The International Criminal Court’s Decision To Open Office In Venezuela Amid Investigations Into Alleged Human Rights Violations

04-04-2022

Amanda Lemos

America and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

Last week, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced the decision to open an office in Venezuela to facilitate the preliminary investigations into alleged human rights violations committed by Venezuelan authorities and security forces during anti-government protests in 2017. The investigation commenced by a joint referral to the Prosecution’s Office of six ICC Member States, a novelty in the court’s 20-year history.

According to the first report presented by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela to the Human Rights Council, in September 2020, there were reasonable grounds to believe Venezuelan authorities and armed forces had committed violations amounting to crimes against humanity. The experts further emphasised that the high-governmental officials “had knowledge of and contributed to the commission of these crimes”. Furthermore, reports released by Human Rights Watch in 2014 and 2017 found widespread abuses, such as the beating and torture of detainees by security forces, as well as arbitrary detentions.

Following a document made public by the Pre-Trial Chamber I in June 2021, the preliminary examination conducted by the Office of the Prosecutor concluded that “the authorities are unwilling genuinely to investigate and/or prosecute such cases”, due to the way domestic proceedings were carried out. The Office of the Prosecutor further highlighted that decisions were made with the intent of shielding persons from criminal responsibility, marked by dependent and biased arrangements.

The occurrence provoked a different response by Nicolás Maduro, who initially was of the opinion that the investigation was unwarranted. Now, the Venezuelan president affirmed the opening of the office will allow for an effective dialogue to clarify the facts.

Sources and further reading:

AlJazeera. (2022, April 1). ICC to open office in Venezuela to investigate rights abuses. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/1/icc-to-open-office-in-venezuela-to-investigate-rights-abuses

Human Rights Watch. (2021, November 3). Venezuela: ICC Investigation Opens. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/03/venezuela-icc-investigation-opens

International Criminal Court. (2021, June 15). Situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2021_05505.PDF