A/HRC/45/CRP.11 Number of individuals arrested, number of individuals that are still detained and charges presented660 Date and Name Name / Reference Description of alleged operation 17. June 2019 Operation “Vuelvan Caras” (Caracas) Alleged attempt to assassinate President Maduro and take over Miraflores Palace, the La Carlota air base and the vaults of the Central Bank of Venezuela, with the alleged support of the Colombian Government and the Venezuelan “right”681 10 arrested, 7 still detained, 1 death in custody. Charges include terrorism, conspiracy, attempted murder, treason and criminal association 18. December 2019 Operation Aurora/Toma de Batallón 513 in Bolívar (Gran Sabana, Bolívar) Alleged assault on GNB detachment in the fort of Santa Elena, and theft of weapons682 22 arrested, 21 still detained, 1 escaped.Charges include terrorism, theft of firearms or ammunition from the FANB, conspiracy, association to commit crimes 19. April 2020 Assault on Puerta Morocha (Los Teques) Alleged attempt to assault the 441st GNB detachment in Puerta Morocha to steal weapons683 18 arrests, 13 still detained684 259. As of 2018, civilians linked to the military targets, such as family, friends and associates, also increasingly became victims of repression. This includes those who might know the whereabouts of those accused of involvement and relatives of military members. B. Patterns 260. The arrests and detentions of political opponents or critics of the Government in Venezuela involve a number of individuals at different hierarchical levels, in which key institutional actors within the executive, law-enforcement/intelligence services and the judiciary play a role. 261. State intelligence services play an integral party in targeted repression of dissidents: SEBIN (in the case of civilians) and DGCIM (in the case of military personnel). The intelligence agencies are responsible for carrying out initial investigations into potential crimes committed by the targeted dissidents, arresting them, interrogating them and detaining them. The detentions take place mainly in the respective headquarters offices of the intelligence services in Caracas, outside the purview of the penitentiary system. 262. The Mission finds reasonable grounds to believe that arbitrary detentions were used to target individuals based on their political affiliation, participation, views, opinions or expression, throughout the period under review. The Mission also has reasonable grounds to conclude that these arbitrary detentions did not constitute isolated or random acts. 685 The reiteration of the conduct, the similarities in the modus operandi and the involvement of different state institutions at different levels, as illustrated below and reported by the accounts of victims, witnesses and other sources, show that arbitrary detentions of opponents or critics 681 682 683 684 685 YouTube Video, Multimedio VTV. Gobierno Nacional revela nuevas evidencias de acciones planificadas por el hampograma nacional, video on file with the Mission. YouTube Video, Mundo News, Venezuela:3 militares sublevados llaman al Ejército para la “Operación Aurora” y liberar Venezuela available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ozPKpZcXPw Infobae, Una rebelión encabezada por capitanes de la Guardia Nacional intento un levantamiento militar available at: https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2020/04/21/una-rebelionencabezada-por-capitanes-de-la-guardia-nacional-intento-un-levantamiento-militar-contra-nicolasmaduro/ The Foro Penal noted that these arrests occurred in the midst of the state of alarm over the COVID pandemic19. The quarantine period has made access to information difficult in courts as well as in detention centres. The organization Foro Penal has documented 3479 case of individuals detained for political reasons from 1 January 2014 to 15 July 2020, of which 902 outside the context of demonstrations. 73