Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting for the 62th anniversary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, on Sept. 14.FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images
Independent experts working with the UN’s top human rights body say Venezuelan authorities have failed to hold to account state-backed perpetrators of violations including arbitrary executions, sexual violence and torture of civilians, warning that abuses by intelligence and counterintelligence services are continuing.
The third report from the fact-finding mission on Venezuela, commissioned by the UN’s Human Rights Council, released Tuesday adds new detail on a string of rights violations – including possible crimes against humanity – under President Nicolas Maduro’s government that the experts first documented two years ago.
“Venezuela is still facing a profound human rights crisis,” said Marta Valinas, a Portuguese legal expert who chairs the mission.
The mission said authorities have not done enough to compensate victims, and cautioned that violations continue “to this day” under the military counterintelligence service, known as DGCIM, and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, or SEBIN.
“The Venezuelan authorities have failed to hold perpetrators to account and provide reparations to victims in a context where judicial reforms announced from 2021 have failed to address the justice system’s lack of independence and impartiality,” a statement from the mission said.
The team, which drew its findings in part from nearly 250 interviews, documented a total of 122 cases of victims who were subjected by DGCIM agents to torture, sexual violence and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment at its headquarters in Caracas and covert centres around the country.
The experts are expected to present their findings to the council, which last week began its latest autumn session, on Monday.