Venezuelans protest against the Maduro government in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 12, 2019. [Photo = AFP]

Members of the ruling Democratic Party have stated in a recent press release that while they cannot avoid international criticism of the Maduro regime's lack of democratic legitimacy and human rights abuses, "the restoration of Venezuelan democracy should be left to the choice of the Venezuelan people themselves and must be achieved through peaceful and diplomatic means."

However, a series of documents uncovered by Hanmiilbo clearly demonstrates how unrealistic it is to resolve the Maduro regime's killings and acts of violence "through peaceful and diplomatic means," as claimed by the ruling party.

Maduro Regime Commits Extrajudicial Killings

The U.S. NGO Human Rights Watch addresses the persecution, detention, torture, and killing of political opponents in Venezuela in its 2023 World Report.

According to the report, in November 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiated an investigation into crimes against humanity in Venezuela.

This followed the 2020 determination by the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) that there were sufficient grounds to believe Venezuela had committed crimes against humanity to suppress its opposition.

However, in 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced that it could no longer proceed with the investigation, as Venezuela had completely blocked access to political detention centers.

Despite limitations on the investigation, there were still achievements.

The most striking part of the report is the statement, "Between 2016 and 2019, security forces allegedly killed more than 19,000 people under the pretext of 'resistance to authority'."

Anti-government protests in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 30, 2025. [EPA=Yonhap News]

According to UN evidence, many of these were killings carried out without due process. The UN Human Rights Committee stated that it had confirmed the persistent occurrence of such killings in marginalized areas.

Official statistics reveal that nearly 7,000 people died in 2018 and the first five months of 2019 alone on suspicion of 'resistance to authority'. The UN investigation team considers many of these to be extrajudicial killings by special police units known as the Special Action Forces (FAES).

Witnesses and bereaved families have testified to a consistent modus operandi where heavily armed, masked police officers raid homes, separate men from their families, shoot them (mostly in the chest), and then plant evidence such as weapons or drugs to make it appear as if there was a confrontation or resistance to arrest.

It has been revealed that members of the Maduro regime's Special Action Forces (FAES) and other police and military units have committed killings and torture in low-income communities, including under security operations dubbed 'People's Liberation Operations,' without facing any punishment.

Judiciary Ineffective Amidst Widespread Illegality

The Venezuelan judiciary lost its function as an independent government body starting in 2004, during Hugo Chávez's presidency.

No justice has been served for crimes committed with the knowledge or tacit approval of high-ranking officials.

In its 2021 report, the UN Fact-Finding Mission pointed out the judiciary's complicity in various human rights violations, including issuing retroactive warrants for unlawful arrests, routinely ordering pre-trial detention, maintaining detention based on weak evidence, and failing to protect victims of torture.

Furthermore, in January of the same year, the Venezuelan National Assembly, controlled by Maduro supporters, amended the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice, calling for a new structure of the Supreme Court that would significantly reduce the number of justices, who play a crucial role in appointing and dismissing lower court judges, from the current 32 to 20.

Although the Venezuelan Constitution stipulates a single 12-year term for Supreme Court justices, those who failed to adequately check the executive's power were reappointed for longer terms.

Repeated Acts of Terror Against Political Opponents

The Venezuelan government has imprisoned political opponents who claim electoral fraud and has disqualified them from running for public office. The Penal Forum, a network of free lawyers, reported in October 2023 that 245 political prisoners were being held in detention centers.

Despite the inclusion of a detention period limit in a criminal code amendment at the time, at least 114 political prisoners had been in detention for over three years. Between 2014 and June 2022, approximately 875 civilians arbitrarily arrested were prosecuted in military courts out of 15,770.

When individuals held in Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) facilities were released or transferred to other prisons, they were replaced by other critics arbitrarily detained.

In 2022, the OHCHR continued to receive complaints of torture, abuse, and detention.

The report stated, "Since 2014, security forces and the pro-government armed group colectivos have repeatedly attacked protesters, engaging in violent raids, brutal beatings, and close-range shootings."

According to official data cited by the UN Human Rights Committee, from May 2021 to April 2022, the prosecution received 235 reports of human rights violations related to detention, with 20 of these involving terrorism charges.

The UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention report that ensuring the freedom and fair trial rights of the Venezuelan people is extremely difficult. Moreover, judicial release orders are often delayed in implementation.

In September 2022, the UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) once again classified the crimes committed by intelligence agencies under the orders of figures like Maduro as crimes against humanity, stating that they were clearly policies aimed at suppressing the opposition.

Dictatorship Maintained Through Electoral Fraud, Exporting Programs Abroad

In 2021, Venezuela held regional and local elections. In these elections, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the ruling party of President Nicolás Maduro, and its allies achieved a landslide victory.

From left: Head of Intelligence Hugo Carvajal Barrios, Nicolás Maduro, and U.S. President Donald Trump. [Photo = Dallas Express]

However, in February 2022, the European Union observation mission that monitored the previous year's elections released its final report, highlighting serious issues with voting and candidacy in local elections.

These included arbitrary disqualification of opponents, partisan use of state resources, unequal access to media and social media, website blocking, and a lack of judicial independence. The report stated that these circumstances undermined the fairness and transparency of the elections.

However, the report omits the most crucial evidence of electoral fraud: 'election manipulation'.

This report was written before Hugo Carvajal, former head of Venezuelan intelligence who served both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump on December 2, 2025 (local time), confessing that "the Venezuelan regime engaged in espionage and electoral fraud in the United States."

According to Director Carvajal, the Maduro regime not only exported tools for electoral fraud such as 'Smartmatic' to the U.S. and other countries but also used them to solidify and maintain Venezuela's dictatorial system.

▶ Refer to Hanmiilbo's exclusive article dated December 5, 2025 ("Participated in US Election Fraud with Smartmatic," Former Venezuelan Intelligence Chief Sends Shocking Letter to Trump).

The maliciousness of the Venezuelan authorities reached its peak with the closure of media outlets expressing dissenting opinions. The "Law Against Hate," enacted in 2017, served as the basis for restricting anti-government speech.

Under this law, publishing messages of "intolerance and hatred" can result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Most media outlets resorted to self-censorship and were unable to voice their opinions.

A South Korean citizen expressed concern, stating, "This is not just someone else's problem. This could happen in Korea too."

South Korea's 'Fake News Eradication Act (amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.)', which will be implemented starting in July of this year, allows for punitive damages of up to five times the actual damages to be claimed against media companies or online channels that spread false information. It has become a subject of debate both domestically and internationally, drawing criticism as a "censorship law," "evil law," and "gag law."

Reporter Im Yo-hee