Maduro is Torturing Children. The World Needs to Wake Up.

Venezuela’s authoritarian regime continues to escalate its human rights abuses, with one of the most disturbing trends being the detention and torture of women and children. As the regime clings to power, it systematically targets vulnerable populations, transforming them into tools of oppression. These atrocities are a violation of basic human dignity and should shake the global international community into confronting this reality with greater urgency and accountability. After the July 28th presidential elections where an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans elected opposition candidate Edmundo González as president, the regime’s crackdown on dissent has intensified. According to reports from the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission and human rights organizations, over 2,000 people have been illegally detained since the elections, including more than 300 women and children. These are not just arbitrary detentions, but acts of brutal repression that aim to dismantle any form of opposition by instilling fear in society. The systematic abuse of women and children is a weapon of terror designed to crush the human spirit.

The use of torture in Venezuela is neither incidental nor isolated. The evidence points to a deliberate, state-sponsored policy aimed at breaking the will of political dissidents and creating a climate of terror. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has documented unprecedented levels of repression, with testimonies describing how detainees, including women and children, are subjected to unimaginable forms of torture.

For children, the nightmare often begins with their detention alongside family members or as a result of their relatives’ political affiliations. Children as young as 12 have been arrested, taken to undisclosed locations, and tortured. Reports indicate that minors have been beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and held in solitary confinement. The mental and physical scars these children endure are profound, leading to long-term psychological trauma.

Female detainees face similarly harrowing treatment. The regime uses sexual violence as a tool of control and humiliation. Women are often stripped, beaten, and electrocuted. There are numerous accounts of sexual assault, including rape, which is used not only to punish but to degrade and dehumanize them. These actions are clear violations of international law, including the Convention Against Torture and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The arrest and torture of children underscore the sheer desperation of the regime. Instead of protecting the nation’s most vulnerable, the dictatorship is exploiting them to suppress political opposition. The regime’s message is clear: no one is safe, not even the youngest members of society.

In one particularly egregious case, mothers who were recently permitted to see their detained children while they await trial have reported clear signs of torture including burnt nipples, missing teeth, and emaciation.

This tactic is not only a violation of Venezuela’s own constitution, which guarantees the protection of minors, but it is also a blatant rejection for international human rights norms. The international community has a responsibility to hold the regime accountable for these heinous acts.

One of the most concerning aspects of these abuses is the pervasive impunity of the perpetrators. Despite the overwhelming evidence, those responsible for these crimes—from top regime officials to members of the security forces—operate with near-total impunity. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened investigations into crimes against humanity in Venezuela, yet the regime continues its campaign of repression unchecked.

Individual sanctions targeting human rights violators must be expanded. Moreover, international organizations and democratic governments must increase pressure on the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for key figures in the regime. It is crucial that human rights violations, particularly those involving vulnerable populations like women and children, become a red line for the global community. Increased pressure is likewise needed to shut down the torture centers and allow independent human rights monitors to assess the situation on the ground.

Additionally, regional partners and international organizations should coordinate efforts to dismantle the regime’s extensive network of narcotics and illicit activities, which funds its repressive apparatus. Governments must go beyond statements of condemnation and take concrete steps to ensure that those responsible for these human rights violations face justice. The world cannot afford to stand idle while a generation of Venezuelan women and children is subjected to state-sponsored terror. History will judge those who fail to act in the face of such atrocities. It is time for the international community to stand with the victims and ensure that those responsible for these crimes are held accountable. Only then can Venezuela begin to heal from the horrors inflicted by this regime.

Photo by Scoobay via Flickr under CC BY 2.0.

David Smolansky is a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, deputy director of the ConVzla presidential campaign office in Washington, D.C., and a former opposition mayor in Venezuela.