The families of five Venezuelan men have filed a compensation lawsuit in the US against former President Nicolás Maduro over his role in commanding the police unit known as the Special Action Forces (FAES), which is accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings and torture in Venezuela between 2017 and 2021.
The complaint filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York alleges that Maduro personally created the FAES and retained command as the unit carried out a campaign of extrajudicial killings. The families are seeking damages under the Torture Victim Protection Act.
According to the allegations, FAES officers would raid homes in the early morning hours wearing black clothing and face masks, separate young men from their families, force many to kneel and then execute them, and afterwards stage the scene to create the impression that the victims had resisted authority. The families also claim that the officers looted homes, planted weapons, and transported the deceased victims to hospitals to conceal the deaths.
The lawsuit details five separate incidents involving six victims during the 2017–2021 period. It alleges that the FAES also tortured three relatives through beatings, detention, and forcing them to witness the executions.
Maduro served as President of Venezuela until 2026. He is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges and has pleaded not guilty in his criminal case. He has described himself as a prisoner of war.
The families argue that prosecutors in Venezuela refused to carry out investigations or hold senior officials accountable, leaving them without an effective legal remedy in the country. The Torture Victim Protection Act allows civil lawsuits in US courts for alleged torture and extrajudicial killings committed under the authority of foreign governments.
Reports by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and the US State Department document the FAES's involvement in widespread human rights violations. Maduro's lawyers have not yet commented on the matter.
