Venezuela protesters beaten, sexually abused, human rights group says

Some of the more than 5,000 people detained were beaten, sexually assaulted or given electrical shocks in what the New York-based rights group describes in a report as a level of repression “unseen in Venezuela in recent memory.” “The widespread vicious abuses against government opponents in Venezuela, including egregious cases of torture, and the absolute impunity for the attackers suggests government responsibility at the highest levels,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch. “These are not isolated abuses or occasional excesses by rogue officers.”. More…