UN Warns Of 'Continued Torture and Mistreatment of Detainees' in Venezuela Even Despite Maduro's Capture

The United Nations' top human rights official has warned that reports of torture and abuse in Venezuelan detention centers persist even after the January capture of former president Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces and the backing of an interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez.

Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the U.N. Human Rights Council that his office had received information about "the continued torture and mistreatment of detainees, including in the Rodeo 1 and Fuerte Guaicaipuro" detention centers. Türk said many Venezuelans also remain in "arbitrary detention," including at least one child, as BBC reports.

Rodríguez, Maduro's former vice president and now interim president, has overseen the passage of an amnesty law intended to release thousands of detainees. Türk welcomed the measure but said "structural and systemic human rights concerns have persisted" despite Maduro's removal from power.

Venezuela's parliament has said more than 7,700 people were granted "full freedom" under the law, though most were previously under house arrest or parole. The prisoners' rights group Foro Penal said it has confirmed fewer than 700 releases and estimates that more than 500 people remain imprisoned for political reasons.

Türk said the U.N. had requested the official list of those released and access to detention centers but had not received it. "We have requested the official list of those released, as well as unfettered access to several detention centres, so far without success," he told the council.

Venezuela's foreign minister, Yván Gil, rejected Türk's remarks, calling them "unfounded" and accusing the U.N. rights office of repeating the claims of political opponents. In a statement, Gil said the high commissioner was promoting a "biased narrative" against Venezuela and acting as "a sounding board for falsehoods."

A separate report from the U.N.'s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, published last week, said the country's "repressive state" remains intact, reporting 87 politically motivated detentions since Maduro's ouster and adding that "institutional structures facilitating human rights violations have not been dismantled."

Lawyer María Eloisa Quintero, representing the mission, said Venezuela cannot be considered on a path toward reform "unless and until that repressive apparatus is dismantled."

International human rights organizations have also expressed concern about the situation following Maduro's capture. Human Rights Watch said the change in leadership could "consolidate the country's repressive government so long as it serves U.S. political and business interests" while Amnesty International criticized the operation that removed Maduro, warning it could reinforce authoritarian practices rather than dismantle them.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard said, arguing that both Venezuelan state abuses and U.S. actions should face scrutiny.