Venezuelan Naval Commander Tortured and Killed

Lieutentant Commander Acosta Arevalo

Lieutenant Commander Acosta Arevalo was the Captain of a Corvette in the Venezuelan Navy.

Arevalo was arrested by the DGCIM (Venezuelan Military Counterintelligence) on the 21st June.

On the 28th June he arrived in court at a hearing. Arevalo was in a wheelchair and showed signs of physical injury consistent with being tortured.

Human Rights Lawyer Tamara Suju states that she asked Arevalo whether he had been tortured by the DGCIM and he “confirmed by nodding his head to the question of whether he was tortured by the DGCIM.”

After the court hearing the judge ordered that he be taken to the hospital where he died at 1am on the morning of the 29th June. His body was taken from the hospital to an undisclosed location by the DGCIM.

Tamara Suju said she will personally take the case to the International Criminal Court.

Waleska Pérez, wife of Lieutenant Commander Acosta Arevalo said that Arevalo did not agree with Maduro and she believes that’s the reason he was killed. She said "In the military barracks there is fear for rebelling against the regime and what they could do against it,” and “There is a lot of fear among them, what happened to my husband, that was the intention that the people of the barracks seize fear of what might happen to them if they do something they do not they must. "