International Criminal Court and Venezuela

A preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court to analyze possible crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela is currently open.

History

By 2006, the Office of the Prosecutor received twelve communications concerning the situation in Venezuela, most of them related to crimes allegedly committed by the Venezuelan government and associated forces and one to crimes alleged to have been committed by opposition groups, but the examination was closed on 9 February 2006 because it was concluded that the Rome Statute requirements to seek authorization to initiate an investigation in the country had not been satisfied.[1]

In February 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it would open preliminary probes into alleged crimes against humanity performed by Venezuelan authorities.[2]

On 27 September 2018, six states parties to the Rome Statute: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru, referred the situation in Venezuela since 12 February 2014 to the ICC, requesting the Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to initiate an investigation on crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the territory. On 28 September, the Presidency assigned the situation to Pre-Trial Chamber I.[3] This was the first time that member States had sought an investigation of potential crimes that took place entirely on the territory of another country.[4]

Nicolás Maduro's Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, filed a complaint in the ICC against the United States on 13 February 2020, arguing that policy of sanctions has resulted in crimes against humanity.[5] Prosecutor Bensouda stated that she informed the ICC Presidency of the referral pursuant to the regulations of the court to enable the assignment of the situation to a Pre-Trial Chamber, noting that the two referrals "appear to overlap geographically and temporally and may therefore warrant assignment to the same Pre-Trial Chamber", but "that this should not prejudice a later determination on whether the referred scope of the two situations is sufficiently linked to constitute a single situation".[6]

See also

References
  1. "OTP letter to senders re Venezuela 9 February 20061.doc" (PDF). International Criminal Court. 9 February 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  2. "ICC to open preliminary probes in Philippines, Venezuela". ABC News. 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. "Venezuela". International Criminal Court. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  4. "Venezuela: Six States Request ICC Investigation". Human Rights Watch. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. "Venezuela asks ICC prosecutor to investigate U.S. officials". Reuters. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  6. "Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mrs Fatou Bensouda, on the referral by Venezuela regarding the situation in its own territory". Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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