By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A U.N.-mandated probe said on Wednesday that Venezuela's apparatus of repression remains largely intact despite a reduction in some abuses following President Nicolas Maduro's removal from power earlier this year.
The U.S. has locked Maduro up to face trial on drug-trafficking charges, but left his Socialist Party government largely intact, to the disappointment of Venezuela's opposition which says it was robbed of a 2024 vote and should be in power.
In a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, the independent fact-finding mission said Maduro's capture in January led to a fall in long-term politically motivated detentions and related abuses, but did not amount to a fundamental break with years of repression.
"The measures of political liberalization adopted since that date remain partial, conditional and reversible at best," the mission said, adding a departure from the harshest forms of repression may not be a "genuine and sustainable departure".
Venezuela's mission to the U.N. in Geneva did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The report, covering the period from September last year to July, described the U.S. intervention as a breach of international law.
Maduro's rule had been widely challenged by the opposition and numerous Western governments, including over the disputed 2024 presidential election.
SOME ADVANCES
The report noted that interim President Delcy Rodriguez – a Maduro ally – introduced measures including prisoner releases, an amnesty law and the closure of El Helicoide, a detention facility long associated with arbitrary detention and torture.
It also said that civil society groups and opposition figures had gained greater latitude to organize and criticize authorities.
However, the independent U.N. experts said senior officials linked to past repression remained in key positions and security agencies, intelligence services and laws used to restrict dissent had not undergone meaningful reform.
The mission said hundreds of people, including real or perceived opponents of the government, remained arbitrarily detained for political reasons and continued to face harsh prison conditions, torture and ill-treatment.
It documented allegations of beatings, electric shocks, prolonged isolation and other abuses at the El Rodeo I and Fuerte Guaicaipuro maximum-security prisons.
The report also found extensive links between the state and armed civilian groups known as "colectivos," saying they had played a key role in intimidating perceived opponents with political, financial and logistical backing from state institutions.
The mission said authorities had failed to advance accountability for past abuses and criticised Venezuela's decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
It urged the government to release all political detainees, investigate alleged crimes against humanity, reform security institutions and dismantle armed civilian groups involved in rights violations.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
