Editing Death squad (section)

==== Venezuela ====
{{Main|Extrajudicial killings in Venezuela|Colectivo (Venezuela)}}
In its 2002 and 2003 world reports, [[Human Rights Watch]] reported the existence of death squads in several [[Venezuela]]n states, involving members of the local police, the [[DISIP]] and the [[National Guard of Venezuela|National Guard]]. These groups were responsible for the extrajudicial killings of civilians and wanted or alleged criminals, including street criminals, looters and drug users.<ref name="World Report 2002: Venezuela">{{cite web |title=World Report 2002: Venezuela |url=http://hrw.org/wr2k2/americas10.html |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=26 December 2006 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226044738/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k2/americas10.html%20 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="World Report 2003: Venezuela">{{cite web |title=World Report 2003: Venezuela |url=http://hrw.org/wr2k3/americas10.html |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=26 December 2006 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226044749/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k3/americas10.html%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, amid the [[Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela]], the government of [[Nicolás Maduro]] was accused by a UN human rights report of using death squads to conduct thousands of extrajudicial executions. The report relayed a multitude of eyewitness accounts, describing the government's [[Special Action Forces]] (FAES) frequently arriving at homes in unmarked vehicles, executing male suspects on the spot, then planting drugs or weapons on the corpse to make it appear the victim died resisting arrest. According to the report, the executions were part of a campaign aimed at "neutralizing, repressing and criminalizing political opponents and people critical of the government".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-un-idUSKCN1TZ1PW|title=Venezuela death squads kill young men, stage scenes, U.N. report says|first=Tom|last=Miles|newspaper=Reuters|date=4 July 2019|via=www.reuters.com|access-date=27 November 2020|archive-date=10 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210225235/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-un-idUSKCN1TZ1PW|url-status=live}}</ref> The Maduro government condemned the report as "openly biased".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/venezuelas-army-death-squads-kill-thousands-un/a-49477147|title=Venezuela's army death squads kill thousands — UN &#124; DW &#124; 04.07.2019|website=DW.COM|access-date=14 December 2019|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819084407/https://www.dw.com/en/venezuelas-army-death-squads-kill-thousands-un/a-49477147|url-status=live}}</ref>