A new report from Human Rights Watch and the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Venezuela (CLIPPVE) reveals that dozens of political prisoners in Venezuela have been held incommunicado for weeks, months, and in some cases, over a year.
Since Venezuela's socialist dictatorship stole the July 28, 2024, presidential election through massive — and then locked up some 2,000 protesters in a brutal crackdown — the whereabouts of many of those prisoners are still unknown.
Under international law, that can constitute torture.
The organizations documented 19 cases of detainees, many with ties to opposition political parties, who have been denied contact with their families and lawyers since their arrest.
Authorities often withhold information about the detainees' whereabouts, a practice that amounts to enforced disappearances under international law, the groups found.
"These cases of political prisoners who have been cut off from their families and lawyers are a chilling testament to the brutality of repression in Venezuela," said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "Governments should spare no diplomatic efforts to ensure that these detainees are released."
The report highlights several harrowing examples of incommunicado detention.
Freddy Superlano, national coordinator of the opposition party Voluntad Popular, was abducted by hooded men on July 30, 2024. His wife has only been unofficially informed he is alive because "prison guards routinely handed her his dirty clothes and brief notes from him asking her to bring basic necessities to the prison."
The majority of those held incommunicado are reportedly at Helicoide prison in Caracas, the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, which the United Nations has identified as having torture rooms.
Families often learn of their loved ones' location through tips or because prison guards accept personal deliveries. Even then, visits are routinely denied.
A relative of one prisoner described the anguish, saying, "our only way to show our love and that we think about them is by sending food, clothes, and medication." This minimal contact was further restricted in August 2025 when Helicoide authorities limited food and personal deliveries to just once a week.
Sairam Rivas, coordinator of CLIPPVE and partner of political prisoner Jesús Armas, said the psychological toll was high.
“The lack of communication and denial of visits has become a form of torture, inflicting suffering not only on those behind bars but also on their loved ones,” Rivas said. "We are forced to live in relentless anguish and uncertainty, clinging to signs of life as fragile as dirty laundry or a request for medication."
The report notes that prolonged incommunicado detention can amount to torture, a finding supported by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which has found that isolating detainees causes psychological suffering and increases the risk of abuse.
Human Rights Watch and CLIPPVE are calling on foreign governments to use international platforms to press for the rights of political prisoners and their unconditional release.
They specifically cite the upcoming European Union-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (EU-CELAC) summit in Colombia in November, as well as the Vatican's upcoming canonization of two Venezuelans in October, as opportunities to pressure the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to end the practice.
