- Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups have committed widespread abuses since the July 28, 2024 presidential elections that officials said Nicolás Maduro had won, despite substantial evidence to the contrary.
- The Venezuelan government has killed, tortured, detained, and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change and many others have fled the country.
- Governments should support accountability efforts for grave human rights violations in Venezuela, call on Venezuelan authorities to release people arbitrarily detained, disclose the whereabouts of those subjected to enforced disappearances, and expand access to international protection for Venezuelans fleeing repression.
(Washington, DC) – Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups have committed widespread abuses since the July 28, 2024 presidential elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 104-page report, “Punished for Seeking Change: Killings, Enforced Disappearances and Arbitrary Detention Following Venezuela’s 2024 Election,” documents human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders, and critics during post-electoral protests and the months that followed. It implicates Venezuelan authorities and pro-government groups, known as colectivos, in widespread abuses, including killings of protesters and bystanders; enforced disappearances of opposition party members, their relatives, and foreign nationals; arbitrary detention and prosecution, including of children; and torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
“The Venezuelan government has killed, tortured, detained and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Foreign governments should recommit to supporting the fight for democracy and human rights in Venezuela and press to hold the Maduro government accountable for its atrocities.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 101 people, including victims, relatives, witnesses, human rights defenders, journalists, and other local sources by phone and in-person between July 2024 and April 2025. Human Rights Watch also analyzed and verified 76 videos and 17 photographs related to incidents of post-election repression posted on social media platforms or sent directly to researchers as well as death certificates related to those killed in the protests and judicial records relating to arrests and criminal proceedings.
Following the election, Venezuelan electoral authorities announced that Nicolás Maduro had been re-elected president. Independent observers—notably the United Nations Panel of Electoral Experts and the Carter Center—raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of the results. The Carter Center concluded that the tally sheets gathered by the opposition most likely showed that opposition candidate Edmundo González had won by a significant margin.
Twenty-four protesters and bystanders were killed during protests across the country immediately after the elections. Evidence gathered by Human Rights Watch points to the involvement of Venezuelan security forces in some of these killings and colectivos in others. Security forces initially used tear gas and carried out arrests, followed by colectivo members attacking or intimidating protesters as demonstrations continued.
Since the election, over 2,000 people have been detained for protesting, criticizing the government, or supporting the opposition. The authorities have charged hundreds with vague offenses, such as “incitement to hatred” and “terrorism,” which carry sentences of up to 30 years.
Several detainees have been subjected to enforced disappearances, forcing their relatives to search for them in multiple detention centers and even morgues. Victims of enforced disappearances include members of the opposition and their relatives, as well as dozens of foreign nationals.
On September 14, Venezuelan security forces detained Colombian Manuel Tique, 32, an employee of the Danish Refugee Council, as he crossed the Colombia-Venezuela land border for work. Venezuelan authorities have refused to provide his family with information about his whereabouts or the charges against him. His family suspects he is being held in Rodeo I prison, based on information provided by a former detainee who was held there.
On January 8, Lucas Hunter, a 35-year-old French-American tourist, told his sister that Venezuelan security forces had stopped him near the Colombian border. In an audio message sent to his family that day, he said security forces questioned him for four hours and they would probably take him to Caracas. His family has not heard from him since and has been denied information about his whereabouts and the reason for his detention.
Venezuelan authorities have arbitrarily detained people using serious due process violations. Many have been denied representation by a lawyer of their choice or access to their own case files, and some were prosecuted in virtual and group hearings that undermined their rights.
On December 10, Jesús Armas, a former Caracas councilman and opposition campaign member, was forcibly detained by hooded men as he left a coffee shop in Caracas. For nearly a week, authorities refused to confirm his whereabouts or accept the habeas corpus petition his family filed. Armas later reported to his partner that he had been held in an unofficial detention site, where Bolivarian National Intelligence Service officers tortured him by suffocating him with a bag during interrogations about opposition figures. He remains detained without regular access to his family or lawyer.
The Attorney General’s Office says it has released hundreds of detainees, though many remain under criminal investigation. Many have been forced to sign documents prohibiting them from disclosing information about their arrest or legal proceedings. Some were forced to record videos saying that their rights were respected during detention.
Many people have left the country since the crackdown began and are seeking protection abroad. They face slow asylum systems in Latin America and, in the United States, the suspension of resettlement proceedings under the administration of President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration appears to be prioritizing cooperation on migration issues and the release of American citizens held in Venezuela over broader efforts to uphold human rights and the rule of law. Given US influence and rising anti-migrant sentiment in Latin America, there is a serious risk that other governments may follow suit, Human Rights Watch said.
Maduro is likely to exploit this cooperation to legitimize his hold on power, leading to further repression and quite possibly triggering a new wave of Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
Governments should counter Maduro’s domestic carrot-and-stick incentives that reward abusive authorities and security forces, making them loyal to the government, while punishing, torturing, and forcing into exile critics, opponents, and even security force members who support democracy and human rights. They should support accountability efforts, including by imposing targeted sanctions and supporting the work of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela and the International Criminal Court.
Foreign governments should expand support for Venezuelan civil society groups, independent journalists, and groups advocating for democracy and rights. They should also urgently expand protections for those forced to leave the country.
“With eight million Venezuelans living abroad, the rights crisis in Venezuela remains the most consequential in the Western Hemisphere. A sustained and principled international response is crucial for the entire region,” Goebertus said. “Governments should use any engagement with Maduro to achieve verifiable human rights improvements, including the release of people forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily detained.”
