political opponents and children in the wake of contested elections, saying it was a sign of coercion against the state.
A UN fact-finding mission on human rights violations presented the report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier in the day, in which it said the Venezuelan state was using harsher and more violent methods to repress political opponents and dissidents after the disputed July 28 vote.
"This shameful mission's persistence is a clear sign of the erratic drift led by the UN system's institutions, which are increasingly misplaced in their functions and turning into instruments of coercion and blackmail against peoples and sovereign governments," the government said in a statement. '
It said it had the "strongest morals" regarding the defense of human rights and a "robust apparatus" for their protection.
The statement also said that the Human Rights Council has not shown interest in its own denunciations of US sanctions and assassination attempts against President Nicolas Maduro.
The mission meanwhile said in its report that Venezuelan authorities had planned actions to demobilize the opposition, prevent the dissemination of independent information and critical opinions, and to prevent peaceful protests.
Gonzalez this month sought political asylum in Spain after an arrest warrant was issued against him.