Iván Duque celebrated that the International Criminal Court is considering investigating Nicolás Maduro for crimes against humanity

Colombian President, Ivan Duque, celebrated on Thursday that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) had concluded that crimes against humanity in Venezuela.

“In 2017, we filed a complaint against Nicolás Maduro before the International Criminal Court and Today we celebrate that the prosecutor’s office of this court concludes that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela and require a formal investigation. We will continue to denounce this dictatorship, ”declared the Head of State.

In 2017, when Duque was a senator, filed a complaint against Maduro for human rights violation in the oil country.

The report of the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, dated June 15 – the day that then prosecutor Fatou Bensouda finished her work – and with a note of “classified document“Until August 10, he concluded that”there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court have been committed in Venezuela”.

In the document, declassified this week, Bensouda considers that, according to the information available to him, he has “a reasonable basis“To believe that since April 2017”Civilian authorities, members of the armed forces and pro-government individuals have committed crimes against humanity“in Venezuela.

Among these crimes is imprisonment “or other types of serious deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental norms of international law “, torture and” rape or other forms of sexual violation“As well as the persecution for political reasons.

The reaction of Maduro’s dictatorship

The regime of Nicolas maduro rejected this Thursday the lapidary report of the public prosecutor’s office International Penal Court. “After having made public the opinion of the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the preliminary examination under way on our country, we strongly and vigorously reject the accusations leveled at them “the Venezuelan public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The entity in charge of Tarek William Saab denied the regime’s inaction and assured that “the conclusions issued by the former prosecutor are worth nothing”. In addition, the regime said it was ready to work with the prosecutor. Karim khan, who replaced Bensouda on June 15, “so that the absolute institutional commitment against all types of impunity and in favor of the integral protection of human rights in Venezuela is verified”.

Responsible for these crimes were, according to the prosecution, the Bolivarian National Police (GNP), the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), Special action forces (FAES), Scientific, criminal and criminal investigation body (CICPC), Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), the National Command Against Extortion and Kidnapping (CONAS) and other units of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB).

The Chavist dictatorship had already complained of an alleged “discriminatory” and “unequal” treatment when it Bensouda he said that He was hoping to announce whether or not he would open an investigation in Venezuela as soon as the tribunal ruled on a request from the Caribbean country. However, he left office without making any statement about it.

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