The 2020 National Assembly presented this Tuesday a bill to repeal the Rome Statute and thus formalize Venezuela’s departure from the International Criminal Court (ICC). This measure is announced a day after the Hague court announced the closure of its office in Caracas, arguing the “lack of real progress” in cooperation with Venezuelan authorities.
Chavista deputy Roy Daza justified the initiative during an ordinary session, accusing the Court of acting with bias.
“There is a biased position on the part of the International Criminal Court and that is why we are proposing before this Assembly the repeal of this instrument,” said Daza.
The parliamentarian affirmed that the ICC Prosecutor’s Office has been “instrumentalized” by the “de facto powers and with the economic, political and cultural powers of imperialism”, deviating from the purposes for which it was created.
The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, supported the position, although his statements also focused on the “deep contempt” that, in his opinion, the Parliament and the Venezuelan people feel for the inaction of the ICC in the face of the “genocide” in Gaza.
The decision of the ICC to close its office in Caracas
The repeal proposal comes immediately after the ICC deputy prosecutor, Mame Mandiaye Niang, announced on Monday that they will close the office installed in 2024 in Caracas.
Niang explained that despite “sustained commitment,” the court concluded that “real progress remains a challenge” in applying the principle of complementarity (which requires the country to seriously investigate domestic crimes).
However, the Prosecutor’s Office stressed that the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela since 2017 “remains active” and will continue to be directed by a team from The Hague.
Response from the Maduro government
The government of Nicolás Maduro reacted to the closure of the office by accusing the ICC Prosecutor’s Office of neglecting its duties and justifying “legal colonialism” against the country.
In a statementthe Foreign Ministry maintained that “it is very obvious” that no crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela, calling the Court’s process “instrumentalized for geopolitical purposes.”
