The State of the World's Human Rights; Venezuela 2025

Crimes against humanity persisted and were committed with impunity. All branches of the state continued to persecute and severely punish real or perceived dissent against the government of Nicolás Maduro. Hundreds of people suffered arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance, as well as torture and other human rights violations, for opposing or criticizing the government. Many of these individuals were subjected to criminal proceedings that lacked judicial guarantees, being denied counsel of their own choosing, access to information on the charges against them, or the right to appear before an independent tribunal. Human rights defenders and journalists continued to be one of the main targets of the government’s policy of repression. Around 7.9 million Venezuelan refugees had fled the country since 2015. The humanitarian crisis persisted, with almost two million people dependent on international aid. No progress was made on sexual and reproductive rights. Discrimination against the LGBTI population and Indigenous Peoples continued and there was no legislative progress to promote their rights. Illegal mining and environmental devastation continued to generate concern.

Background

Claims persisted regarding the results of the 2024 presidential election. Parliamentary and regional elections were held in March and July, respectively, in an environment of repression similar to that of the presidential elections.

From 2 September, the USA carried out air strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific on 34 vessels allegedly transporting drugs from Latin America to the USA, resulting in the extrajudicial killing of at least 110 people. US president Donald Trump attempted to justify these attacks by citing potential risk to life in his country. Tensions between the two governments increased due to the aggressive rhetoric used and the fact that the attacks were carried out off the coast of Venezuela, mostly against vessels and crew the majority of which were likely to be Venezuelan.

In January, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights submitted a report on human rights violations committed during the 2024 electoral period. The report examined the authorities’ repressive strategy to prevent political participation by the opposition, hinder the development of a free electoral contest and instil fear among citizens. In September, the commission sought approval for a visit to the country to observe the human rights situation there. In August, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights reaffirmed its jurisdiction over Venezuela. In September and December respectively, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela submitted two reports documenting the human rights violations committed during the post-election repression and the role played by the Bolivarian National Guard in the commission of crimes against humanity.

Both the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC and OHCHR, the UN human rights office, announced the closure of their respective country offices.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had been disqualified from participating in the 2024 presidential elections and suffered persecution.

Repression of dissent

The government continued to exercise widespread repression against political dissent, resulting in serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity. The authorities continued to use the state apparatus, including the security and intelligence forces, the judicial system and restrictive laws, as well as groups of armed civilians, to repress, silence and punish dissent and the defence of human rights.

Arbitrary detention

Politically motivated arbitrary detentions persisted, although fewer than in 2024. In December, the government announced the release of multiple detainees, with the NGO Foro Penal verifying 117 releases. Of more than 2,000 people arbitrarily detained following the 2024 presidential election, at least 806 remained in illegal detention as of 31 December. Those released were still subject to criminal proceedings.

In most cases, detainees were charged with vague and unfounded crimes, such as “terrorism” or “treason”, which carried severe penalties. Criminal proceedings continued to lack due process guarantees. Detainees were assigned public defenders lacking capacity or motivation to act effectively. Defendants were tried in courts that lacked independence, including those known as “anti-terrorism courts”, and they were denied knowledge of the charges and evidence against them, among other rights violations.

In addition to the use of state security forces and detention centres, the instrumentalization of the Public Prosecutor’s Office as a means for political persecution and of the judiciary as an enforcement mechanism was key in the implementation of the government’s policy of repression against political dissent, allegedly to “fight terrorism”. The involvement of senior state officials in identifying and publicly stigmatizing victims of repression demonstrated the systematic nature of this practice.

At year’s end, hundreds of people were still in incommunicado detention.

Enforced disappearances

The whereabouts of many people forcibly disappeared following the 2024 elections or individuals detained in 2025 remained unknown. According to Foro Penal, at least 63 people were still disappeared at the end of the year.

Enforced disappearances generally began with arbitrary detention by state agents, followed by lack of information, refusal to acknowledge the detention, and deliberate concealment of the fate and whereabouts of the detained person. In most cases, days or even months passed before the detention was communicated, and even then the only certainty that relatives had was that the person was in state custody. There were cases of people being subjected to enforced disappearance as they were transferred from one detention centre to another.

Enforced disappearances directly, though not exclusively, resulted in a systematic denial of judicial guarantees through simulated proceedings, such as initial hearings (which must take place within 48 hours of detention) being held behind closed doors and de facto suspension of habeas corpus, among other practices.

Impunity

Near total impunity for human rights violations persisted and little progress was made in the Venezuela I investigation at the ICC.

In August, the ICC Appeals Chamber ordered prosecutor Karim Khan to step down from the Venezuela investigation. This followed a request for recusal filed a year earlier by an organization alleging a possible conflict of interest due to family ties between the prosecutor and a lawyer from the legal team representing the Venezuelan state at the ICC. Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang took over the investigation.

In December, the National Assembly voted to repeal Venezuela’s ratification of the Rome Statute and withdraw from the ICC.

Freedom of expression and association

As of October, the NGO Espacio Público had recorded 217 attacks on freedom of expression. The National Union of Press Workers reported the detention of at least 23 press sector workers, some of whom had initially suffered enforced disappearance. The whereabouts of journalist Carlos Marcano were unknown for 13 days following his detention. In December, journalist and political analyst Nicmer Evans was disappeared for three days after the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service took him for an “interview” at the El Helicoide centre. At year’s end, he remained arbitrarily detained.

The VEsinFiltro project implemented by the organization Conexión Segura y Libre documented the censorship of independent media and their internet domains, allegedly under the orders of the National Telecommunications Commission.

In February and May respectively, the deadlines expired for the accreditation and registration in the NGO registry, in accordance with the Law on the Oversight, Regulation, Operation, and Financing of Non-Governmental Organizations and Nonprofit Social Organizations. This law restricted civic space. At the end of the year, it was unclear how many organizations had been registered under this law.

In October, authorities encouraged citizens to use VenApp to report potential dissidents. The app, initially developed for receiving social benefits and reporting deficiencies in public services, became a tool for political persecution.

The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict recorded 2,219 protests during the year, of which 1,129 related to labour rights and the right to decent housing.

Human rights defenders

Arbitrary detention and judicial persecution of human rights defenders continued, as did the use of incommunicado detention and restrictions on due process as a form of reprisal. Javier Tarazona, Rocío San Miguel, Carlos Julio Rojas and Kennedy Tejeda remained arbitrarily deprived of their liberty at the end of the year. Carlos Julio Rojas was held incommunicado for almost four months, without access to family visits or contact with the outside world.

On 7 January, the director of the NGO Espacio Público and prominent human rights defender Carlos Correa was detained and subjected to enforced disappearance, generating concern among national and international organizations. He was released eight days later.

Eduardo Torres, defender and member of the NGO PROVEA, was arbitrarily detained in May. He was forcibly disappeared for five days and subsequently held incommunicado and without access to a trusted lawyer, among other violations of due process. In October, he was allowed to make a call to say he would be transferred from El Helicoide to Yare II prison.

Similarly, Martha Lía Grajales, a defender with the Surgentes collective, was detained in August after accompanying a group of mothers of people imprisoned for political reasons in a peaceful protest. Her whereabouts were also unknown until she was released from prison six days later, under measures alternative to imprisonment.

Human rights defender Pedro Hernández, coordinator of the NGO Campo, was detained in September. Several of his relatives were also arbitrarily detained while searching for him and released three days later. Pedro Hernández was released from prison in October.

The Centre for Defenders and Justice recorded 455 attacks and incidents against human rights defenders, including continued restrictions on the defence of human rights, intimidation and criminalization of humanitarian and social work.

Several organizations warned of a climate of intimidation and threats created by the Law on the Supervision, Regularization, Performance and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations, which undermined freedom of association and the legitimate work of NGOs in the country. The arbitrary detention of activists and journalists continued throughout the year, forcing human rights organizations and defenders to work in exile and seek international protection.

Refugees’ and migrants’ rights

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, reported that approximately 7.9 million people had left the country since 2015, seeking international protection.

In July, 252 Venezuelan men were returned to Venezuela from El Salvador. All of them had been forcibly disappeared for more than three months at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in that country, to which they had been transferred from the USA.

During the year, hundreds of people seeking international protection in the USA were illegally expelled and returned to Venezuela, where they were at risk of their government’s policy of persecution.

Economic, social and cultural rights

According to the Centre for Documentation and Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers, the International Monetary Fund estimated that inflation would reach 269.9% by the end of the year. The cost of the basic food basket for a family of five was USD 503.73 in April, equivalent to VES 45,335.73, while the monthly minimum wage remained frozen since 2022 at VES 130. At the end of 2025, this amounted to less than one US dollar at the official exchange rate, highlighting how people’s purchasing power has continued to erode.

Humanitarian aid continued and reached 1.9 million people as of November, according to OCHA.

Water and electricity outages persisted throughout the year, as did protests related to basic services.

Sexual and reproductive rights

There was no progress on sexual and reproductive rights, including access to abortion and family planning methods. The state did not develop or implement public policies aimed to prevent the violation of these rights or to ensure their effective enjoyment. In addition, the absence of official data made it difficult to develop and evaluate evidence-based policies. Abortion remained criminalized in most cases.

LGBTI people’s rights

Lack of progress on LGBTI rights persisted. OHCHR, the UN human rights office, reported that transgender persons were being held in detention centres according to their sex assigned at birth, further exposing them to protection risks while in custody. It also denounced the use by state authorities of sexist and anti-LGBTI rhetoric on public media to discredit members and supporters of the opposition. LGBTI people’s rights organizations continued to demand approval on second reading of the Organic Law on Gender Equity and Equality, introduced in 2009.

Indigenous Peoples’ rights

Lack of guarantees and respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights continued to be a matter of concern.

In January, some Yekuana Indigenous communities in the state of Amazonas reported that a conflict had arisen due to illegal mining activity in their territory.

According to information published in October on digital media channels, a group of 14 Indigenous Sanemá had tested positive for tuberculosis. This raised concern among civil society organizations about the lack of data on morbidity and mortality rates within Indigenous territories.

Right to a healthy environment

The authorities announced that, in a meeting with the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, they had expressed Venezuela’s commitment to environmental justice, climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, and the fight against the climate crisis.

The media continued to warn of the impacts of illegal mining and environmental devastation. A report on illegal mining and human rights published by several NGOs pointed to the lack of reliable data and the absence of monitoring systems as barriers to climate management, despite official statements on this.

The NGO SOS Orinoco documented 10 mining accidents in the first quarter of the year, with a total of 10 deaths. In October, the media reported the death of 14 miners in Bolívar state after a flood in the gold mine where they were working. There were questions as to whether the mine had all necessary legal permits; the authorities provided no information on the issue.

Venezuela had still not signed the Escazú Agreement.

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