Interim President meets UN envoy as death toll mounts
The new deaths were announced after five protesters were killed in clashes with security forces on Friday in central Bolivia, a political stronghold of exiled ex-president Evo Morales.
The Washington-based IACHR, a part of the Organization of American States, also recorded 122 wounded since Friday.
While the rights commission counts nine dead over the past two days, the official government tally remains at five.
Interim leader Jeanine Anez's cabinet chief Jerjes Justiniano told reporters Saturday night that he would ask for "forensic doctors to speed up their work," but did not confirm a higher toll.
Fierce clashes between Morales' supporters and police forces have been ongoing since Anez, 52, declared herself acting president on Tuesday.
The former deputy senate speaker took over the top job to avoid a power vacuum -- a move endorsed by the Constitutional Court.
The IACHR said it considers as "serious" her Thursday decree authorizing the armed forces to participate in maintaining order and exempting them from any criminal responsibility.
Morales, 60, said on Twitter that the measure gave "carte blanche and impunity to massacre people."
Unrest in Bolivia first erupted when Morales -- the country's first indigenous president -- was accused of rigging the results of October 20 polls to gain re-election for a fourth term.
He eventually resigned and fled to Mexico after losing the support of Bolivia's security forces following weeks of protests.
Bolivian interim leader meets UN envoy
A UN envoy met with Bolivia’s interim president to find a way out of the country’s political crisis while the world body expressed concern the situation could “spin out of control” amid a rising death toll.
On leaving the meeting with interim leader Jeanine Anez, envoy Jean Arnault said the United Nations hopes it can contribute to an “accelerated pacification process” leading to new elections following the resignation and exile of Evo Morales.
Meanwhile, another international body, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, condemned Anez’s government for issuing a decree it says “exempts from criminal responsibility” soldiers who took part in efforts to break up protests and unrest that have left at least 23 people dead.
The norm was approved before the most violent day since the crisis began when at least eight pro-Morales coca growers were killed when security forces opened fire during a demonstration.
“It is not a license for the Armed Forces to kill," Presidency Minister Jerjes Justiniano told a press conference. He said the decree is based on the Criminal Code, which states that "if one defends oneself in self-defence, there is no penalty.”
Earlier Saturday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet issued a statement calling the deaths “an extremely dangerous development.”
“I am really concerned that the situation in Bolivia could spin out of control if the authorities do not handle it sensitively and in accordance with international norms,” she said.
Protesters said police fired on Friday when demonstrators tried to cross a military checkpoint in Sacaba, a town near Cochabamba. Many of the protesters were coca leaf growers loyal to Morales, who had been Bolivia’s first indigenous president before being pressured to step down by Bolivia’s military chief after weeks of widespread protests over a disputed election.
Witnesses to the clash described seeing the bodies of several protesters and dozens of people rushed to hospitals, many covered in blood.
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