Amnesty International (AI) warned in its annual report that during 2025 a pattern of serious violations of human rightsin a context that the organization describes as persistent impunity for possible crimes against humanity.
The report offers a review of the global human rights panorama and dedicates a section to the Venezuelan situation, where it describes the continuity of repressive practices against political dissidence and critical sectors of the country.
“The widespread repression exercised by the government of Nicolás Maduror against political dissidence persisted, generating serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity,” the NGO.
According to AI, these actions would have been carried out through state structures and civil support that, together, would have served to contain, intimidate and sanction opponents, journalists and human rights defenders.
Report documents releases and detentions
The report also indicates that in 2025 there will be new arrests for political reasons, although in smaller numbers compared to the previous year. At the same time, the release of a group of people deprived of liberty stands out, according to data verified by organizations such as Foro Penal.
According to these figures, 116 detainees were released during the year, in a scenario that, however, continues to be marked by complaints of forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions recorded in recent periods.
AI emphasizes that the lack of progress in investigations and sanctions has consolidated an environment of almost total impunity for human rights violations, which keeps multiple complaints open without resolution.
Restrictions on rights and setbacks in fundamental freedoms
The document also includes restrictions on freedom of expression and association, as well as arrests of activists and human rights defenders, several of whom were later released in 2026 after years of judicial process.
Likewise, the organization warns of setbacks in the rights of LGBTIQ+ and indigenous populations, in addition to limitations in access to sexual and reproductive rights. It also includes alerts about the environmental impact of mining illegal and the lack of reliable official information about its extent.
Forced disappearances and questioned conditions mark the return of migrants
In terms of human mobility, AI recalls cases of Venezuelan migrants returned from third countries under questionable conditions, as well as situations classified by the NGO as temporary forced disappearance.
“July (2025), 252 Venezuelan men were returned to Venezuela from El Salvador. All of them had been in a situation of forced disappearance for more than three months in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT)), in that country, where they had been transferred from the United States,” he explained.
The report also mentions international military operations in the Caribbean and attacks on vessels identified for drug trafficking, which would have left fatalities in circumstances that, according to AI, should be independently investigated.
Finally, the document warns that its analysis focuses on the year 2025, so it does not incorporate the political changes that occurred in Venezuela at the beginning of 2026, after the United States military attack on January 3 and the subsequent institutional readjustments.
