The UN investigators, who could not go there, claim to have found evidence of crimes against humanity, such as "arbitrary killings and the systematic use of torture".

According to them, "these crimes were coordinated and committed in the name of state directives".

President Nicolas Maduro and prominent members of his government are behind "possible crimes against humanity" in Venezuela, a country torn apart by political and economic crisis, UN investigators said Wednesday, citing a systematic use of torture and murder.

The team of investigators - who made their first report there but could not go there - claimed to have found evidence of crimes against humanity, saying they had "good reason to believe that the president" as well as the Minister of the Interior and that of Defense "ordered or helped to sponsor the proven crimes", according to a statement.

Acts "far from isolated"

Some of these crimes, "including arbitrary killings and the systematic use of torture, fall under the scope of crimes against humanity", judges the head of these investigators Marta Valinas.

"These acts are very far from isolated, these crimes were coordinated and committed in the name of state directives with full knowledge of the facts and with the direct support of senior officers and senior government officials," the report continues. 411 pages.

The investigators called on the Venezuelan authorities to immediately open "independent, impartial and transparent investigations".

The report also believes that other bodies, including the International Criminal Court, "should also consider legal proceedings against those responsible for the violations and crimes identified by the mission," said Marta Valinas.

"Extra-judicial executions"

Although the trio of investigators were unable to visit Venezuela, they drew their conclusions from some 274 remote interviews with victims, witnesses, former officials as well as analysis of confidential documents, including court records.

The fact-finding mission has reviewed 2,500 incidents since 2014 which have led to the murder of 5,000 people by the police.

"These extra-judicial executions cannot be blamed on a lack of discipline within the police," Marta Valinas said, stressing that senior officials kept control of the latter.

"These murders appear to be part of a policy of eliminating unwanted members of society under the guise of fighting crime."