Ongoing systematic state-led repression in Venezuela may amount to crimes against humanity.

BACKGROUND:

On 3 January 2026 United States (US) armed forces conducted an unprecedented and unlawful military operation in Venezuela, resulting in the forced transfer of Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to US territory. In subsequent days, Delcy Rodríguez – who had served as Vice President under Maduro – was sworn in as interim president.

For more than a decade, Maduro presided over an entrenched – and still fully intact – authoritarian system. Following years of endemic corruption and the gradual erosion of the rule of law, mass protests erupted in 2014 in response to insecurity, hyperinflation and a lack of essential services. These protests were met with a brutal crackdown by state agents. Since then, the Venezuelan government has perpetrated systematic arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, sexual and gender-based violence and short-term enforced disappearances targeting a wide range of actual and perceived opponents. A coordinated network of actors, including civilian and military intelligence and security forces, have carried out these crimes under the order and control of different individuals within the ruling elite. Pro-government paramilitaries, known as colectivos, have also been regularly mobilized to reinforce coercive control at the community level. Various security forces have been implicated in tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings, carried out under the pretext of combating crime. These killings predominantly target men between 18 and 30 years old who live in low-income neighborhoods.

Authorities have steadily dismantled safeguards against atrocities, including by shrinking and attacking civic space through restrictive laws, criminalizing opposition activities and targeting civil society organizations (CSOs). Threats by senior government officials against individuals engaging with UN mechanisms, alongside the growing use of short-term enforced disappearances, further intensified fear and repression.

Patterns of politically motivated repression intensified in the lead-up and aftermath of the presidential elections held on 28 July 2024. Following a landslide opposition victory and the government’s refusal to relinquish power, authorities escalated persecution of actual or alleged opponents, including ordinary citizens, opposition members, journalists and human rights defenders. Venezuelan rights organization Foro Penal recorded the detention of almost 2,000 individuals between election and inauguration day alone.

Since the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) established the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFM) in 2019, it has repeatedly found that violations and abuses committed since at least 2014 formed part of a “widespread and systematic attack” against the civilian population and are “part of a plan orchestrated at the highest levels of the government to repress dissent through crimes against humanity.” The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opened investigations into possible crimes against humanity in November 2021.

Venezuela’s wider security landscape has further compounded risks to civilians. Armed groups and criminal actors operate with relative impunity in multiple regions, at times in collusion with state agents. This fragmentation has deepened vulnerability, including among Indigenous Peoples, particularly in border regions and resource-rich areas.

Since 2014 populations have endured a prolonged humanitarian emergency and the full collapse of socio-economic systems, leaving most Venezuelans in need of assistance amid severely underfunded humanitarian relief efforts. Throughout this period an estimated 8 million Venezuelans have left the country in what is considered the largest migration crisis in recent Latin American history.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

In the immediate aftermath of Maduro’s removal, domestic authorities signaled intensifying repression, including through issuing emergency decrees, deploying colectivos in public spaces and temporarily detaining journalists. Yet on 8 January, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez announced that a significant number of the more than 1,000 political prisoners in state custody would be released from detention facilities. Between 8 January and 8 March Foro Penal documented the release of 670 individuals. However, many remain subject to precautionary measures, ongoing criminal investigations and restrictions on public communication. The government also introduced an “Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence” in late January, which the National Assembly hastily approved. The law has generated significant concerns regarding its ability to provide comprehensive redress. Since the adoption of the law on 19 February, Foro Penal has documented that at least 91 individuals have been fully liberated.

ANALYSIS:

The actions undertaken by the US constitute a serious breach of the UN Charter and have compounded already severe risks and protection gaps facing Venezuelans. While Maduro’s forcible removal generated cautious hope and a critical opportunity for meaningful long-term change, at the time of writing all senior individuals, institutions and state structures responsible for facilitating crimes against humanity remain intact. Uncertainty over internal power dynamics within Venezuela’s ruling elite, where different factions control the military, police and intelligence services, as well as paramilitary actors like the colectivos, has increased the risk of violence, human rights violations and atrocity crimes. These dynamics further compound the vulnerability of millions already living under extreme socio-economic strain.

Recent institutional changes risk amounting to cosmetic concessions rather than meaningful structural reform. The removal of the Attorney General – one of the central architects of repression – followed by his appointment as interim Ombudsperson risks perpetuating the same institutional structures responsible for atrocity crimes under Maduro.

In this context, despite significant concerns regarding the limited scope and restrictions of the Amnesty Law, it offers a vital opportunity to alleviate the suffering of those unlawfully detained. However, its impact will remain limited without far-reaching reforms of the judicial system and the repeal of legislation that has enabled political persecution and the systematic restriction of civic space. The limited transparency surrounding release procedures has generated acute distress for affected families and increased the burden on CSOs providing documentation, legal assistance and support.

Any meaningful reform process will need to be comprehensive, encompassing the dismantling of security forces and intelligence services responsible for crimes against humanity, alongside an overhaul of the country’s judicial and electoral systems.

The refusal by Venezuelan authorities and US decisionmakers to commit to genuine democratization processes – as well as persistent uncertainty regarding the extent to which the US is shaping key decisions during Rodríguez’s leadership – underscores the urgent need for cross-regional governments to establish human rights, atrocity prevention, accountability and rule of law benchmarks as binding conditions and red lines across their engagement frameworks. Absent such benchmarks, governments risk disregarding Venezuelans’ demands for democratic change, exacerbating protection gaps, entrenching acute poverty and potentially contributing to further displacement and migration. Heightened sensitivity to international legitimacy creates a narrow but important opportunity for external actors to exert principled pressure on interim authorities to secure concrete concessions and pathways toward structural reform.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Unlawful military action and ambiguity over the exercise of state authority, producing volatile power dynamics.
    • Continued influence of senior government officials involved in the planning and commission of crimes against humanity.
    • Lack of independent and impartial judiciary and other state institutions, enabling impunity for atrocity crimes.
    • Adoption of measures to criminalize CSOs and attacks against democratic institutions.
    • Absence of accountable state authority, presence of non-state armed actors and high levels of crime, corruption and illicit economic exploitation.

NECESSARY ACTION:

Venezuelan authorities must immediately end systematic repression and fully release all individuals arbitrarily detained or facing other restrictive measures. The government should commit to genuine and comprehensive reform, pursue impartial investigations into all serious violations and abuses, immediately grant all OHCHR staff full and permanent access to the country, including all detention facilities, and fully cooperate with the FFM.

US engagement must move beyond a narrow emphasis on resource access and instead toward a genuine commitment to human rights, pursued through multilateral frameworks and reflected in economic reforms designed to address the severe living conditions and socio-economic hardship facing Venezuelans.

Closing diverse protection gaps and advancing a long-term path toward democratic change will require principled, coordinated and long-term engagement by cross-regional governments, including regional member states, Canada and the European Union. Governments engaging with Venezuelan authorities, including through their diplomatic missions in Caracas, must ensure that engagement is firmly oriented toward restoring fundamental liberties and the rule of law, rather than normalization absent meaningful reforms. Recommendations issued by the FFM should be used as the basis for political and diplomatic efforts to secure immediate concessions and support long-term reform processes.

International donors should urgently expand their support for CSOs documenting human rights violations, supporting victims and survivors and providing lifesaving relief. This support must include sustainable funding and meaningful inclusion of CSOs in technical and political processes to ensure that proposed solutions do not lack legitimacy and durability.

For more on the Global Centre’s advocacy work on the situation in Venezuela, see our Venezuela country advocacy page.