Venezuela police raids targeting, abusing low-income communities

Jurist reports:

Police and military raids in low-income communities in Venezuela are leading to allegations of widespread abuse, the Venezuelan Human Rights Education-Action Program (PROVEA) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy websites] said in a joint report [text] issued Monday. Titled "Unchecked Power: Police and Military Raids in Low-Income and Immigrant Communities in Venezuela," this report outlines allegations [press release] including extrajudicial killings, mass arbitrary detentions, maltreatment of detainees, forced evictions, the destruction of homes and the arbitrary deportation of Colombian nationals. The abuses are connected to "Operation to Liberate and Protect the People" (OLP), the Venezuelan government's anti-crime initiative which began in July 2015 to combat the presence of criminal gangs and has since resulted in the deaths of 250 people.

Imagine that.