Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is facing a civil lawsuit in the United States, with families accusing him of directing a police unit implicated in extrajudicial killings and torture.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that Maduro created and commanded Venezuela's Special Action Forces (FAES) between 2017 and 2021. The lawsuit claims the unit carried out a campaign of extrajudicial killings and torture, with victims allegedly separated from families, executed, and their deaths staged to appear as resistance to authority.
Plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages under the Torture Victim Protection Act. The lawsuit notes that venue is proper in the U.S. because Maduro is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, awaiting trial on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.
According to the complaint, FAES officers allegedly conducted raids on homes, often at dawn, to carry out executions and subsequently looted properties. The lawsuit details five incidents between 2017 and 2021 involving six victims, and also accuses FAES officers of torturing three relatives by beating, detaining, or forcing them to witness killings.
The lawsuit asserts that Maduro established FAES in 2017 as a special tactical unit within Venezuela's National Bolivarian Police. It claims he publicly defended the force despite criticism from human rights organizations, including reports from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. State Department documenting alleged abuses.
The families argue that they have been unable to obtain justice within Venezuela's judicial system, alleging that prosecutors either refused to investigate or failed to hold senior officials accountable, leaving them without an effective remedy in their home country. The Torture Victim Protection Act permits civil claims in U.S. courts for alleged torture and extrajudicial killings committed under the authority of a foreign government.
Maduro served as Venezuela's president from 2013 to 2026, according to the complaint. He has pleaded not guilty in his separate criminal case and has previously referred to himself as a "prisoner of war."