Venezuela: Reform Needed for Rights Progress

(Washington, DC) – Venezuela needs to take urgent measures and carry out institutional reforms to protect people’s basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today, following its first official visit to the country since 2008. Human Rights Watch visited Caracas this week and met with interim President Delcy Rodríguez, 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 report and expelled them from the country. “Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has overseen a pause to the most overt forms of repression in Venezuela,” said Federico Borello, deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch. “But in this fragile political moment, these gains will only become sustainable with robust institutional reforms and the release of all political prisoners.” Rodríguez assumed office following the United States’ capture of then-President Nicolás 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 Público. However, at least 344 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. 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 documented 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’s brutal legacy of abusive detention practices. 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. 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’s highest court, and the Electoral Council. The destruction 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. 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. “Venezuelans deserve to participate in timely, free, and fair elections,” Borello said. “That requires urgently allowing political opponents to take part in the political process and run for office.” Venezuelan authorities should also overhaul the country’s 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. On September 16, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFM) released a report 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 killed at least 6,300 people. According to HumVenezuela, 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. Human Rights Watch has long expressed concern about the role of US economic sanctions in further deepening the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Since Maduro’s ouster, US engagement has focused largely on advancing the Trump administration’s economic goals, at the expense of a robust focus on reforms. “The United States should use its leverage to play a leading role in pushing for meaningful human rights change in Venezuela,” Borello said.