CARACAS (Reuters) - The wife of a Venezuelan navy captain who died after being detained on conspiracy accusations said on Monday the United Nations should investigate the cause of his death, amid widespread accusations he was tortured to death.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend confirmed the death of Rafael Acosta, who was detained for alleged participation in a coup plot, without providing details on the cause of death or commenting on the torture accusations.

Acosta's wife Waleswka Perez, human rights activists and political leaders have accused Maduro's government of torturing Acosta to death and refusing to clarify the circumstances under which he died.

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Perez demanded that the government hand over Acosta's body and called for an independent U.N. investigation into the incident, which has been condemned by the United States as well as the Lima Group of Latin American nations.

"I request international support for an independent forensic examination by the United Nations to determine the cause of death of the father of my children," she wrote on Twitter.

Venezuela's information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

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The office of U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who recently visited Venezuela to review the rights situation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bachelet at the end of her visit in June said two U.N. rights experts would remain in the country to follow up on rights issues.

Alonso Medina, a lawyer representing Acosta's family, said authorities had detained two officials from military intelligence agency DGCIM, which was holding Acosta.

"This is not enough," he said in a telephone interview, adding that the investigation should focus on the country's top military officials because the case implicates the armed forces as an institution in the use of torture.

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"There is no doubt that he was the victim of torture by intelligence agencies during his detention."

Acosta, 50, was initially detained on June 21. When he was taken to a military tribunal on June 28, he was in a wheelchair and was barely able to speak after having been beaten so severely, Perez said over the weekend in televised interviews from Colombia.

A defense ministry statement on Sunday said Acosta fainted at the start of the tribunal hearing and was transferred to a military hospital, without offering any further details.

Venezuelan state agencies have not responded to queries as to the cause of his death.

(This story corrects the date of Bachelet's visit to Venezuela from May to June in seventh paragraph)