The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) has ordered the Pre-Trial Chamber to resume the investigation against Nicolás Maduro and the main Chavista authorities. There was a "systematic attack against the civilian population," highlights the 22-page report signed by prosecutor Karim Khan, who did not allow himself to be seduced or threatened by the Bolivarian revolution.
"Since at least April 2017, thousands of opponents were allegedly persecuted for political reasons, arrested and detained without an adequate legal basis; hundreds were allegedly tortured and more than 100 were allegedly subjected to forms of sexual violence, including rape," the Prosecutor's Office maintains. , who is clear that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela and are of such a caliber that they deserve to continue being investigated and subsequently prosecuted.
This is the first investigation of this caliber in Latin America and a transcendental step for the ICC to apply measures similar to those already taken against Russian President Vladimir Putin in the future against Maduro and his collaborators.
The crimes against humanity that were set in motion by the ICC mechanism are extrajudicial executions, torture, rape, arbitrary arrests, and forced disappearances. Crimes that the various United Nations reports have linked to Maduro himself, his closest collaborators and the Chavista generalate.
Khan maintains that this "systematic" policy was encouraged and approved by the government and carried out by members of the State Security Forces, with the possible help of pro-government groups and individuals. Beatings, suffocation, drowning and electric shocks are part of the manual for Chavista torturers.
The prosecutor's forcefulness is even greater when it comes to maintaining that the government has not been able to demonstrate "that it has carried out or is carrying out national investigations or prosecutions that sufficiently reflect the scope of the investigation provided for by the Court." In this way, Khan refutes the main claim of the Bolivarian revolution, who, through his prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, insists that he has punished those who have carried out some of these criminal acts.
Another of the arguments used by Chavismo is that the crimes committed were not serious enough, despite their magnitude. The Prosecutor's Office does not see it that way, far from it, and considers that there are reasons to believe that these crimes against humanity were committed. "Khan once again refutes the arguments of the dictatorship and confirms that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed," summed up human rights activist Tamara Suju.
A few months ago, at the insistence of the prosecutor, the Bolivarian regime accused him of relying on "secondary sources lacking all credibility", of "marked partiality" and of "clear politicization".
Khan's investigations into human rights violations in Venezuela, added to the various United Nations reports, have become the main obstacle Maduro faces in his race to legitimize himself in the eyes of the international community. "Serious violations of human rights continue to be carried out in Venezuela to date," shot last week Marta Valiñas, president of the UN Independent International Mission for Venezuela.
Despite the social control that government agents apply to the country, the demonstrations in recent months demanding better wages were repressed once again. Valiñas emphasized the vulnerability of citizens due to the lack of justice.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner, did not shy away from his criticisms of the deaths in police operations, the persecution of journalists and activists, the arbitrary arrests and the closure of the media.
During 2022 alone, at least 824 people lost their lives at the hands of the police and military, according to the joint investigation by the NGO Provea and the Gumilla Center Foundation, belonging to the Jesuits.
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