Maduro continued, including further reports rights defenders and others perceived as of extrajudicial executions, excessive use of opponents of the Maduro government. force, arbitrary detentions and torture and Roland Carreño, a journalist and member of other ill-treatment against those perceived the Popular Will party arbitrarily detained in as critical of the government. Human rights October 2020, remained held charged with defenders, journalists and activists were “terrorism” and other offences under the subjected to intimidation, harassment, Organic Law on Organized Crime and attacks and detention. The humanitarian Financing of Terrorism. emergency worsened and violations of At least two people who had been arbitrarily economic, social, cultural and detained – Salvador Franco, a member of the environmental rights persisted, with an Pemon Indigenous people, and Gabriel increasingly weakened healthcare system Medina, who had had health problems for and shortages of water, fuel, food and over a month – died in detention without electricity. Impunity for human rights adequate medical attention, according to violations remained the norm. The UN Fact- Foro Penal. Finding Mission (FFM) on Venezuela The family and lawyer of Raúl Isaías Baduel, documented and condemned systemic who died in October, allegedly due to impunity, and the ICC Office of the Covid-19 complications, in the custody of the Prosecutor found there were grounds to Bolivarian National Intelligence Service believe that crimes against humanity had (SEBIN), called for a full investigation into the been committed in Venezuela and circumstances surrounding his death. announced the opening of a formal ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES, investigation. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS A new criminal investigation into the enforced The security forces, including the Special disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture Action Forces of the Bolivarian National and death of Rafael Acosta Arevalo in 2019 Police (FAES), continued to carry out failed to include any chain-of-command extrajudicial executions. In January, 14 responsibility. people were killed during a security operation In September, the FFM reported that the in the La Vega neighbourhood of Caracas, the authorities routinely failed to investigate capital, in circumstances suggesting that they allegations of torture. In 67 of the 183 cases 1 had been extrajudically executed. it documented, prisoners were brought to According to the UN Fact-Finding Mission court with visible signs of ill-treatment. In (FFM), by March, more than 200 people had some cases, torture allegations did not been killed by police forces. The FFM stated appear in the court records, while in others it would investigate the circumstances of the the Public Prosecutor’s Office was ordered to killings and FAES involvement. initiate a formal investigation. However, ARBITRARY DETENTION families and defence lawyers told the FFM that they were not aware of any progress in Politically motivated arbitrary detentions these proceedings. continued as part of a government policy of The FFM also documented the practice of repression. According to the human rights kidnapping or detaining the relatives of organization Foro Penal (Penal Forum), a people targeted as part of the strategy of further 44 people were detained, bringing the repression to force them to present total number of people held in politically themselves to the authorities (known as motivated arbitrary detention at the end of “Sippenhaft”). the year to 244. Among them were political Allegations of torture and other ill-treatment activists, students, military personnel, human during initial periods of enforced disappearance were common. Amnesty International Report 2021/22 399