While Venezuela is legally a multiparty, constitutional republic, the regime of Nicolas Maduro claims control over all public institutions. In November 2021, the Maduro regime organized regional and municipal elections largely perceived as skewed in their favor. Election observers and media reported arbitrary arrests, criminalization of opposition parties’ activities, bans on candidates, and media censorship during the elections. The European Union was allowed to act as election observer for the first time in 15 years, but the Maduro regime asked its observers to leave the country before they could present their final report. In the final report, the European Union noted significant structural deficiencies to the electoral system and provided the regime with 23 recommendations to improve electoral conditions.
The Bolivarian National Guard - a branch of the military that reports to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace - is responsible for maintaining public order, guarding the exterior of key government installations and prisons, conducting counternarcotics operations, monitoring borders, and providing law enforcement in remote areas. The Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace controls the National Scientific, Criminal, and Investigative Corps, which conducts most criminal investigations, and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, which collects intelligence within the country and abroad and is responsible for investigating cases of corruption, subversion, and arms trafficking. Police consist of municipal, state, and national forces. Mayors and governors oversee municipal and state police forces. The Bolivarian National Police report to the Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace. The national police largely focus on policing Caracas’ Libertador municipality; patrolling Caracas-area highways, railways, and metro system; and protecting diplomatic missions. The national armed forces patrol other areas of the country. Civilian authorities’ control over the security forces continued to decline and was deeply politicized. Increasingly unpopular with citizens, the Maduro regime depended on civilian and military intelligence services, and to a lesser extent, proregime armed gangs known as colectivos, to neutralize political opposition and subdue the population. There were reports that members of security forces committed numerous abuses. A September UN report detailed the systematic use of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service and the Military Counterintelligence Directorate to intimidate and control the activities of political opponents.
Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by regime forces; forced disappearances by the regime; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention by security forces; political prisoners or detainees; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; unlawful interference with privacy; unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence or threats of violence, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, and enforcement of or threat to enforce criminal libel laws to limit expression; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; serious government corruption; serious restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic or intimate partner violence, sexual violence, workplace violence, femicide, and other forms of such violence; substantial barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting indigenous peoples such as the Yanomami; trafficking in persons; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; significant restrictions on workers’ freedom of association; and the worst forms of child labor.
The Maduro regime took no effective action to meaningfully identify, investigate, prosecute, or punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses or engaged in corruption.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person
a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings
There were numerous reports that the Maduro regime committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. Although the regime did not release statistics on extrajudicial killings, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that national, state, and municipal police entities, as well as the armed forces and regime-supported colectivos, carried out hundreds of such killings during the year.
In September the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Venezuela noted, for the third consecutive year, concern regarding, “killings consistent with previously documented patterns of extrajudicial executions and other violations in the context of security operations in low-income, urban neighborhoods in various parts of the country." The FFM report stated “real and perceived dissidents and opponents" of the Maduro regime increasingly included individuals and organizations that documented, reported, or attempted to address human rights or social and economic problems in the country. The FFM concluded that it had reasonable grounds to believe Maduro and other high-level members of the regime used security agencies such as the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) to suppress dissent through actions that included extrajudicial killings.
The Public Ministry is responsible for initiating judicial investigations of security force abuses. The Office for Protection of Human Rights in the Public Ministry is responsible for investigating cases involving crimes committed by public officials, particularly security officials. There was, however, no official information available on the number of public officials prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced to prison for involvement in extrajudicial killings, which, in the case of killings committed by police, were often classified as “resistance to authority."
The regime did not publish data on arbitrary or unlawful killings committed during the year. In August Tarek William Saab, whom the regime styled as attorney general, reported that between 2017 and August, 1,527 security officers were accused of homicide; torture or inhuman, cruel, or degrading treatment; 762 were imprisoned; and 279 were convicted for their crimes, but he made no reference to arbitrary killings. NGOs Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights (PROVEA) and Fundación Gumilla documented 485 extrajudicial killings in the context of security operations or protests in the first half of the year. State police were involved in the highest number of killings at 25 percent, followed by the National Bolivarian Police (PNB) at 20 percent, and then the National Scientific, Criminal, and Investigative Corps (CICPC) at 19 percent. Most of the victims (63 percent) were young men between 18 and 30 years old. The NGO Venezuelan Violence Observatory reported 104 deaths involving police or security forces from July to September, with PNB involved in 28 percent of the deaths.
On Jan. 10, Venezuelan Communist Party member and local activist Jose Urbina was shot and killed inside his home in Puerto Paez, Apure. Local media suggested Urbina was killed by groups linked to the National Liberation Army (ELN), but other journalists and NGOs pointed to a November 13 video posted by Urbina as evidence the killer could be a member of regime armed forces. In the video, Urbina accused units commanded by Venezuelan National Guard (GNB) Lieutenant Ramon Sanchez of abducting more than 20 citizens from Puerto Paez to frame them for crimes they did not commit. Urbina alleged in the video that he was threatened by Sanchez and indicated him as the person responsible for any harm that may be done to him. No announcement was issued by regime attorney general Saab or other regime authorities regarding this case.
On March 20, during an altercation between members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) and members of the Yanomami Indigenous community in the Parima B area of the Alto Orinoco in Amazonas State, four Yanomami adults were killed and five were injured. According to local NGOs, the conflict began after FANB members refused to return an internet router that belonged to the Yanomami. The regime announced an investigation into the deaths, but Indigenous rights activists denounced several irregularities, including the lack of information available regarding the whereabouts of two key witnesses to the events.
On July 7, Juan Angel Pantoja Carreño, a detective from the CICPC police division, died, allegedly because of torture, in the DGCIM headquarters of Apure State. Pantoja Carreño was arrested on charges of extortion on July 5, and on July 6, he told peers from the CICPC that he was being tortured and feared for his life. Regime attorney general Saab announced that DGCIM agents Yarumy Rafael Figueroa and José Carlos Flores Pérez were responsible for the death of Pantoja Carreño and were charged with homicide, torture, and breach of the duty regarding custody of detainees. Saab also revealed that Pantoja Carreño’s autopsy confirmed the cause of his death was suffocation by submersion in water. Families of the DGCIM agents charged for the death alleged the agents were set up by higher-level individuals to take the blame.
The NGO PROVEA reported that a September 8-11 police operation carried out at Los Valles del Tuy in Miranda State resulted in 23 extrajudicial killings. The operation was led by the National Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command, Miranda municipal police, GNB, PNB, and CICPC. Although the regime claimed that all the deceased were linked to criminal gangs and that they died during confrontations, relatives alleged police arbitrarily executed their family members.
Human rights defenders and environmental activists were killed during the year. On June 30, Virgilio Trujillo, a member of the Uwotujja Indigenous community, was shot and killed in Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas State. Trujillo was coordinator of the Indigenous Territorial Guard, Ayose Huyunam, in the Autauna municipality, whose purpose was to defend Indigenous lands from criminal groups and illegal mining. The Working Group for Indigenous Issues (GTAI) from the University of the Andes blamed “agents of extractivism" for his death. According to GTAI, Trujillo’s death was retaliation for his efforts to defend the Amazon from illegal mining. According to the Venezuelan-Colombian Project Observatory for the Defense of Life (ODEVIDA), Trujillo’s death added to the 32 killings of Indigenous and environmental defenders in the past eight years.
There was some progress in the investigation surrounding the January 2021 incident where security forces killed at least 24 persons in a police operation in Caracas’ La Vega parish. NGOs reported Bolivarian National Police Special Action Forces (FAES) officers were identified as potentially responsible for the death of four of the victims, although no convictions in the case. There was no progress in the investigation into the March 2021 case in which a family of five in El Ripial in Apure State were reportedly kidnapped and executed by FAES.
According to a June report released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), PNB underwent a restructuring in 2021 that resulted in the dissolution of FAES, an entity involved in deaths in the context of security operations. Despite the OHCHR announcement, local NGOs pointed out the regime never issued an official declaration confirming the dissolution of FAES. In September, PROVEA reported FAES headquarters replaced the FAES acronym with the General Directorate Against Organized Crime (DGCO) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. PROVEA also noted former FAES director Jose Miguel Dominguez was listed as the DGCO director.
b. Disappearance
The NGO Fundaredes documented 246 disappearances or kidnappings between January and June in the border states of Tachira, Falcon, Zulia, Bolivar, Apure, and Amazonas. According to Fundaredes’ investigations in the border region, irregular armed groups and criminal bands were complicit with regime security agents in committing regular violations of human rights, including disappearances.
The September FFM report included 96 possible disappearances from 2014 to October 2022 in the Orinoco Mining Arc in the context of illegal mining. In November, FANB found human remains on three separate occasions in Bolivar State, which the NGO InSight Crime reported could be connected to disappearances in the region linked to illegal mining.
The Maduro regime continued to deny requests by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to visit the country to conduct investigations. In 2020, the Working Group reported 29 outstanding cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses
Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices, there were credible reports that Maduro-aligned security forces regularly tortured and abused detainees.
The Maduro regime-aligned Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman did not publish statistics regarding allegations of torture by police during the year. Several NGOs detailed cases of widespread torture and “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment." Human rights groups and the FFM reported the regime continued to influence the attorney general and public defenders to conduct investigations selectively and subjectively.
In September the FFM released a third report focused on crimes against humanity committed through structures and individuals in the regime’s intelligence services, specifically DGCIM and SEBIN, as part of a systematic plan to repress opposition to the regime. The report noted the violent acts were not committed arbitrarily but rather were part of a system orchestrated and executed by the Maduro regime to repress dissidents. The FFM documented that SEBIN played a fundamental role in the detention of opponents, including politicians, human rights defenders, and protesters. Most prisoners were taken to El Helicoide (SEBIN) and Boleita (DGCIM) torture detention facilities, but there were several detention centers around the country. The report detailed that torture was a systematic procedure in both El Helicoide and Boleita. The FFM documented 122 cases of victims subjected to torture, sexual violence, and other inhuman punishment by DGCIM agents beginning in 2014. At SEBIN, it documented 51 cases of torture or inhuman treatment. The FFM reported DGCIM and SEBIN recruited low-level officers who were young and poor, with low levels of education, and who often had alcohol or drug dependencies. The FFM noted the vulnerable state of these low-level officials made them easier to manipulate through a system of rewards or punishments.
In February two DGCIM agents were sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment for the death of Captain Rafaela Acosta Arevalo, who died in DGCIM custody in 2019. Arevalo’s lawyers and human rights organizations criticized the sentencing of lower-level officials and demanded that others in the regime’s chain of command, including higher-level individuals in the Ministry of Defense, be investigated for Arevalo’s death. In its September report, the FFM concluded it had reasonable grounds to believe that four others, including Hannover Guerrero, director of the Special Directorate of Criminal Investigations, and Granko Arteaga, director of the Special Affairs Unit, should be investigated for Arevalo’s death along with persons in the chain of command above them.
The FFM also found that at times judges ordered pretrial detention in SEBIN or DGCIM facilities, despite the risk or commission of torture, even when detainees in court rooms alleged torture or displayed signs consistent with it. Foro Penal and the NGO Coalición por los Derechos Humanos y la Democracia maintained that hundreds of cases of torture were not reported to government institutions because victims feared reprisal. In a June report, Coalición por los Derechos Humanos y la Democracia stated that in 100 percent of the cases they studied, doctors issued false or inaccurate medical reports intended to cover up signs of torture. The report also found that in 98 percent of the cases studied, when victims of torture or their family members tried to report the abuse, the report was rejected, or the processing was delayed.
Media and NGOs reported beatings and humiliating treatment of suspects during arrests were common and involved various law enforcement agencies and the military controlled by the Maduro regime. Cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners were also reported. Regime-aligned individuals subjected detainees to asphyxiation, electric shock, broken bones, hanging by their limbs, and being forced to spend hours on their knees. Detainees were also subjected to cold temperatures, sensory deprivation, and sleep deprivation; remained handcuffed for extended periods of time; and received death threats to themselves and their relatives. Detainees reported regime-aligned security forces moved them from detention centers to houses and other clandestine locations where abuse took place. Cruel treatment frequently involved denying prisoners medical care and holding them for long periods in solitary confinement. The latter practice was most prevalent with political prisoners. NGOs detailed reports from detainees who were victims of sexual and gender-based violence by security units. The OHCHR received complaints of torture or cruel treatment related to 14 detainees from May 2021 to April 2022. The OHCHR stated the lack of investigations into complaints of torture and lack of protection against reprisals discouraged victims to come forward.
The Casla Institute for the Study of Latin America continued to denounce the construction of new places of torture used by the regime in collaboration with Cuban intelligence officers who actively participated in repression and trained the regime in methods of torture while sometimes performing torture themselves. The Casla Institute reported new torture patterns employed by the regime-aligned military, including hitting victims with a metal bar, submerging naked victims in ice-cold wells, inserting objects in the nose and ears, using burn-causing agents, injecting hallucinogens, and putting a gun in the victim’s mouth.
Foro Penal reported multiple instances of political prisoners denied adequate medical treatment while in regime custody. On Aug. 23, Captain Armando Flores Piñango, a retired member of the military, died of cancer in regime custody following 88 days of hospitalization, during which he was reportedly neglected and without adequate medical care. As of April, Foro Penal reported more than 40 individuals detained on politically motivated grounds were in critical health and were being denied medical attention. The health reports detailed muscle problems, severe fractures, hernias, and high blood pressure. Family members of Javier Tarazona, a human rights defender arrested by the regime in July 2021, reported the conditions of his confinement and a lack of adequate medical treatment resulted in his developing colon irritation and psoriasis. Foro Penal also noted instances in which the regime used medical facilities as interrogation centers.
On January 6, army Lieutenant Colonel Igbert Jose Marin Chaparro, a political prisoner detained by DGCIM, ended a hunger strike he began on Dec. 21, 2021, in protest of poor detention conditions and torture received while detained. Marin Chaparro issued a public letter asking various international institutions to investigate the use of torture mechanisms used on him and other prisoners, such as the “House of Dreams," punishment cells in the basement of DGCIM’s headquarters. Marin Chaparro also reported he was tortured with bags put over his head, tear gas, and repeated beatings resulting in broken ribs.
Impunity for security forces was a significant problem. Despite continued reports of police abuse and involvement in crime, particularly in the activities of illegally armed groups, including illegal and arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, and the excessive use of force, the Maduro regime took no effective action to investigate individuals who committed human rights abuses. Corruption, inadequate police training and equipment, and insufficient central government funding, particularly for police forces in states and municipalities governed by opposition officials, reduced the effectiveness of security forces. NGOs noted that many victims did not report violent crimes to police or the regime due to fear of retribution or lack of confidence in police.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Most prison conditions were harsh and life threatening due to gross overcrowding, food shortages, inadequate sanitary conditions and medical care, systemic violence, and poor infrastructure.
Abusive Physical Conditions: According to the NGO Venezuelan Observatory for Prisons (OVP), as of August, the designed capacity of the country’s 500 prisons was approximately 20,440, but the estimated inmate population was 32,300. Of the inmate population, 29,773 were men and 2,523 were women. In pretrial detention facilities such as police station jails, detainees suffered from overcrowding, malnutrition, mistreatment, and extortion. In June the NGO Una Ventana a la Libertad (A Window to Freedom-UVL) reported there were 16,778 detainees in 335 pretrial facilities, which had a designed capacity of 10,718.
Generally unsanitary conditions placed prisoners at increased risk of contracting respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 and tuberculosis. Lack of water and cleaning supplies, inadequate access to recreation and sunlight, and insufficient food also increased the risk of respiratory diseases. An estimated 60 percent of detainees showed symptoms of severe malnutrition, leading this to be one of the main causes of deaths in prisons and jails. According to OVP, only 13 percent of prisoners ate three times a day, 38 percent ate twice a day, 40 percent received food once a day, and 9 percent never received food from prison administrators and had to rely on family.
OVP reported that in 98 percent of detention facilities, prisoners depended on family to supply them with food, water, and medicine. There was no sanitary control in food supply, nor adequate spaces to prepare and consume food. Media reported prison guards regularly stole food that families purchased for inmates and extorted families attempting to bring food into prisons. The NGO Solidarity Action found prison rules resulted in the isolation of those with HIV or AIDS in “inadequate spaces." OVP reported a generalized lack of medical care, drugs, equipment, and physicians for prisoners. Inmates often received the same pills regardless of their symptoms.
Male and female inmates were held together in most prisons. The law stipulates women in mixed prisons must be held in annexes or separate women’s blocks; however, OVP reported that male and female prisoners intermingled. Maduro regime security forces and law enforcement authorities often held minors together with adults, although separate facilities existed. Because institutions were filled beyond capacity, hundreds of children accused of infractions were confined in juvenile detention centers, where they were reportedly crowded into small, unsanitary cells.
There were no policies that addressed woman-specific prison needs. According to OVP, there was one women’s prison and 16 women’s annexes. As of March, the women’s prison, designed to hold 350, was overcrowded with 674 women. Pregnant or lactating women lacked proper facilities, medical assistance, prenatal supplements, and basic hygiene products. Women were also victims of sexual violence, abuse, and torture, and they were frequently coerced into sexual acts in exchange for food or water. NGOs reported guards knew and tolerated these abuses and sometimes were also accomplices. Prisoners took turns sleeping on floors and in office chairs, and sanitation facilities were inadequate or nonexistent.
The PNB and the Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace have responsibility for prisons’ exterior and interior security, respectively. The Maduro regime failed to provide adequate prison security. OVP estimated a staffing gap of 90 percent for prison security personnel, with one guard for every 100 inmates instead of one for every 10, as recommended by international standards. Armed gangs, known as pranes, exercised de facto control within 46 percent of prisons. Pranes were involved in weapons and drug smuggling and often extorted funds from other inmates. Pranes also operated illegal businesses and criminal networks outside of prisons.
Between January and October, OVP recorded 86 deaths in prisons and pretrial detention centers, of which 59 percent resulted from causes associated with health conditions, including tuberculosis and malnutrition, and the rest due to violence and unsafe prison conditions. OVP reported that due to inadequate nutrition and lack of potable water, stomach illnesses were common among inmates. There were no adequate restroom facilities. None of the centers had proper infrastructure for persons with disabilities. On May 31, a riot at the Orient Penitentiary Center known as La Pica in Monagas State, one of the most violent, prane-controlled prisons in the country, resulted in two prisoners killed and six inmates injured.
Administration: The Maduro regime-aligned Ministry of Penitentiary Services did not respond to requests from OVP, UVL, other human rights organizations, inmates, or families regarding credible allegations of mistreatment or investigations of the harsh conditions that led to hunger strikes, violent uprisings, and massacres.
Prisoners and detainees generally had access to visitors, including some with overnight privileges, but some restrictions remained due to COVID-19. In some cases, prison officials harassed or abused visitors. For political prisoners, prison officials imposed significant restrictions on visits by family and legal representation. When allowed access, visitors were at times subjected to strip searches.
Independent Monitoring: Human rights observers experienced restrictions in gaining access to prisons and detention centers. Since 2012, the Ministry of Penitentiary Affairs prohibited NGOs from conducting prison visits. The Roman Catholic Church was also banned from conducting visits. In July, the OHCHR reported visiting 21 detention centers and interviewing 259 prisoners. On June 29, UNHCHR Michele Bachelet revealed her office was not allowed to visit SEBIN headquarters El Helicoide or DGCIM headquarters in Boleita, two of the most notorious places of detention in the country.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution prohibits the arrest or detention of an individual without a judicial order and provides for the accused to remain free while being tried, but judges and prosecutors often disregarded these provisions. NGOs such as Foro Penal, the Committee for the Families of Victims of February - March 1989, the Institute for Press and Society, Espacio Publico, and PROVEA noted at least 2,000 open cases of arbitrary detentions; however, the Maduro regime rarely granted detainees the right to challenge the lawfulness of their detentions in court, even though the right to do so is stipulated by law. The regime arbitrarily detained individuals, including foreign citizens, for extended periods without criminal charges.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees
While a warrant is required for an arrest, detention is permitted without an arrest warrant when an individual is apprehended in the act of committing a crime or to secure a suspect or witness during an investigation. Police often detained individuals and raided their homes without a warrant. The OHCHR found that in several cases the Maduro regime purported to issue warrants retroactively or forged the purported warrant’s date of issuance. Foro Penal maintained detentions were often conducted without a warrant, which were provided retroactively by complicit prosecutors and judges. Detainees were presented without proper defense before a court days after being disappeared; public defenders were imposed in violation of detainees’ right to choose their own lawyers.
The law mandates that detainees be brought before a prosecutor within 12 hours and before a judge within 48 hours to determine the legality of the detention. The law also requires that detainees be informed promptly of the charges against them. The regime routinely ignored these requirements.
Although the law provides for bail, release on bail is not afforded to persons charged with certain crimes. Bail also may be denied if a person is apprehended in the act of committing a crime or if a judge determines the accused may flee or impede the investigation. The law allows detainees access to counsel and family members, but that requirement was often not met, particularly for political prisoners. The constitution also provides any detained individual the right to immediate communication with family members and lawyers who, in turn, have the right to know a detainee’s whereabouts. A person accused of a crime may not be detained for longer than the possible minimum sentence for that crime or for longer than two years, whichever is shorter, except in certain circumstances, such as when the defendant is responsible for the delay in the proceedings. The regime routinely ignored these requirements.
Arbitrary Arrest: Foro Penal reported 16 cases of politically motivated arbitrary detentions between January 1 and June 30. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions issued opinions finding 11 persons were arbitrarily detained, including at least eight persons that were in pretrial detention for more than three years.
On June 7, police from the Chacao municipality of Caracas (Polichacao) arrested four young persons who participated in a tribute marking the five-year anniversary of the death of Neomar Lander, a protester who died after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by police during the 2017 antigovernment demonstrations on Libertador Avenue in Chacao. Human rights NGOs and opposition politicians claimed Polichacao officers arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared Jholbert Godoy, Argelia Rovaina, Carlos Maneiro, and Luis Martínez, all activists of the political party Voluntad Popular. On June 10, they were released following widespread media coverage of their arrest.
On August 4, Emirlendris Benitez, a woman arrested in 2018 by DGCIM officers in connection with the alleged drone attack against Maduro, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. According to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, Benitez was arrested without valid order, kept incommunicado, and held without trial for more than three years. The Working Group also reported Benitez was tortured while pregnant and miscarried.
Pretrial Detention: Prolonged pretrial detention remained a significant problem. According to OVP, there were 920 pretrial detention centers identified in 2020, including CICPC and SEBIN detention facilities and police station jails. Due to overcrowding, many police station offices were used as makeshift prison cells. Long delays in court proceedings and prison transfers created a parallel system that held prisoners in police station jails, in some cases for years, although these facilities were designed to hold individuals for only 48 hours, according to the criminal procedure organic code.
The NGO Citizen Observatory of the Penal Justice System attributed trial delays to the shortage of prosecutors and penal judges. The OHCHR reported that as of March, there were at least 114 political prisoners in pretrial detention who had spent more than three years detained with no trial.
Despite constitutional protections that provide for timely trials, judges reportedly scheduled initial hearings months after the events that led to the detention. Proceedings were often deferred or suspended when an officer of the court, such as the prosecutor, public defender, or judge, failed to attend. Prisoners reported to NGOs that a lack of transportation and disorganization in the prison system reduced their access to the courts and contributed to trial delays.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, but the judiciary lacked independence and generally acted to favor the Maduro regime at all levels. There were credible allegations of corruption and political influence throughout the judiciary. According to the International Commission of Jurists, 85 percent of judges had provisional appointments and were subject to removal at will by the Supreme Court (TSJ) Judicial Committee. In 2021, 244 judges were removed by the TSJ Judicial Commission without explanation as to the reasons for their dismissal, according to an OHCHR report. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also reported the judiciary operated with limited transparency. Provisional and temporary judges have the same authorities as permanent judges, but due to the nature of their employment status, they allegedly were subjected to political pressure to make proregime determinations. The OHCHR reported lower courts received instructions from the TSJ on cases, especially those of a political nature, and observed that TSJ decisions related to the legitimate National Assembly were inconsistent and raised concerns regarding politicization. Low salaries for judges at all levels increased the risk of corruption.
There was a general lack of transparency and stability in the assignments of district attorneys to cases and a lack of technical criteria for assigning district attorneys to criminal investigations. These deficiencies hindered the possibility of bringing offenders to justice and resulted in a 90 percent impunity rate for common crimes and a higher percentage of impunity for cases of alleged human rights abuses.
NGOs reported the lack of independence of the judiciary impeded the normal functioning of investigations and judicial processes and highlighted the fragility of norms and procedures.
Amnesty International reported regime-aligned individuals often interfered in cases of politically motivated arbitrary detentions, which were prosecuted by ordinary courts. A common practice among courts was to charge persons targeted by the regime with conspiracy or treason. Special courts with jurisdiction over terrorism frequently silenced dissidents.
In January a reform to the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice was approved that reduced the number of magistrates from 32 to 20. Some of the remaining magistrates were re-elected, however, violating the constitutional limit of 12-year terms. There were concerns regarding the political affiliations of most of the appointed magistrates due to regime ties. The IACHR expressed concerns regarding the judicial reform and urged the adoption of appropriate measures to assure the independence of the judiciary.
Trial Procedures
The law provides for the right to a fair and public trial with oral proceedings for all individuals. The FFM and OHCHR reports issued during the year concluded the regime frequently violated the rights to a fair trial without undue delay and to have legal counsel. Lack of judicial independence allowed the regime to use the judiciary to arbitrarily prosecute opponents and led to rampant abuse of rights. The OHCHR reported delays at different stages of the criminal process in at least 74 cases. The September FFM report found the 2021 judicial system reforms were not fully implemented and failed to address the serious flaws in the justice system that undermine its independence and impartiality.
By law defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. The law requires that detainees be informed promptly of the charges against them. These requirements were often ignored, according to human rights organizations. Indigent defendants’ right to free counsel was often not respected due to attorney shortages. Free interpretation was often not available to defendants. The OHCHR documented cases of the Maduro regime preventing lawyers from meeting with defendants and denying them confidentiality or access to case files.
Trial delays caused by constant irregularities in the judicial system were common and one of the main reasons detainees remained incarcerated. Trials in absentia were permitted in certain circumstances, although opponents of the procedure claimed the constitution prohibits such trials. The law also states that, in the absence of the defense attorney, a trial may proceed with a public defender whom the court designates. The law gives judges the discretion to hold trials behind closed doors if a public trial could “disturb the normal development of the trial."
On August 4, the Special Court of First Instance in Matters of Terrorism sentenced 17 political prisoners accused of involvement in an alleged 2018 drone attack against Maduro to prison terms ranging from five to 30 years. Twelve of the accused were charged with treason and intentional homicide and received 30-year sentences. Among those sentenced were 2015 National Assembly deputy Juan Requesens and Emirlendris Benitez, two cases characterized as arbitrary detentions by the United Nations. The sentencing came four years after the initial arrests of the accused and amid multiple delays and irregularities during their trials.
The law provides that trials for military personnel charged with human rights abuses after 1999 be held in civilian rather than military courts. In September 2021, the organic code of military justice was reformed to prohibit civilians from being tried in the military justice system, but in December 2021, the TSJ issued a decision that left open the possibility of civilians to be tried in military courts if the executive branch considered it appropriate.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
The Maduro regime used the judiciary to intimidate and prosecute individuals critical of regime policies or actions. As of Nov. 28, Foro Penal reported 277 political prisoners in regime custody.
Foro Penal data reported between January 2014 and November 2022 showed that 15,777 persons were arrested for political reasons and 875 civilians were unconstitutionally prosecuted before a military criminal jurisdiction. Foro Penal recorded more than 9,400 persons remained subject to arbitrary criminal proceedings for politically motivated precautionary measures. The regime routinely held political prisoners in SEBIN installations, the Ramo Verde military prison, or in DGCIM headquarters in Boleita, Caracas.
According to Foro Penal, the state security forces that detained the most political prisoners were the DGCIM, municipal police, GNB, and CICPC.
As of November, political leader and journalist Roland Carreño, arrested in 2020, remained arbitrarily detained on grounds of conspiracy, weapons smuggling, and terrorism financing, despite facing serious health problems. Due to procedural delays, Carreño’s trial did not begin until May, but as of November it was not concluded.
On March 18, the FFM presented an update expressing concern regarding the lack of medical care for political prisoners and other detainees.
Conditional releases were a common practice for the regime, particularly for political prisoners. On April 25, union leader Eudis Girot, who was arrested in 2020 and sentenced to three years for instigation, was released subject to reporting to court monthly and not leaving the country.
Transnational Repression
Misuse of International Law Enforcement Tools: There were credible reports the Maduro regime attempted to misuse international law enforcement tools, including Interpol Red Notices, for politically motivated purposes as a reprisal against specific individuals located outside the country. On August 4, regime attorney general Saab purportedly issued an arrest warrant for Miami-based journalist Carla Angola, for statements she made suggesting the United States should coordinate a drone attack against Maduro. Also on August 4, the First Tribunal of First Instance ratified an arrest warrant and extradition notice against exiled opposition leader Julio Borges for an alleged connection to the 2018 alleged drone attack against Maduro.
On Sept. 22, following the transfer of the majority of shares in the ownership of fertilizer company Monomeros from Colombia back to the regime, the regime stated it filed for Interpol red notices against 23 opposition-linked managers who had been at the helm of the company since the interim government took it over in 2019. The regime accused the 23 of corruption and malfeasance.
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
While there are separate civil courts that permit citizens to file lawsuits seeking damages, there are no procedures for individuals or organizations to seek civil remedies for human rights abuses.
f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The constitution provides for the inviolability of the home and personal privacy, but the Maduro regime generally failed to respect these prohibitions. In many cases, particularly regarding the political opposition, regime-aligned individuals interfered in personal communications. NGOs reported their offices were subject to arbitrary raids and having their websites or social media profiles blocked.
State surveillance remained rampant, including through the assistance of telecom regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) and state-run telecommunications provider CANTV. Technical attacks against media outlets appeared to be linked to the armed forces.
The People’s Republic of China, through its telecommunications corporation Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation, continued to provide the Maduro regime with technology to monitor citizens’ social, political, and economic behavior through an identity card called carnet de la patria (homeland card). To force citizens to comply, the regime made it obligatory to present the card to obtain social services, including pensions, medicine, food baskets, subsidized fuel, and in some instances COVID vaccinations. Citizens essentially had no choice other than to obtain and use the card despite the known tracking methods. Chinese companies such as Huawei and the China National Electronics Import-Export Company also supported, financially and technologically, these surveillance methods.
On June 22, Spanish telecommunication company Telefonica revealed the Maduro regime increased requests to listen in on telephone conversations of citizens. According to Telefonica, the regime increased its requests from 234,932 in 2017 to 861,004 in 2021. Telefonica is required by law to comply with requests made by the regime. The Public Ministry, CICPC, and SEBIN are among the institutions able to request a telephone interception.
g. Conflict-related Abuses
On Jan. 16, Domingo Hernandez Larez, whom the regime styled as the Strategic Operations Commander of FANB, announced a military deployment to the Venezuela-Colombia border in Apure State to control violence that broke out between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the ELN. NGOs reported the violence at the border led to the displacement of Indigenous communities to Colombia and Bolivar State. Human Rights Watch reported at least 500 Venezuelans, including Indigenous persons, fled to Vichada, a Colombian town near the border. According to Human Rights Watch, they fled because of the violent clashes but also because of threats of forced recruitment. According to displaced Venezuelans, armed groups on the Venezuelan side threatened to force adolescents and young persons from their homes if they did not join the groups.
Child Soldiers: The U.S. government has determined that the Maduro regime created a permissive environment for nonstate armed groups that had or used child soldiers from March 2021 to March 2022. Please see the Department of State’s Annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties
a. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Members of the Press and Other Media
The law provides for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, but the combination of laws and regulations governing libel, slander, and media content as well as legal harassment, physical intimidation of individuals and media, and regime influence on the judiciary resulted in significant repression of these freedoms. National and international groups, such as the IACHR, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Borders, and Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned Maduro regime efforts throughout the year to restrict press freedom and create a climate of fear and self-censorship.
Freedom of Expression: The law makes conviction of insulting the president punishable by six to 30 months in prison without bail, with lesser penalties for insulting lower-ranking officials. The 2017 Constitutional Law against Hate, for Political Coexistence and Tolerance stipulates prison sentences of up to 20 years for persons convicted of violations. While the stated purpose of the law was to “promote peace and tolerance," NGOs observed the vaguely written law could be used to silence political parties, activists, and civil society leaders as well as media outlets and journalists. Conviction of exposing another person to public contempt or hatred is punishable by prison sentences of one to three years and fines. In April, the OHCHR documented at least 34 cases of abuse of freedom of expression, including harassment, censorship, and seizure of equipment from media outlets, one radio station closure, the suspension of three radio programs critical of the regime, and 41 blocks to webpages that included independent media outlets, NGOs, and sites related to internet security, by regime and private internet providers.
The NGO Espacio Publico reported 228 instances of violations of freedom of expression in 128 cases between January and August, including censorship, intimidation, verbal and judicial harassment, threats, aggression, one death, and 14 arrests.
The NGO Un Mundo Sin Mordaza documented 198 claims of freedom of expression abuses from January to July. They identified seven cases of forced closure of traditional media outlets; seven cases of censorship via blocking of media; eight cases of arrests or detention of civilians and journalists; and 387 cases of harassment, aggression, and intimidation towards journalists and civilians during protests.
On April 18, Olga Mata and Florencio Gil were arrested for “inciting hate" after they published a video on TikTok that criticized high-level regime-aligned individuals such as Diosdado Cabello and called Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, a “widow." Regime attorney general Saab, also mentioned in the TikTok video, announced the arrest, accusing both of “instigating the assassination of public figures." The pair were released following a public outcry but were required to report to court monthly. Mata was also made to record an apology video.
Since 2017, the so-called law against hate was used to punish “hate crimes," including messages on social media. The law was often used to arrest political dissidents and continue intimidation limiting their rights even when released by banning international travel and requiring regular court appearances.
Violence and Harassment: Senior national and state leaders of the Maduro regime continued to harass and intimidate privately owned and opposition-oriented television stations, media outlets, and journalists by using threats, property seizures, administrative and criminal investigations, and prosecutions. The NGO Redes Ayuda reported a total of 63 acts of harassment, threats, and aggressions against journalists and press during the first half of the year.
Espacio Publico registered five arbitrary detentions for online publications through the end of August. Most of those arrested were journalists, members of media, or human rights NGOs and activists. The Law Against Hate continued to be cited by the regime in accusations.
On Jan. 19, during his television program Con el Mazo Dando, Diosdado Cabello, regime-aligned first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), displayed “wanted" posters of several journalists and opposition leaders, including Luis Carlos Diaz, Naky Soto, Carla Angola, and Rafael Poleo and accused them of being “thieves."
In July the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad Venezuela (IPYS) reported on the continued threats and harassment of journalists of the investigative journalism website Armando.Info, specifically Roberto Deniz. IPYS pointed to comments from Pedro Carvajalino, host of the Zurda Konducta program, broadcast by the regime-controlled Venezolana de Television (VTV), in which he called Armando.Info an “information extortion agency," and to the release of an article by a platform owned by Carvajalino titled “Armando Info: the Assassins of Journalism." According to IPYS, Deniz, his family, and his outlet Armando.Info, had been targets of attacks since they released a report related to businessman Alex Saab, an ally of Maduro.
On April 19, IAPA reported regime security forces continued a steady pace of raids, threats, and repression of journalists who investigated cases of corruption by high-ranking regime individuals. An IAPA report detailed instances of physical violence, threats, and attacks committed by police and military authorities against journalists who covered the regional and local elections in November 2021. IAPA affirmed access to digital media, multimedia platforms, streaming, and social networks was blocked by regime-controlled and private telecommunications companies, with the intention of muzzling freedom of expression.
Maduro and the regime-aligned PSUV used the nearly 600 regime-owned or -controlled media outlets to insult and intimidate the political opposition. PSUV’s First Vice President Diosdado Cabello continued to use his weekly television program to denounce individual journalists and media outlets.
Censorship or Content Restrictions for Members of the Press and Other Media, Including Online Media: The law provides that inaccurate reporting deemed to disturb the public peace is punishable by prison terms of two to five years. The requirement that media disseminate only “true" information is undefined and open to politically motivated interpretation.
The law declares telecommunications a “public interest service," thereby giving the government authority to regulate the content and structure of radio, television, and audiovisual production sectors. The law provides that the government may suspend or revoke licenses when it judges such actions necessary in the interests of the nation, public order, or security. The law empowers the government to impose heavy fines and cancel broadcasts for violations of its norms; CONATEL oversees the law’s application.
The Maduro regime continued legal actions against high-profile independent media outlets and radio stations. On February 7, a court awarded the headquarters of El Nacional newspaper to Diosdado Cabello after Cabello filed a lawsuit against the newspaper for “moral damage" in 2015 following the republication of Spanish outlet ABC España’s headline on the announcement by a foreign law enforcement agency that Diosdado Cabello was wanted for narcotrafficking. As a result, El Nacional ended a recent effort to publish a print edition. On Feb. 10, Cabello threatened he would go after news outlet La Patilla next. La Patilla also previously reported on Cabello’s alleged links to drug trafficking.
Maduro regime-owned and -influenced media provided almost continuous proregime programming. In addition, private and public radio and television stations were required to transmit mandatory nationwide broadcasts throughout the year, including a daily 15-minute news broadcast that provided reports and summaries of regime activities. Media reported the GNB regularly barred journalists from covering 2015 National Assembly debates and activities.
Several times Nicolas Maduro instructed the purported national assembly, installed following elections in 2020 that were widely condemned as fraudulent, to include “very strict regulations on social networks" in reforms made to the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio, Television, and Electronic Media (Resorte Law).
The OHCHR documented that during the November 2021 regional elections, there were restrictions to media freedom that affected at least 15 journalists and members of media, including five women.
NGOs noted the Maduro regime’s preference for using legal proceedings, financial sanctions, and administrative actions against unfavorable news outlets instead of shutting them down outright. Members of the independent media and human rights activists who had limited or ceased their activities said they regularly engaged in self-censorship due to fear of regime reprisals. This resulted in many journalists posting articles to their personal blogs and websites instead of publishing them in traditional media.
According to a study by the NGO Un Mundo sin Mordaza, 93 percent of persons surveyed in the country considered that freedom of expression could not be fully exercised, and 26 percent responded they never believed they were safe when expressing their opinion or disseminating information. In the results of its Self-Censorship Survey in which 700 persons participated, the NGO concluded there was a clear lack of trust in the regime by citizens. In the survey, 565 persons indicated there was no possibility of expressing themselves in peaceful demonstrations due to fear of being attacked, harassed, or even killed by security forces. According to the study, 29 percent considered they exercised some level of self-censorship and 30 percent responded they almost always self-censored on social networks.
The regime also exercised control over content through licensing and broadcasting requirements. CONATEL acted selectively on applications from private radio and television broadcasters for renewal of its broadcast frequencies to limit the use of radio space by media not aligned with the regime. According to NGO reports, approximately 80 percent of radio stations throughout the country were in “illegal" status due to CONATEL not having renewed licenses for most radio stations since 2007, a tool used to intimidate and censor.
As of November, CONATEL had closed more than 100 radio stations in 14 states, with 56 closures in October alone. Most stations were closed for allegedly not having permits to be on the air or for not having the authorization, a concession document for use of the radio spectrum, or both. NGOs reported CONATEL often did not grant the permits despite longstanding requests, leaving radio stations in a technically “illegal" state of operation and therefore vulnerable to being shut down. Some radio stations also had equipment confiscated by CONATEL.
The Maduro regime controlled a large portion of the country’s businesses and paid for advertising only with regime-owned or regime-friendly media.
According to Espacio Publico and the IPYS, approximately five million persons lived in “media deserts" or “silenced zones," areas that had no access to print, television, radio, or digital media due to censorship, forced closures of television and radio stations, and reprisals against journalists. Access to information was most heavily restricted in border territories and Indigenous communities, and these areas also faced greater internet restrictions.
Libel/Slander Laws: Libel and slander are criminal offenses, punishable by one to three years’ imprisonment and a significant fine. Regime-aligned individuals engaged in reprisals against media organizations and individuals who publicly expressed criticism of Maduro or regime policy.
On May 16, Carabobo State Governor Rafael Lacava sued Father Alfredo Infante from the NGO Lupa Por la Vida and Marino Alvarado, coordinator of PROVEA, for defamation after the publication of PROVEA’s 2021 human rights report. Lacava took issue with the claim in the report that Carabobo had the highest rate of extrajudicial executions committed by police and security forces. Alvarado told media chain of command members, including Lacava, should be investigated for their role in extrajudicial killings, which often disproportionately affected young men from poor neighborhoods. PROVEA and other NGOs called the lawsuit part of a state policy to criminalize NGOs. On June 23, both Alvarado and Infante retracted their claims after reaching an agreement with Lacava.
National Security: The law allows the government to suspend or revoke licenses when it determines such actions necessary in the interests of public order or security. The Maduro regime exercised control over the press through a public entity, the Strategic Center for Security and Protection of the Homeland, which is similar to the governmental entity Center for National Situational Studies. The two entities have similar mandates and are responsible for “compiling, processing, analyzing, and classifying" both regime-released and other public information with the objective of “protecting the interests and objectives of the state."
The regime continuously used the law against organized crime and financing of terrorism to implicate and accuse political opponents of committing crimes.
Nongovernmental Impact: Widespread violence in the country, often encouraged or left undeterred by the Maduro regime, made it difficult to determine whether attacks on journalists resulted from common criminal activity or whether criminals or others targeted media members.
Internet Freedom
The Maduro regime restricted or disrupted access to the internet and censored online content. The regime exercised broad control over the internet through CONATEL. The China National Electronics Import-Export Company continued to provide the regime with cyber support, technical experts, and a suite of software and hardware that was a commercial version of China’s internet regulator Great Firewall to maintain online censorship, control information, and prevent the internal dissemination of content deemed undesirable by political leadership.
Freedom House noted in its 2022 Freedom on the Net survey that the regime blocked content at critical times, including during the 2021 regional elections, and carried out disinformation campaigns against journalists. The report also found detentions, imprisonment, and legal and extralegal restrictions on certain forms of online speech continued to result in widespread self-censorship by journalists, media outlets, and ordinary citizens fearful of reprisal for their online activity.
The law puts the burden of filtering prohibited electronic messages on service providers; it allows CONATEL to order service providers to block access to websites that violate these norms and sanctions service providers with fines for distributing prohibited messages. The regime via CONATEL implemented censorship through all major internet service providers and used both direct means and administrative sanctions to cause HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), DNS (Domain Name System) blocks, or SNI (Server Name Indication) filtering by CANTV. Freedom House’s 2022 report noted private internet service providers began blocking news websites that had previously been blocked only by the state-owned service provider. The country’s online independent newspapers were frequently blocked by regime-owned internet service provider CANTV. The regime also used indirect means through cyberattacks or false reports on social networks that led to the closure of the accounts of the related users.
NGOs identified threats and intimidation to social networks users for publishing content critical of the regime on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. The online media monitor ProBox noted the regime used bots, trolls, and cyborgs (a hybrid account in which a human periodically takes over a bot account) to flood social media platforms such as Twitter with proregime information and control online communications. ProBox estimated that more than 60 percent of proregime messages on Twitter appeared to originate from bots. In March, ProBox denounced the purported national assembly for discussing the development of a project to regulate social media and digital content. ProBox also reported on the inauguration of the International University of Communications, which regime media described as a “communication training platform," but ProBox warned could be a means to train others in disinformation tactics.
According to VE sin Filtro (Venezuela without Filters), an internet monitoring project sponsored by internet freedom watchdog Venezuela Inteligente, the regime practice of blocking websites combined with precarious internet connections and interruptions in electricity service made normal browsing exceedingly difficult and contributed to the online media censorship that had grown exponentially since 2014.
Regime-controlled intelligence agencies, which lacked independent oversight, conducted surveillance for political purposes. Courts relied on evidence obtained from anonymous patriotas cooperantes (cooperating patriots) to harass perceived opponents of the Maduro regime, and senior regime-aligned individuals used personal information gathered by patriotas cooperantes to intimidate regime critics and human rights defenders. Users were arrested and criminally accused of actions such as tweeting information publicly available on webpages.
In November 2021, during the regional elections, VE sin Filtro reported more than 35 key web domains relevant to the elections were blocked, which prevented users from accessing information about the elections. In January, VE Sin Filtro documented a significant increase in internet blockings targeting media outlets Efecto Cocuyo, Cronica Uno, and EVTV Miami. Venezuela sin Filtro also registered the blocking of the NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdon’s webpage.
State-controlled CANTV was the leading internet provider in the country with 70 percent of subscribers. CANTV implemented a blocking system that required the use of a VPN (virtual private network) to evade censorship. Other internet providers Inter, Movistar, Digitel, Supercable, and NetUno implemented a block that could be circumvented by changing the DNS (domain name system) of the devices.
Restrictions on Academic Freedom and Cultural Events
There were no substantiated reports of Maduro regime restrictions on cultural events, but the regime imposed restrictions on academic freedom. Aula Abierta, a local human rights NGO focused on academic freedom, reported the regime retaliated against opposition-oriented autonomous universities by denying them sufficient funding and failing to adjust budgetary allocations to inflation, affecting the quality of higher education, scientific research, infrastructure investment, teachers’ salaries, and student benefits as well as contributing to teachers leaving their positions and students abandoning their studies. During the year, several of the country’s most important universities operated with deficits averaging 97 percent.
According to Aula Abierta, 73 percent of university teacher association group boards had expired, but registration obstacles imposed by proregime actors at the CNE prevented them from electing new board members. Universities, unions, and other associations that hold elections faced obstacles that impeded the renewal of their expired directives.
According to a January report from the ULA-Human Rights Observatory, Central University of Venezuela (UCV) reported only 1.13 percent of UCV’s requested budget for the year received approval. According to the report, the regime also continued to owe part of the 2020 and 2021 budget. The Maduro regime state
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs