Post-Maduro Venezuela has kept ‘repressive apparatus’: UN experts

It said no moves had been made to dismantle pro-government armed groups that investigators called a “central component” of the state’s repressive apparatus.(AFP) — Venezuela has maintained a “repressive apparatus” responsible for illegal detentions and disappearances despite improvements in human rights since the United States detained longtime leader Nicolás Maduro, U.N. investigators said Wednesday.The U.N. Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela said it had seen “a significant decline in long-term detentions and related enforced disappearances” since U.S. forces swooped in to seize Maduro on Jan. 3.It added, however, that although many political detainees had been released and there was greater scope for political gatherings, “these changes have not been accompanied by the institutional reforms required to ensure a meaningful and sustained improvement in the human rights situation.”“Numerous laws used to criminalize dissent remain in force,” the mission said in a statement as it prepared to present its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday.“And the country’s extensive intelligence services and security forces retain essentially the same structures, policies and practices.”It said no moves had been made to dismantle the “colectivos” — pro-government armed groups that investigators called a “central component” of the state’s repressive apparatus.At least 19 officials also remain in their posts despite accusations of violations, the investigators said.“The reduction in some of the harshest forms of repression is notable, but it does not yet amount in any way to a transformation of the system that made them possible,” mission leader Sofía Macher said.Macher said the improvement was “fragile and reversible.”Maduro, 63, is detained in New York and faces charges of trafficking tons of cocaine into the United States.The ruling Chavismo party is set to begin a new round of talks with opposition groups this week on the post-Maduro transition.After talks last month, the Venezuelan presidency announced the release of 131 political prisoners, though nongovernmental organizations were able to confirm only about 80 releases and estimate that more than 300 people remain detained.About 100 relatives of political prisoners marched on acting leader Delcy Rodríguez’s Miraflores Palace last Friday in a rare protest demanding that more political detainees be released.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads