One year after Venezuela鈥檚 2024 presidential election, the government of President Nicol谩s Maduro is continuing to kill, detain, torture and disappear critics in a 鈥渟ystematic鈥� campaign of repression, according to a new report by .
The report, released Monday, accuses Maduro鈥檚 administration of politically motivated arrests and widespread human rights violations following an election marred by allegations of fraud.
Venezuela鈥檚 Electoral Council Maduro the winner hours after polls closed on July 28, 2024, but international observers widely criticized the process as lacking transparency.
The official vote tally has never been released, and say their own counts show Maduro lost to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonz谩lez.
Since the vote, the report says, the government has escalated through a nationwide campaign known as 鈥淥peration Knock Knock鈥� (鈥淥peraci贸n Tun Tun鈥�), targeting protestors and political opponents, particularly in working-class neighborhoods. Thousands took to the streets after the election. The crackdown included killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture.
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As of July 21, at least 853 political prisoners remain behind bars, according to . Human Rights Watch said detainees have often been held incommunicado and denied access to lawyers and due process. Many have been charged with vague offenses like 鈥渢errorism鈥� and 鈥渋ncitement to hatred鈥� 鈥� charges that can carry sentences of up to 30 years.
鈥淭he Venezuelan authorities are committing systematic human rights violations against critics,鈥� Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement. 鈥淩ecent releases of people arbitrarily detained do not conceal the fact that hundreds of political prisoners remain behind bars.鈥�
Some high-profile detainees include opposition leaders Freddy Superlano and Jes煤s Armas, human rights lawyer Eduardo Torres, and 2024 presidential candidate Enrique M谩rquez. Victims reported beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, and solitary confinement in dark, overcrowded cells.
鈥淭he Maduro government has for years followed a 鈥榬evolving-door鈥� pattern, releasing some arbitrarily detained people while arresting others,鈥� Goebertus said. 鈥淔oreign governments, including the United States, should know that they are being played by a government that releases some political prisoners while detaining others, all the while entrenching its authoritarian rule.鈥�
Human Rights Watch is urging the international community to demand lasting reforms and support ongoing investigations into human rights abuses. The group also called for leveraging upcoming diplomatic events, including the CELAC-EU summit in Colombia and the Vatican鈥檚 planned canonization of two Venezuelans in October, to push for broader accountability.
