CPI prosecutor refuses to postpone investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in Venezuela

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Thursday that he refused to postpone his investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela and asked the judges for permission to resume the investigation.

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“I notified yesterday [miércoles] to the Pre-Trial Chamber the request for Venezuela to suspend the procedure, as well as my intention to request, as soon as possible, the authorization to resume my investigation”, said the prosecutor of the CPIthe British Karim Khan, in a statement.

“I have communicated this decision because, after reviewing the merits of the request for postponement, I have concluded that no new information has been presented that justifies” such a decision.

Caracas estimates that the violations of human rights — committed during the repression of the demonstrations against the government in 2017 that left some one hundred dead — are punished, persecuted and judged by its own judicial system.

According to the Rome statute, the founding treaty of the CPI Based in The Hague, a member state can formally request that the ICC prosecutor take charge of the state’s investigation on its own territory.

In November, the prosecutor of the CPI announced together with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, that it was moving from a preliminary examination opened in 2018 to a formal investigation.

At the same time, the CPI and Caracas signed a memorandum of understanding in which Venezuela promised to take measures so that the CPI could work.

President Ripe He then said that he respected but did not agree with the prosecution’s decision to open a formal investigation.

On March 31, both the Court and Caracas agreed to open a court office in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan justice accused and sentenced law enforcement officers for the death of protesters during the 2017 mobilizations, but opponents of the government believe that these measures were only taken to avoid a trial before the CPI.

Source: Elcomercio

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