Interim President Juan Guaido said Thursday that the opening of an office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Venezuela, announced by the high court prosecutor, Karim Khan, during a visit to the Caribbean country, represents “a step forward” in “determining responsibility” for allegations crimes against humanity.
“Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Venezuela. Prosecutor Karim Khan's announcement of opening an ICC office in our country is a step forward in determining accountability and ensuring justice, something that does not exist today for Venezuelans,” Guaidó wrote on his Twitter account.
He noted that, after “years of effort and sacrifice, the ICC will monitor the dictatorship more closely than ever before.”
“This should encourage us to continue the denunciation, accompaniment and efforts to bring about change in the country. In Venezuela it has been worth, worth and will be worth the fight,” said the politician, who insists that crimes against humanity have been committed.
According to Guaidó, the Nicolás Maduro regime “has tried to manipulate with a false judicial reform to simulate justice”, referring to the reform of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which reduces the number of magistrates that make up the high court from 32 to 20 and which was approved last January by the Assembly National (AN, Parliament).
“In Venezuela there is no justice or independence of powers, they will only be guaranteed in democracy and freedom,” he added in a short thread posted on Twitter.
This Thursday, the ICC prosecutor announced in Caracas that the agency he leads will open an office in Venezuela, following an agreement reached with Maduro, with whom he met privately, during this week, when he traveled to the South American country after being invited by Chavismo.
“Over the past three days (...) the parties have agreed, Mr. President, that my Prosecutor's Office may open an office here in Caracas. It is a very important step, a very significant step, it is not something in the face of the gallery, it is something concrete that will allow me to fulfill my responsibilities under the Rome Statute and commit myself to the Venezuelan authorities here,” said Khan.
The case dates back to 2018, when the ICC Prosecutor's Office began a preliminary examination for the alleged commission of crimes against humanity, since at least April 2017, during demonstrations throughout the country.
The international tribunal released an annual report in December 2020 listing crimes committed by security forces, including torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, politically motivated persecution and imprisonment in violation of fundamental norms of international law.
(With information from EFE)
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