World Bulletin / News Desk

The United Nations human rights chief called Friday for an international investigation of atrocities in Venezuela, blasting the government's chronic refusal to probe security officers over the alleged killings of civilians.

"The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, as his office launched a new report on the crisis-stricken country.

The Hague-based ICC in February opened a preliminary investigation into crimes allegedly committed by the security forces during a wave of protests against President Nicolas Maduro.

The UN rights office, which examined Maduro's crackdown on protesters in a report last year, said its new findings relate mostly to alleged abuses committed during purported anti-crime operations.

UN investigators have been denied access to Venezuela. Some of the findings were based on remote monitoring as well as interviews with victims, witnesses, civil society groups and others.

Other evidence includes material compiled by former attorney general Luisa Ortega Diaz, who was sacked by Maduro last August and is living in exile.