What it means for Venezuela to be the first country in Latin America in which the ICC opened a formal investigation

November 3, 2021 will remain as a key date for Venezuela.

After three days of visiting the South American country, Karim Khan, British prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced that the case known as “Venezuela I” It is now moving from the preliminary examination phase to a formal investigation.

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This means that the ICC will seek to determine the veracity of the alleged crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela since at least 2017.

Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. (Getty Images).

“The ICC prosecutor has completed the preliminary examination of the situation in Venezuela and has determined that an investigation should be opened to establish the truth in accordance with the Rome Statute,” reads a memorandum of understanding signed by both Khan and the president. Nicolás Maduro.

“The prosecutor has decided to move on to the next phase. We do not share the decision, but we respect it, ”Maduro said during the televised event at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas.

It is the first time that the ICC has opened an investigation in this phase in Latin America.

The visit to Venezuela came after another visit by Khan to Colombia. There he announced the closure of the case opened 17 years ago for the crimes committed during the war against the FARC.

Invited by Maduro, Khan said that the preliminary examination that opened in 2018 was nothing more than “a stage of filtering as we move towards this new stage,” according to the Reuters news agency.

Although he clarified that for now no suspect has been identified.

Khan and Maduro at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas. (Reuters)

The year 2017 was the scene of bloody protests in which part of the Venezuelan population took to the streets suffocated by food shortages, inflation and insecurity, to which was added the suspension of a recall referendum against Maduro.

What does the change from preliminary examination to investigation mean?

The closing of the preliminary examination and the formal initiation of an investigation means that the ICC has elements to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela.

Until now, the prosecutor was investigating the types of crimes committed, the context and the time in which they were committed, as well as whether the victims had had access to justice, as explained by the lawyer and defender of Human Rights Liliana Ortega.

The excesses and abuses committed by the forces of order were harshly criticized by human rights organizations. (Getty Images)

In this new, more focused phase, the prosecutor will begin to investigate the cases in which, according to him and what the facts determine, crimes against humanity could be committed.

According to Rafael Uzcátegui, general coordinator of the human rights organization Provea, the preliminary examination complied with a series of phases in which it was determined that the crimes they were not being properly and genuinely investigated by the Venezuelan justice system.

“Now in this phase of investigation, individual responsibilities would begin to be established in cases in which the court decides to start the procedure,” he says.

What cases will be investigated?

The ICC will investigate alleged torture, extrajudicial executions or enforced disappearances that have occurred against citizens under State detention.

Ortega says that this stage of investigation is very complex because it is necessary to determine the line of attack, if there was a State policy and a systematic nature in the crimes. “It goes beyond human rights violations.”

(Getty Images)

Ortega indicates that the decision to open a formal investigation has very positive aspects for the victims and their families; but also others who are very delicate due to possible re-victimization. That is why it considers it sensitive to give information on the specific cases that the ICC could investigate.

Not all cases of alleged crimes reach international justice. There has to be enough evidence for the prosecutor to take an X-ray.

What options does Maduro have?

Prosecutor Khan’s announcement was taken by some media as a possible step further to try Maduro and other officials of the Venezuelan government in an international court.

But for now that’s out of the question.

The prosecutor was emphatic in saying that what is being initiated is an investigation and that for now there are no individuals identified.

Maduro said he accepted Khan’s decision, but did not share it. (Getty Images)

According to Uzcátegui, this new phase of investigation opens a window, not only for the victims of these alleged crimes, but also for the government itself.

And it is that Venezuela ratified the Rome Statute that gave rise to the birth of the ICC, so you must cooperate with the investigation.

At the same time, according to the memorandum signed by Khan and Maduro, the investigation will be carried out according to the principle of complementarity.

This means that the ICC will be able to complete the investigation if it determines that Venezuelan institutions cooperate genuinely and effectively for justice to be done.

What has been the response of the Venezuelan government?

Just one day after Khan’s announcement about the initiation of an investigation, the Venezuelan prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, told the media that the closing of the preliminary examination and the investigation that will be carried out “do not meet the requirements of the Rome Statute ”.

Saab recalled that Venezuela delivered to the ICC eight reports compiling more than 3,000 pages of information on the cases brought by the country to identify and prosecute those responsible for human rights violations.

Tarek William Saab, fiscal general de Venezuela. (Getty Images)

Saab refers to the fact that on February 13, 2020, the Maduro government asked the ICC to investigate the alleged crimes against humanity “as a result of the application of illegal coercive measures unilaterally adopted by the government of the United States of America against Venezuela. , at least since 2014 ″.

However, Saab reiterated to Khan that Venezuela opens the doors to the ICC investigation, and stressed that cooperation must be real.

In September last year, a report by the Venezuela Fact-Finding Mission, created by the UN Human Rights Council, also linked the Venezuelan government to alleged crimes.

“The mission has reasonable grounds to believe that both the president and the interior and defense ministers contributed to the commission of the crimes documented in this report,” the investigation concluded.

At that time, Venezuela also rejected the report.

Why is it a historic decision?

(Getty Images)

The opening of a formal investigation in Venezuela by the ICC is the first to be carried out in Latin America and has been considered historic by human rights defenders.

And not only because it indicates that crimes could have been committed in Venezuela “that were not duly investigated” by the country’s justice system, according to Uzcátegui.

“I think it is also a very important blow to the international image of the Bolivarian government.”

Uzcátegui believes that this first investigation in Latin America will generate a contagion for the rest of the countries of the region and it can prevent “human rights violations from reaching these levels of gravity.”

However, Ortega recalls that this investigation will be one more step within international justice.

“Now there is a way to go and understand. And based on that, what we must continue to do is accompany the victims ”.

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