Violence used against opponents of the Venezuelan authorities has reached unprecedented levels, a top independent human rights probe alleged on Tuesday, citing arrests, sexual abuse and torture as just some of the methods used by the Government of President Nicolas Maduro to stay in power.
In a new report, the Human Rights Council-mandated investigators described how security forces had raided dozens of homes of suspected critics of the Government "just using social media videos as the only evidence to arrest people".
Violence and threats
Victims' testimonies gathered either side of the disputed Presidential election on 28 July which returned Mr. Maduro to office for the third time pointed to "one of the most acute human rights crises in recent history", the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela further maintained.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Marta Valiñas, Chair of the investigation, insisted that that its latest findings were "overwhelming: not only have there been no improvements, but the violations have intensified, reaching unprecedented levels of violence".
The independent rights expert described "an intensification of the State's repressive machinery" with regard to its critics which represented "a continuation of previous patterns" that the independent rights panel had already condemned as likely crimes against humanity.
Following the re-election of Mr. Maduro - whose victory announcement prompted widespread protests across Venezuela - Ms. Valiñas said that the probe had confirmed 25 fatalities.
Grisly findings
Most of the victims were "young people under 30 years old from popular neighbourhoods. There are two children among them," she said. One of the deceased was a member of the Bolivarian National Guard, Ms. Valiñas noted, before adding that 24 "died from gunshot wounds [and] the other was beaten to death".
The fact-finding mission's latest report examines the human rights situation in Venezuela between September 2023 and August 2024. It points to a further deterioration of the rule of law following the Presidential elections, while public authorities "have abandoned all semblance of independence", leaving citizens "helpless" against the "arbitrary exercise" of power.
"We documented more than 40 cases in which the security forces entered private homes without warrants, just using social media videos as the only evidence to arrest people who they thought had participated in protests or who had expressed criticism in social media," explained Francisco Cox Vial, Member of the fact-finding mission that was created by the Human Rights Council in 2019.
Children among those arrested
According to the independent investigators, more than 120 people were arrested in July in the context of opposition campaign events. In the first week of protests following the elections, based on figures released by the authorities, more than 2,000 people were detained.
Individuals included more than 100 children, some with disabilities, who faced accusations of terrorism and incitement to hatred and serious violations of due process, the investigators added.
"Of the people detained in this period, many were subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as sexual violence which was perpetrated against women and girls, but also against men with reported electric shocks, beating with blunt objects, suffocation with plastic bags, immersion in cold water and forced sleep deprivation," said Patricia Tappatá Valdez, member of the fact-finding mission.
"We had been able to verify that at least 143 of these arrests involved members of seven opposition parties, including 66 leaders of political movements," she added.
According to the rights probe, from December 2023 to March 2024, at least 48 people were detained on the grounds of "so-called conspiracy theories" against the Government, with arrest warrants issued for others. The individuals included military personnel, human rights defenders, journalists and political opposition representatives, the fact-finding mission said.
"We cannot ignore that these violations represent a clear and deliberate line of conduct by the authorities of politically motivated persecution," said investigator Mr. Cox Vial. "We have come to the conclusion that many of these allegations constitute crimes against humanity."
