A/HRC/45/CRP.11 arbitrary detentions, including in poor conditions and for prolonged periods of pre-trial detention; (6) ill-treatment/torture, including sexual and gender-based violence; (7) detention for periods in which their whereabouts were unknown; and (8) harassment and threats to family members or people close to the principal targets.628 A. Victim Profiles 243. The Mission has investigated cases and analyzed broader patterns of repression against principal targets and people associated with them. Principal targets of violations are often Government critics with high public profiles or people who achieved prominence or represented a particular threat due to their actions. The principal targets mainly include social activists and political leaders at the forefront of protests, opposition politicians and military dissidents accused of rebellion, plotting coups or other conspiracies. 244. Intelligence agencies have also targeted other profiles of people seen to challenge official narratives. This includes selected civil servants, judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, NGO workers, journalists,629 and bloggers and social media users.630 In 2020, various health workers and social media users critical of the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic were also detained.631 In July 2020, the Minister of the Interior, Néstor Reverol, announced that Venezuelans who had left the country and are returning would be charged under the Organic Law against Organised Crime and Financing of Terrorism, allegedly for bringing Covid-19 into the country.632 245. Also selectively targeted were people associated with these actors, including families, friends and colleagues or NGO workers and human rights defenders. The questions authorities asked these people while in detention and under interrogation appear to suggest that they were detained to incriminate, extract information about or apply pressure on the main targets. This includes organizations that may have provided funding to opposition movements or received international funding. The measures used against people associated with principal targets often matched or exceeded the severity of that inflicted upon principal targets. 246. From 1 January 2014 to 15 July 2020, the NGO Foro Penal633 registered 3,479 cases of politically motivated detention634 of which 902 (26 per cent) were selective detentions, 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 66 Since 2014, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has issued 54 precautionary measures calling for the protection of approximately 166 people in Venezuela (none were issued in 2014, 7 in 2015, 7 in 2016, 10 in 2017, 6 in 2018, 19 in 2019 and 5 in 2020 as at the time of writing). http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/cautelares.asp#tab2018 According to the non-Governmental organization Espacio Público, 256 journalists have been detained since 2014: 27 in 2014, 12 in 2015, 22 in 2016, 65 in 2017, 57 in 2018 and 73 in 2019. Database on file with the Mission. According to the non-Governmental organization Espacio Público, 11 bloggers and social media users were detained since 2014, 6 in 2014, 2 in 2017 and 3 in 2018. Database on file with the Mission. Espacio Publico documented the detention of at least 16 healthcare workers from 2018 to May 2020 (nine women and eight men) and at least four people (tweeters, bloggers) critical of the Government’s response to the pandemic. According to Foro Penal, as at 7 May 2020, 10 people have been detained by “people who have referred to the pandemic”, especially health workers. See Tweet of Alfredo Romero: https://twitter.com/ReporteYa/status/1258443879566712834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Et weetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.com%2Fes%2Fvenezuela-ong-denunciadetenciones-por-informar-sobre-el-coronavirus%2Fa-53366370) See Efecto Cucoyo, Aplicarán Ley contra la Delincuencia Organizada a los “trocheros”, anuncia Reverol, 16 July 2020, available at: https://efectococuyo.com/politica/aplicaran-ley-contra-ladelincuencia-organizada-a-los-trocheros-anunciareverol/?fbclid=IwAR1iQ37FWFq6Jnw1D8DRBhie_XH6qtvPvk8L4mefGrLS3jdIogGS2JfHLGs Foro Penal is a non-Governmental organization that collects information through its network of over 100 well-known lawyers and 5,000 human rights activities to document cases of violations of the rights of people detained in Venezuela. See a description of its methodology here: https://foropenal.com/en/nosotros/. According to Foro Penal, “political prisoner” does not cover all those detained or arrested for political purposes. The person arrested or detained is not considered by Foro Penal to be a political prisoner