Amidst disaster, hundreds remain detained
As the devastating consequences of the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June 2026 unfold, hundreds of politically motivated arbitrary detainees remain unfairly imprisoned. Reports of damage to the prison commonly referred to as «Rodeo I» followed accounts of neglect towards detainees’ personal integrity, as well as concerning reports of unlawful use of force. The organization has also received reports of alleged acts of torture and possible enforced disappearance of detainees. We call on the attorney general to ensure the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained in Venezuela and to protect the life and integrity of those in custody.
In the afternoon of 24 June 2026, two earthquakes hit Venezuela, each 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude. The earthquakes mainly affected densely populated areas in La Guaira, Caracas, Carabobo, Falcón, Aragua, Miranda, and Yaracuy. As of 12 July, official figures stated that at least 4'561 people had been killed, 16'740 were injured, and 17'907 had lost their homes. Hundreds of apartment blocks and other buildings collapsed or have suffered structural damage. These figures are widely considered to not fully convey the total extent of the human and material damage caused by the earthquakes, with thousands reportedly still missing and with access to information still restricted after years of state-sponsored censorship and a state policy of repression.
Amnesty International has received information from relatives of arbitrary detainees, specifically from an individual in the «Rodeo I» prison, reporting that authorities in the prison fired pellets and tear gas inside the prison, which could amount to torture and ill treatment. This is consistent with complaints raised by the NGO CLIPPVE, which has warned that these appear to be reprisals against detainees for requesting measures to address damage caused by the earthquakes and alerted that there are detainees severely injured and according to the families at least seven detainees’ whereabouts would have been unknown, which could constitute enforced disappearances.
On 25 June, Amnesty International issued a press release raising the alarm over the devastating impact these earthquakes would likely have on people in Venezuela, coming off a decade-long complex humanitarian emergency and systematic policy of repression, and, critically, a collapsed health system. On 30 June, the organization issued an urgent action calling a rights-based response to the earthquakes.
At least since 2014, the Venezuelan government has continuously used politically motivated arbitrary detentions to silence any form of real or perceived dissent in Venezuela as part of a systematic and widespread policy of repression. Between December 2025 and June 2026, Venezuelan authorities have slowly and sporadically released victims of politically motivated arbitrary detention, most on conditional release and maintaining the criminal investigations or charges against them, like in the case of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders Javier Tarazona and Carlos Julio Rojas. As of 6 July, at least 372 people remained arbitrarily detained for political reasons, according to Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal, with other local NGOs -like Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón- raising that figure to over 518 as of 13 July 2026.
Within this policy of repression, the government has continually harassed, prosecuted and censored activists and civil society organizations working to protect the rights of Venezuelans amidst a complex humanitarian emergency and a deep human rights crisis that is making Venezuelans flee in unprecedented numbers in search of safety and protection. By May 2025, 7.9 million had fled Venezuela. In its 25 June press release, Amnesty International stated that «[h]uman rights and humanitarian NGOs are currently operating in a hugely restrictive environment as a result of a repressive legal architecture geared towards closing off civic space and targeting any form of perceived dissent. In order to offer an effective relief response plan, the Venezuelan authorities must immediately repeal the so-called Anti-NGO law and all other legal mechanisms that restrict, control and limit the lawful and necessary activities of these civil society organisations». And that «this call has become all the more urgent in order to assist those groups most vulnerable to discrimination and marginalization namely children and older people».
Since 2020, reports from the UN independent international fact-finding mission on Venezuela (FFM) have thoroughly documented hundreds of extrajudicial executions; enforced disappearances; arbitrary detentions; and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment committed in the country since 2014; as well as the ways in which the justice system serves as a tool for the government’s policy of repression, establishing that some of these international crimes and human rights violations amount to crimes against humanity.
Since November 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is conducting a criminal investigation into the situation in Venezuela, specifically regarding the «[c]rimes against humanity of deprivation of liberty or other serious deprivation of physical liberty (…); torture (…); rape and/or other forms of sexual violence of comparable severity (…); and politically motivated persecution against persons detained (…), which were committed since at least April 2017, by members of the State security forces, civil authorities and pro-government persons (or groups called «collectives»)».
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Please take action before 14 September 2026.
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