El Helicoide prison in Caracas sees some political detainees released

As Venezuela’s interim authorities began releasing political prisoners, family members rushed to El Helicoide, the sprawling, spiral-shaped facility in Caracas long associated with state repression under Nicolás Maduro. The building was first conceived in the 1950s as a drive-through shopping mall but later became the headquarters for intelligence services now known as SEBIN and, according to human rights groups, a “torture center.” Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly, said “an important number” of people — Venezuelans and foreign nationals — would be released; authorities had released nine prisoners as of Friday afternoon.

El Helicoide has drawn international scrutiny for years. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Venezuela in 2012 to end “inhumane and degrading” conditions there, and a U.N. fact-finding mission said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” the 2021 death of General Raúl Isaías Baduel resulted from denial of medical care and mentioned the “continued existence of torture rooms.” Former detainees and investigators described unsanitary conditions, sexual violence and torture including electric shocks and asphyxiation.

Venezuelan authorities did not announce a closure of El Helicoide. Observers and former detainees say it remains unclear whether broader releases or a shutdown will occur; Francisco Cox of the U.N.

Key Topics

Politics, El Helicoide, Caracas, Nicolas Maduro, Sebin, Jorge Rodriguez