Venezuela’s post-election crackdown was rife with human rights violations

The United Nations (UN) has accused the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro of committing “serious violations of human rights” following the controversial presidential election in July. According to a report published on Tuesday, the regime’s security forces were responsible for murders, enforced disappearances and physical, psychological and sexual torture.

“The reactivation of the most violent mechanisms of the State’s repressive apparatus caused serious violations of human rights and crimes, in what constituted one of the most acute crises in the country in recent years,” stated the International Mission Independent Fact-Finding of the UN on its 161- page report.

According to the investigation, the crimes were “instigated by the highest civilian and military levels of the state, including President Maduro.” The mission confirmed that at least 25 people, including at least two minors, were killed in the post-election violence. At least a third of these killings were carried out by Maduro’s security forces or government-backed groups.

Beyond the deaths, thousands of Venezuelans were injured, arbitrarily arrested or forcibly disappeared. Many of the arrests occurred without court orders, and detainees were routinely denied access to legal representation. them they were threatened with torture to force confessions of terrorism, treason and other crimes. Torture methods include beatings, electric shocks to the genitals, suffocation with plastic bags, immersion in cold water and sleep deprivation.

Among those arrested were 158 minors (130 boys and 28 girls), many of whom were arrested without notifying their families. They too were subjected to threats and abuse. A 16-year-old boy who was beaten for a week, another boy was left with broken teeth and an immobilized hand, and two girls who were stripped and groped by security forces.

The repression occurs after the July elections, in which the National Electoral Council declared Ripe the winner. The official vote count was never made public, but when the opposition released its own data, its numbers showed that Maduro had lost to the leader of the opposition Edmundo González. Many countries, including the United States, have recognized Gonzalez as the rightful winner.

Although the government had already been cracking down on dissent before the election, it later stepped up its efforts under “Operation Tun TunSecurity forces were deployed to the homes of protesters and other government critics, marking the homes of suspected opponents with an “X”. Authorities also encouraged citizens to report alleged opponents via a mobile app. Most of those arrested simply expressed their displeasure with the election results.

The report notes that its findings are just “a sample of a much larger universe” of crimes committed by the government, which, the researchers noted, extends far beyond this post-election crackdown.