Photo: US Embassy in Ottawa, January 4, 2026.
Along with documenting violations against human rights defenders (HRDs) in Venezuela, multiple human rights experts have denounced the US military attack against Venezuela and highlight that the US contravention of international law and focus on oil puts the lives of human rights defenders at even greater risk.
Attacks against HRDs
Amnesty International has noted: “The NGO Centre for Defenders and Justice recorded 979 attacks and security incidents against human rights defenders during 2024, an increase compared with 524 such events in 2023.”
Their report also documented: “By October, the NGO Foro Penal confirmed more than 1,900 of the detentions, of which 129 were of children. By the end of the year, the government had freed 1,369 people and detained 15 others. However, hundreds of people remained arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, including three children.”
Military action a violation of international law
On January 3, 2026, the day of the US attack on Venezuela, Amnesty International stated: “Today’s military action by the US Trump Administration in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, raises grave concerns for the human rights of the Venezuelan population. It most likely constitutes a violation of international law, including the UN Charter, as does the stated US intention to run Venezuela and control its oil resources.”
They further cautioned: “Those most immediately at risk include human rights defenders and political activists who have courageously opposed Maduro government’s human rights violations and crimes under international law for years.”
That same day, a United Nations statement highlighted: “The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela has voiced grave concern over the country’s human rights situation following the US attack…”
That statement added: “Expert member Alex Neve [a previous Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada] stressed that alleged violations do not justify a military intervention that breaches international law, while the illegality of such an intervention does not diminish the responsibility of Venezuelan officials for years of repression, amounting to crimes against humanity.”
BBC video still, January 6, 2026: Alex Neve: “[The illegality of the US military action in Venezuela] doesn’t at all somehow absolve the Maduro regime of its years of responsibility for crimes against humanity. Just like the fact that there has been this record of atrocious human rights violations in Venezuela doesn’t justify an illegal military intervention by the United States government.”
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organizations, including, further stated: “Unilateral bombings and military operations are not legitimate tools for conflict resolution; historically, they have led to serious human rights violations, war crimes, and impunity.”
Türk: Military intervention not a victory for human rights
And on January 5, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, commented: “Far from being a victory for human rights, this military intervention – in contravention of Venezuelan sovereignty and the UN charter – damages the architecture of international security, making every country less safe.”
Journalists detained following US attack
The Washington Post has reported: “Venezuela’s government has moved quickly to suppress any public expression of support for Maduro’s ouster, launching a nationwide crackdown that has included the detention of journalists, the arrest of civilians and the deployment of armed gangs across the capital.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists has also condemned: “the detention of at least 14 journalists and media workers in Caracas during the inauguration ceremony of Delcy Rodríguez as president [on January 5], and urges Venezuelan authorities to guarantee that journalists can report freely without intimidation, surveillance, or retaliation.”
GAM, ProDESC condemn US attack, call for the protection of HRDs
That same day, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and 37 other human rights organizations in Latin America – including the Mutual Support Group (GAM) in Guatemala, the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC) in Mexico, and Temblores in Colombia – condemned the “US military attack” against Venezuela and called on the international community “to protect human rights defenders, protesters, and political prisoners in Venezuela…”
Political prisoners not on Trump’s agenda
During a media scrum on Air Force One on Sunday January 4, a reporter asked US President Donald Trump: “Are you going to demand that [interim Venezuelan president] Delcy Rodriguez let opposition figures return or free any political prisoners?”
Trump responded: “We haven’t gotten to that yet. Right now, what we want to do is fix up the oil, fix up the country.”
Within just a few days of that comment on Air Force One, CNN reported: “President Donald Trump said Tuesday [January 6] night that Venezuela will turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, to be sold at market value and with the proceeds controlled by the US.”
Now, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is warning of “the risk of new and serious human rights violations in Venezuela”, urging “Venezuelan authorities to immediately guarantee the protection of all human rights defenders”, and calling on “the international community to take a more active and effective role in promoting and protecting human rights in Venezuela.”
We continue to follow this.
Further reading
PBI-Canada amplifies voices of human rights defenders following the US military action in Venezuela, threats against Colombia and Mexico (January 6, 2026)
Human rights defender Lola from Venezuela – Peace Brigades International | PBI Nederland (4 minute video, June 2025)
Documentary of LGBTIQ+ activist Yendri Velásquez – Peace Brigades International – The Netherlands (1 minute video, March 2024)
PBI The Netherlands – documentary about Venezuelan human rights defender David Gómez Gamboa (13 minute video, July 8, 2020).
