Venezuela’s Descent intoโค state Terror: โA โReport โฃHighlights Systemicโค Repression and International Failure
A recent report paints โa grimโฃ picture ofโฃ Venezuela, detailing a systematic and escalating โpattern of state-sponsored repression thatโ has reached its most perilous phase in recent history.โ The findings reveal โขa intentional erosion ofโ democratic institutionsโค and a chilling effect on civil society, despite the ongoing investigationโ by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The report documents a staggering number of human rights violations. Since the beginning of the documented period, authorities have committed over 3,600 cases of torture, with a disturbing 1,116 occurring after โthe ICC Prosecutor’s Office initiated formal action. Furthermore, 116 individuals have โขbeen subjected to forced disappearance, 78โ of those after the ICC’s involvement began. The scale of arbitrary detention is equally alarming,with 18,582 โขarrests recorded,peaking in 2024 with over 2,200 detentionsโ in just nine โคdays following the presidential election.
While the number of reported politicalโ prisoners decreased from 1,794 โin 2024 to 884 at the end of 2025, the โฃreport cautions against interpreting this as progress. Instead,โข it attributes theโข decline to a climate of fear andโข self-censorship, effectively silencing โคvictims and hindering documentationโ efforts.
The report identifies three distinct โขphases in the evolution of repression:
*โ 2014-2018: This period saw the consolidation โฃof a state apparatus โฃdedicated to โคviolence, characterized by widespread extrajudicial executions and the deployment ofโ military, โฃpolice, and โintelligence forces to suppress protests and target opposition โfigures.
* 2019-2021: The state โshifted tactics, moving violence away from public view and into closedโค environments like courts and intelligence facilities. Superficial โขjudicial reforms were implemented, ultimately reinforcing impunity rather than addressing it.
* 2022-2025: This phase marks the completeโข institutionalization of violence, establishing a dual legal system – one public, oneโค clandestine – that facilitates the persecution, detention, torture, and silencing of citizens, activists, journalists, and political leaders.
This progression, the report argues, has โcreated a “system of state terror” where โคcourts, security forces, andโข armed groups operate in aโ coordinated and ruthlessโ manner.
The report also highlights the alarming collapse of Venezuelan โคcivil โคsociety. Theโ passage of restrictive “anti-NGO” legislation, coupled with raids, digital surveillance, threats, andโฃ the criminalization of international cooperation, โคhas severelyโค curtailed the ability of organizations to document โขabuses. This suppression explains the decrease in reported cases inโ 2025 – the repression continues, but the capacity to record it has been systematically dismantled. The report further documents instances of extraterritorial persecution, with โคactivists facing threats, surveillance, and attacks even in countries like Colombia and Chile, a trend that appears to be expanding.
Critically, the report โฃlevels criticism at the ICC Prosecutor’s Office’s โฃstrategy of “cooperation” with the โฃVenezuelan regime. High-level visits and the establishment ofโ a technical office in โคCaracas, it argues, have inadvertently allowed authorities to project an โขimage of reform while simultaneously refining their repressive mechanisms. While acknowledging the ICC’s formal investigation, the panelโฃ urges the Prosecutorโ to issue arrest warrants for those most responsible,โฃ believing that only decisive judicial action can halt the violence and initiate genuine accountability.
The report โconcludes with a call for aโค “coordinated, immediate and sustained” international response to protect victims, โrebuild civic โspace, and ensure justice after more than a decade of systematic violations. It delivers aโฃ starkโข warning: “Venezuela has entered the darkest phase of its recent โขhistory.”