Venezuela’s ruling party-controlled National Assembly has declared Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, “persona non grata,” criticizing the U.N. official for failing to

Civil and political freedoms in Venezuela have sharply deteriorated over the past year, according to the United Nations’ top human rights official, who cited a wave of arbitrary arrests, disappearances and alleged torture amid growing political unrest.

Arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment -- particularly during recent elections -- are among the human rights violations in Venezuela cited in a United Nations report released this week.