Venezuela: Political prisoners tortured, forced to eat excrement

In Venezuela, prisoners say abuse is so bad they are forced to eat pasta mixed with excrement
By Rachelle Krygier and Joshua Partlow
June 24
CARACAS, Venezuela

"...Some demonstrators say they are picked up by security forces who manhandle them and hold them in overcrowded detention centers. The worst treatment appears to be meted out by the intelligence service and the armed forces, whose prisoners have endured regular beatings and sometimes other forms of physical and sexual abuse, according to interviews with former detainees, defense attorneys and human rights advocates. While Venezuelan security forces have been accused of using excessive force in the past, the upsurge in such allegations has alarmed human rights activists.


“We’ve noted a great increase in the number of torture and cruel, inhumane-treatment cases,” El Fakih said, noting there are no definitive numbers on the phenomenon. “I can say that the increase has been exponential.”

The office of President Nicolás Maduro — as well as the National Guard, the National Police and the Ministry of the Interior — did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the allegations. But the government has publicly defended its actions against the demonstrators and reiterated its commitment to human rights.

and

“At least 15 said they were forced to eat raw pasta with human excrement — the officers allegedly put tear gas powder in their noses so they would be forced to open their mouths to eat,” the Human Rights Watch report read."

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Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/in-venezuela-prisoners-say-abuse-is-so-bad-they-are-forced-to-eat-pasta-mixed-with-excrement/2017/06/23/39a0c85e-4acb-11e7-987c-42ab5745db2e_story.html?utm_term=.646ebbf9f62b