Venezuela: Brutal Crackdown Since Elections

(Washington, DC, April 30, 2025) – Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups have committed widespread abuses since the July 28, 2024 presidential elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 104-page report, “Punished for Seeking Change: Killings, Enforced Disappearances and Arbitrary Detention Following Venezuela’s 2024 Election,” documents human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders, and critics during post-electoral protests and the months that followed. It implicates Venezuelan authorities and pro-government groups, known as colectivos, in widespread abuses, including 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.