Washington, D.C., September 18, 2025 – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Foro Penal today published a new report outlining patterns of political repression in Venezuela following the July 2024 presidential elections, and the 2025 parliamentary and regional elections. The report, titled Electoral Repression, Enforced Disappearances and Political Control in Venezuela, analyzes how President Nicolas Maduro’s regime has increasingly utilized enforced disappearances and hostage-taking to silence political opposition, ensure domestic control, and barter with other countries. The report’s publication follows RFK Human Rights and Foro Penal’s recent presentation of their findings to key stakeholders in Geneva, including diplomatic delegations.

“Last summer, the world watched as the Venezuelan government used every tool at its disposal to prevent a free and fair election and suppress political dissent,” said Isabel C. Roby, Senior Staff Attorney at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “Unfortunately, these blatant human rights violations are not new. Venezuela’s current crisis reflects deeper structural and institutional trends that entwine repression with governance.”

Building upon two prior joint reports in 2020 and 2022, this new report examines how enforced disappearance continues to be deployed as part of the Maduro regime’s evolving criminal policy, specifically in relation to the three most recent election processes: the July 2024 presidential election, the May 2025 parliamentary and gubernatorial elections, and the July 2025 municipal election. The report also includes two new datasets that analyze over 200 cases of detention and enforced disappearance, both within the general population and within a new target demographic – foreign nationals and dual citizens. The data illustrates how the Maduro regime has increasingly weaponized detention not only for domestic control but as a bargaining chip in international relations and foreign policy. 

“Enforced disappearance of political detainees in Venezuela has become a systematic and effective tool of political control and coercion,”  said Alfredo Romero, President of Foro Penal. “It targets not only Venezuelan citizens but also foreign nationals, turning individuals into political hostages.” 

The report also includes individual case studies and stories that highlight the human toll of these trends. Cases cited include a Venezuelan journalist whose whereabouts remain unknown after he was kidnapped by state agents and a dual French-American citizen who was arbitrarily detained by Venezuelan authorities at the Colombian-Venezuelan border while on vacation in Colombia and held as a hostage for months before the Venezuelan government released him in a prisoner exchange with the United States.

In light of this continued and systemic repression from the Maduro regime, RFK Human Rights and Foro Penal highlight the need for sustained accountability efforts at the national, regional, and international levels. The report includes specific recommendations to several United Nations mechanisms, the International Criminal Court, and to the international community at large.

About Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

We are a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues—championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure lasting change, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice.

About Foro Penal

Foro Penal is a non-governmental organization that has worked in defense of human rights in Venezuela since 2002, providing pro bono assistance to more than 15,000 victims of political repression, including victims of arbitrary detention, torture and murder. Currently, Foro Penal has more than 400 volunteer lawyers and approximately 7,000 activists in Venezuela and around the world providing legal and humanitarian assistance to victims.