The Venezuelan government has tortured 18 protesters since the beginning of the demonstrations in the country, according to a local human rights organization.
The Foro Penal Venezolano, an association of human rights lawyers, is keeping track of the number of people detained and arrested as a result of the protests that have been sweeping Venezuela for more than two weeks. The group reports that there have been 18 cases of "torture," with authorities beating up protesters, and there's even a report of a student being sodomized with a rifle barrel, according to Spanish and Venezuelan newspapers.
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"There have been cases of cruel and inhuman treatment, vexations and aggressions," Alfredo Romero, a lawyer for Foro Penal Venezolano, said on Monday, according to El Tiempo.
His organization reports that since the starts of the protests, there have been 539 arrests. Two hundred of those people were freed without ever appearing in front of a court, while 138 are still undergoing criminal proceedings.
The case of Juan Manuel Carrasco is perhaps the most striking. Foro Penal Venezolano and Carrasco's mother claim he was sodomized with a rifle barrel after being arrested in Carabobo, citing a private medical exam. Venezuela's Attorney General, however, denied the assault, arguing that when he was detained he underwent a forensic medical exam and he did not report being violated, according to El Tiempo.
The Spanish daily El Pais reports another case, of an anonymous 23-year-old student who was allegedly tortured on February 12, the day of a large protest in Caracas. The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) arrested him and beat him up, even using plastic bags on his head and hitting him with "electric discharges."
During a press conference on Saturday, however, President Nicolas Maduro denied that there has been torture in Venezuela, according to several news reports.
Meanwhile, as of Monday, the number of deaths has reportedly risen to 11, after another weekend of protests and demonstrations both against the Maduro government as well as in support of it.
On Saturday, at least 50,000 anti-Maduro protesters flocked the streets of Caracas, according to Agence France-Presse. At the same time, tens of thousands of pro-government supporters held their own demonstration in another part of the capital.
On the same day, Maduro called for a national peace conference for Wednesday, CNN Español reported.
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