DRC–Rwanda Deal, Torture of Venezuelan activists, China continues censorship.

HRF holds the Venezuelan regime responsible for the torture and death of political prisoner Alfredo Díaz. All democracies must strongly condemn and hold the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro accountable for its inhumane treatment, persecution, and killing of political opponents.

On Dec. 7, former governor of the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, Alfredo Díaz, died of a heart attack in the Helicoide detention center, the largest torture center in all of Latin America. Díaz was among the 2000 Venezuelans unlawfully detained for peacefully protesting the regime’s fraudulent claims of victory in the July 2024 elections. (BBC)

The Maduro regime has systematically tortured victims of arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance, keeping them isolated and preventing communication with their families or lawyers. Díaz had received only one visit from his daughter during the entire year he was imprisoned. (BBC)

There are still more than 880 prisoners of conscience in Venezuela, all of whom face risks to their health and lives in the hands of the regime. Like Díaz, many were detained in a countrywide crackdown against opposition members and critics who protested Maduro’s electoral manipulation and refusal to relinquish power. (Foro Penal)

HRF strongly condemns the Venezuelan regime’s threats against pro-democracy activist @EliTrotta. She and other dissidents must be protected as they continue their efforts to hold Maduro and his cronies accountable.

The Maduro regime directly threatened @EliTrotta, a Venezuelan pro-democracy activist living in Argentina. She is part of the @FADDemocracia, an organization that presented the complaint against Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and other Venezuelan officials for their crimes against humanity in a court in Argentina. Both Maduro and Cabello are now the targets of arrest warrants issued by Argentinian judges. (clarin.com)

Maduro’s regime has repeatedly displayed its capacity to persecute critics abroad. In 2024, the government ordered the kidnapping and assassination of Ronald Ojeda, a retired Venezuelan military officer living in exile in Chile, according to testimony given to Chile’s interior and public security minister. Many of the individuals accused of taking part in the murder are linked to Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization with close ties to the Maduro regime. (New York Times)

In October, Venezuelan LGBTQ+ activist Yendri Velazquez and political analyst Luis Peche were the targets of a shooting in Colombia, where have been living in exile since the regime launched a widespread crackdown on critics who protested the fraudulent results of the 2024 presidential elections. (DW)