Inmates at El Helicoide prison in Caracas have reportedly been subjected to horrific torture, including being strung up, beaten, raped, and having bags of excrement placed over their heads. Originally built in the 1950s as a spiral-shaped shopping centre, the facility was transformed into a 'vast torture chamber' under the regime of Nicolás Maduro, who was recently captured by US forces.
The prison, now dubbed 'hell on Earth', employs methods such as 'white torture', where inmates are confined to small windowless cells with white walls and constant bright lights, causing them to lose perception of time and hallucinate. Prisoners reportedly wake up to find blood-splattered friends unconscious on the floor.
Venezuelan opposition politician Rosmit Mantilla, who spent two years in the jail, alleged that inmates were electrocuted and raped with rifles. 'Some of them lost sight in their right eye because they had an electrode placed in their eye. Almost all were hung up like dead fish while they were tortured,' he said.
Conditions in the prison were described as cramped, with inmates forced to urinate in the same area where they stored food. Bags containing excrement were sometimes placed over prisoners' heads before assaults by guards. A cell called 'el infiernito' (little hell) lacked ventilation and had unending bright light, leaving inmates unable to lie down.
Following recent US military action in Venezuela, which led to Maduro's capture, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, claimed that some inmates would be freed, with 116 already released. However, human rights group Penal Forum disputes this figure, stating only 56 have been set free, offering some hope to families of those still detained.
