“The facts we have documented show the role of the GNB in a pattern of systematic and coordinated repression against opponents or those perceived as such, which has continued for more than a decade,” said Marta Valiñas, president of the Mission.
“The persistence of these crimes and the absence of adequate justice require a decisive response from national and international accountability mechanisms.”
excessive force
The GNB used excessive force, including the misuse of lethal weapons, during peak protest periods in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2024.
The Mission said it has reasonable grounds to believe that officials fired indiscriminately at protesters, including aiming directly at vital areas of the body.
Researchers also received information about modifying projectiles to cause greater damage.
They also documented massive and selective arbitrary detentions, physical violence during arrests, planting of evidence, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence within GNB facilities that were used as temporary detention centers.
Pattern of abuse
“The torture, ill-treatment and acts of sexual violence that we have verified (including assault and rape) were not isolated incidents. They are part of a pattern of abuse used to punish and break victims,” said Ms. Valiñas.
The report found that the GNB was a central actor in the commission of politically motivated persecution, which constitutes a crime against humanity.
The military also played a key role in the post-2024 election raids, “Operation Tun Tun,” which sought to target and criminalize opponents through unfounded accusations of terrorism or hate speech.
Structural impunity and systemic failures
The report identifies what the Mission described as “a pattern of structural impunity sustained by systemic failures within the Venezuelan judicial system, which reveals its inability or unwillingness to investigate or prosecute violations committed by the GNB.”
This is further characterized by stalled investigations, prolonged procedural paralysis, manipulation of evidence, deliberate obstruction by the GNB, and accountability that is limited exclusively to low-ranking personnel.
The report contains an in-depth analysis of the branch’s internal operational structures, including its chain of command.
It also details how Venezuela’s “national security” doctrine has merged military and police functions, thus legitimizing the militarization of public security and expanding the role of the GNB in operations aimed at social control and internal repression.
About the fact-finding mission
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was established by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2019 to evaluate alleged violations committed in the country since 2014.
Over the past year, it has also focused on investigating the human rights situation surrounding the disputed 2024 presidential election and violence by pro-government militias known as “colectivos.”
The Mission is made up of three members who receive their mandate from the Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva. They are not UN staff and are not paid for their work.