(Washington, DC) \u2013\u00a0Venezuela needs to take urgent measures and carry out institutional reforms to protect people\u2019s basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today, following its first official visit to the country since 2008.\u00a0
Human Rights Watch visited Caracas this week and met with interim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, other government officials, human rights groups, members of the opposition, journalists, relatives of political prisoners, foreign diplomats, and others. Staff also visited Petare, a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Caracas. During its previous high-level visit, in 2008, Venezuelan authorities detained Human Rights Watch staff after they released a\u00a0report and expelled them from the country.
\u201cInterim President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez has overseen a pause to the most overt forms of repression in Venezuela,\u201d said\u00a0Federico Borello, deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cBut in this fragile political moment, these gains will only become sustainable with robust institutional reforms and the release of all political prisoners.\u201d
Rodr\u00edguez assumed office following the United States\u2019 capture of then-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro on January 3, 2026. Since then, Venezuelan authorities have released hundreds of political prisoners, passed an amnesty law, unblocked some media websites, and announced measures to reform the judiciary.
Human rights activists, opposition leaders, and journalists told Human Rights Watch that they are much freer to carry out their work. Some said they have left their hiding places after more than a year or reported for the first time on the arbitrary arrest of their loved ones. On September 18, Venezuelan authorities closed a criminal case against Carlos Correa, executive director of the free-speech organization Espacio P\u00fablico.\u00a0
However, at least\u00a0344 political prisoners remain behind bars, according to Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights group, and many others remain under house arrest or are experiencing other restrictions. These include people who were detained for exercising their freedom of expression and people who have been tortured or have suffered gross due process violations. Others who were arbitrarily detained have experienced extortion from judicial officials, prosecutors, and others.
Venezuelan authorities should promptly and unconditionally release all people arbitrarily detained, Human Rights Watch said.\u00a0
Authorities have continued, in a small number of cases, to detain critics for short periods. On September 18, Venezuelan authorities detained Javier Oropeza, a former opposition mayor who recently returned to the country. He was released a few hours later.
Relatives of political prisoners said that some detainees are still being mistreated behind bars, in particular in the Rodeo I prison in Caracas. Human Rights Watch has\u00a0documented torture and inhumane conditions of detention in Rodeo I. The closure of Rodeo I would send a powerful signal that the authorities intend to break with the government\u2019s brutal legacy of abusive detention practices.\u00a0
Venezuelan authorities should ensure humane detention conditions for all detainees, Human Rights Watch said. They should also allow international experts, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), unfettered access to all prisons and other places of detention.
Venezuelan authorities should also amend or repeal laws that have enabled human rights violations, including anti-terrorism and anti-hatred legislation and rules restricting the work of human rights groups and media outlets.\u00a0
As part of a dialogue process with a part of the political opposition, Venezuelan authorities have announced a process to reform the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, the country\u2019s highest court, and the Electoral Council. The\u00a0destruction of judicial independence in Venezuela in the 2000s enabled widespread human rights violations and establishing an independent and impartial supreme court would be a crucial first step to a much-needed overhaul to the judicial system, Human Rights Watch said.\u00a0
Over the last decade, Venezuelan authorities have also barred opposition candidates from running for office. Broader patterns of repression have also made it impossible for Venezuelans to exercise their democratic rights freely in past elections.
\u201cVenezuelans deserve to participate in timely, free, and fair elections,\u201d Borello said. \u201cThat requires urgently allowing political opponents to take part in the political process and run for office.\u201d
Venezuelan authorities should also overhaul the country\u2019s security forces to curb their continuation of human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said. These measures should include vetting officials responsible for grave human rights violations, ensuring that intelligence agencies are not tasked with criminal investigations, dismantling clandestine detention centers, and establishing clear rules for the use of force.\u00a0
On September 16, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFM) released a\u00a0report warning that the state machinery behind repression remains firmly intact. The UN Human Rights Council should renew the mandate of the FFM for two years, Human Rights Watch said.
The humanitarian situation in Venezuela remains dire, exacerbated by the earthquakes in June that\u00a0killed at least 6,300 people. According to\u00a0HumVenezuela, a group of organizations monitoring the humanitarian crises in the country, over 18 million people, out of a population of 28.5 million, were already unable to meet their basic needs prior to the earthquake. People in many parts of the country experience daily hours-long electricity blackouts and days-long water shortages, and many said they are increasingly impatient.\u00a0
Human Rights Watch has long expressed concern about the role of US economic sanctions in further deepening the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Since Maduro\u2019s ouster, US engagement has focused largely on advancing the Trump administration\u2019s economic goals, at the expense of a robust focus on reforms.\u00a0
\u201cThe United States should use its leverage to play a leading role in pushing for meaningful human rights change in Venezuela,\u201d Borello said.\u00a0
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