A/HRC/41/18 perpetrators. According to the Office of the Attorney General, 72 complaints of alleged torture and other ill-treatment concerning 174 persons detained in the context of demonstrations between 2017 and 2019 have been filed. No information was provided on the status of investigations. 44. OHCHR documented cases of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls in detention, particularly by members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service and the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence and officers of the Bolivarian National Guard. Women interviewed referred to physical assaults, such as being dragged by the hair and inappropriate touching, threats of rape, forced nudity and gendered and sexist insults, with the intention of humiliating and punishing them, as well as extracting confessions. 45. In addition, information analysed by OHCHR shows that the conditions of detention of a significant number of persons deprived of their liberty do not meet basic international standards for the humane treatment of detainees, and often constitute ill-treatment. Detention centres, especially preventive detention centres, are often overcrowded and insalubrious. Detainees have limited access to food, water, sanitation, sunlight and recreation facilities. Their access to essential health care is restricted or even denied. 34 These conditions were recognized by the authorities during the visit of the High Commissioner. 46. The detention centre in the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, known as the Helicoide, is not tailored to meet gender-specific standards. OHCHR interviewed several women who had been detained there, who indicated there was only one cell designated for women. The cell was overcrowded and mainly guarded by men, even though there are women guards working in the facilities. Guards and other prisoners pressured women to exchange sex for privileges and/or protection. Several women also said they had no access to specialized medical care and that, unlike men, they were not always allowed to go outside and/or use recreational facilities. Women detained for political motives were often denied visits. C. Excessive use of force and killings in the context of security operations 47. According to the Government, the implementation of its citizen security operations has led to a steady decrease in the level of crime in the country, especially in the number of homicides.35 However, OHCHR documented cases of extrajudicial executions by security forces in the context of security operations conducted in low-income neighbourhoods. Since early 2018, security operations lead by the Special Action Forces of the Bolivarian National Police, created to combat drug trafficking and criminal organizations, replaced the security operations known as Operations for the Liberation of the People implemented from 2015 to 2017.36 Interviewees consistently referred to the Special Action Forces as a “death squad” or “extermination group”. Non-governmental organizations have reported that the Special Action Forces are responsible for hundreds of killings. 37 34 35 36 37 10 According to the non-governmental organization Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones, 37 inmates died of health-related reasons (tuberculosis, malnutrition, hepatitis, salmonella, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS) during the first trimester of 2019 (see www.oveprisiones.com/desnutricionenfermedades-y-violencia-mataron-a-46-presos-en-el-1er-trimestre-2019/). The Government registered 17,407 homicides in 2016, 14,665 in 2017, and 10,598 in 2018. From July 2015 to March 2017, the Office of the Attorney General recorded the killing of 505 people in Operations for the Liberation of the People (“Actuaciones del Ministerio Público relacionadas con las OLP en Venezuela (julio 2015–marzo 2017)”. See https://lortegadiaz.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/10/Folleto-OLP-2017.pdf. The non-governmental organization Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos reported 275 killings in the first quarter of 2019. The non-governmental organization Monitor de Víctimas reported 256 killings in Caracas only in 2018. The non-governmental organization Comité de Familiares de Víctimas reported 3,684 killings in 2017–2018, 28 per cent of which could be attributable to the Special Action Forces/ Bolivarian National Police.