Is El Helicoide about to close? News on Venezuela’s Detention Centre Accused of Torture

Translated by Giulia Girardi

 

On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) ordered the closure of El Helicoide, a government building in Caracas — much better known as a torture centre. The Court also issued a judgment concerning the detention of student Jorge Rojas in 2003, finding the Venezuelan State internationally responsible for the violations committed in connection with his detention.

The Court’s Order

The Court ordered the Venezuelan State to close the El Helicoide detention centre, emphasising that the transfer of the current prisoners must be carried out in accordance with the standards established by the American Convention on Human Rights — personal integrity, personal liberty, and the right to a fair trial. The Court further states that, according to several international institutions and organisations responsible for monitoring the human rights situation in Venezuela, the individuals detained at El Helicoide had been subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The Court found that these violations were committed by the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN).

Jorge Rojas, arrested and tortured for enacting a peaceful protest

The Court found the Venezuelan state responsible for restricting the student’s participation in a peaceful protest, thereby violating his freedom of thought and political expression. Jorge Rojas was arrested on September 19, 2003 — when Hugo Chávez was in power — in Plaza Francia, Caracas, during a police operation carried out on a day of protests against the regime. At that time, Rojas was peacefully demonstrating against the government when plainclothes officers — without even identifying themselves as police agents — forcibly imprisoned him. According to the international court, the police officers committed acts of torture against Rojas during his detention. Rojas is also believed to have been repeatedly beaten, threatened with sexual violence, and subjected to mock executions.

Stores turned into torture cells: El Helicoide and its history

El Helicoide was designed in the 1950s as a futuristic shopping centre featuring more than three kilometres (about 1.9 miles) of spiral ramps. However, the building was never completed. Under the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, several spaces originally designed for commercial businesses were converted into torture cells for political prisoners. Under Maduro, who succeeded Chávez in 2013, the repression intensified. According to the September 2023 report of the UN Human Rights Council, numerous acts of torture took place at El Helicoide, including electric shocks, beatings, suffocation, and prolonged bans on family visits.

Maduro and his repression regime

In 2013, following Chávez’s death, Venezuela entered a governance crisis, because political power had become heavily centralised under his leadership. Maduro was designated as his successor. Despite being sustained by a strong, well-established communication apparatus, Maduro won the 2013 presidential election by a narrow margin of just 1.5% over Capriles, the candidate representing the MUD (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática). Due to the lack of climate stability and political violence, Maduro sought to address the crisis by adopting an authoritarian approach, which further intensified state violence against political opponents. Diosdato Cabello — at that time President of the National Assembly — suspended the opposition deputies’ right to speak and withdrew their salaries and parliamentary benefits. They were also physically assaulted, with the tacit approval of the ministers. Opposition leaders were prosecuted on politically motivated charges and arbitrarily detained, while numerous newspaper editors were persecuted. The implementation of the Plan Patria Segura further entrenched the militarisation of Venezuela, expanding the role of the country’s armed fires into the areas traditionally supervised by civilian law enforcement. In addition, he expanded the size and the political and military roles of the Bolivarian Militia, in order to intimidate the trade union movements seeking to contrast the regime.

Will El Helicoide Transformed into a Recreational Centre?

Maduro was imprisoned on January 3rd, 2026, after a targeted U.S. military operation. He is currently in the United States, awaiting trial on charges of drug trafficking and terrorism. After that, Delcy Rodríguez became Venezuela’s interim president. Previously, she had exercised political power over the country’s security apparatus, including the SEBIN and detention facilities such as El Helicoide. However, this proposal has been strongly opposed by human rights activists. “The horrors committed at El Helicoide have already been extensively documented and denounced by numerous human rights organisations and by a fact-finding mission conducted by the United Nations”, stated Martha Tineo, coordinator of the NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón — one of the organisations supporting political prisoners and their families.

Is closing a torture centre enough to achieve justice?

Delcy Rodríguez’s proposal to close El Helicoide and design a new community centre could end up to be a measure that does not alter the underlying structure of Venezuela’s political system, since Rodríguez remains a prominent figure within Maduro’s regime. Her plan to convert El Helicoide into a social and recreational space has been sharply criticised by activists, who view it as an attempt to erase the traces of the previous crimes, by transforming a space of repression into a leisure facility. By contrast, activists support the permanent closure of the site, while advocating for its conversion into a museum of memory — a space intended as a “form of reparation for the victims” and as a first step towards genuine transitional justice, acknowledging the country’s past. Such a museum would help establish a public and shared historical narrative of the events that characterised the regime. This approach would not necessarily constitute retributive justice, but rather a form of restorative justice — drawing on the model of Truth and Reconciliation. Transitional justice seeks to address the legacy of past abuses with the aim of preventing their recurrence. Its objective is to strengthen the present by acknowledging and processing historical events, establishing the truth, and preventing the manipulation of history — which can itself become a form of violence. Therefore, the closure of emblematic sites of repression such as El Helicoide may represent an important step toward change. However, without truth, accountability, and recognition of victims, the country risks limiting itself to symbolic measures rather than embarking on a genuine process of transitional justice.

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