April 30 (UPI) -- The Venezuelan government under President Nicolas Maduro has engaged in a "brutal crackdown" that includes killings and forced detention of critics, a Human Rights Watch report says.
Human Rights Watch accuses the Venezuelan government and its armed supporters of "killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention" following the 2024 election in a 104-page report published Wednesday and titled, "Punished for Seeking Change."
Venezuelan authorities and pro-government groups called "colectivos" for months afterward engaged in "widespread abuses," according to Human Rights Watch.
Those abuses include 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," Human Rights Watch says.
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Election results questioned
Maduro in January was sworn in for his third six-year term as president of Venezuela despite opposition to the election results.
"Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups have committed widespread abuses since the July 28, 2024, presidential elections that officials said Nicholas Maduro had won despite substantial evidence to the contrary," Human Rights Watch said Wednesday in a news release.
The report says Venezuela's Electoral Council announced Maduro received more than 51% of the vote within hours of polls closing on July 28 and declared him the winner.
"The process lacked transparency and integrity," the report says and cites the U.N. Electoral Technical Team and the Carter Center among international organizations that are skeptical of Maduro's election win after observing them.
"Precinct-level tally sheets published by the opposition, which seemed to indicate that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won, were reliable and 'authentic,'" the Human Rights Watch report states.
"The Electoral Council failed to release the official tally sheets and did not conduct the required audits or citizen verification processes mandated by law."
Brutal repression of protesters and opposition
When thousands of protesters demonstrated peacefully to demand a fair and transparent counting of the vote, Human Rights Watch says, "they were met with brutal repression."
Since the election, 24 protesters and bystanders were killed during demonstrations, and more than 2,000 people have been detained, the report says.
"The Venezuelan government has killed, tortured, detained and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change," Human Rights Watch Americas Director Juanita Goebertus said.
"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," Goebertus added.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 101 people from July to April and analyzed and verified 76 videos, 17 photographs, death certificates of protesters and judicial records involving arrests and criminal proceedings related to the protests while compiling its report.
Hundreds charged and prosecuted
Venezuelan authorities have charged hundreds with crimes, such as "incitement to hatred" and "terrorism," which are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Many detainees "have been subjected to enforced disappearances," including foreign nationals.
Many of those who have been detained were denied legal representation by an attorney of their choosing and barred from accessing their respective case files.
Many were prosecuted in virtual and group court hearings in violation of their legal rights, according to Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch describes itself as an independent group of about 550 "country experts, lawyers, journalists and others" from more than 70 nations.
Its members advocate on behalf of "vulnerable minorities and civilians" for meaningful change and enforcement of existing laws, policies and practices while holding "abusers to account" and bringing "justice to victims."
