The International Criminal Court (ICC) is carrying out a private visit from which a public report will not be presented. Several sources confirmed that the ICC technical group visited prisons and interviewed relatives of detainees following the July 28 presidential election. Officials asked the Public Ministry to review the files of these cases
A technical commission of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been in the country for at least 10 days, as confirmed to The Pitazo different sources that highlighted that officials provide criminal assistance to the Venezuelan justice system. A few days ago they visited the Tocorón prison, where they met with relatives of those detained for the post-election protests.
The envoys verify whether the Venezuelan criminal authorities complied with transparent processes in the detention of 1,976 people charged with terrorism and hate speech following the July 28 presidential election. It was learned that they have access to the files of the Public Ministry regarding the arrests.
One of the sources consulted indicated that Nicolás Maduro’s recent request to the Public Ministry to verify if there is anyone detained by mistake, could be due to the presence of the ICC in the country.
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«If any international body has an important impact on the Government, it is the ICC. We already see what happens with the reports of the high commissioner or with the UN Mission, who do not want it at all, but with the ICC it is different, so different that they allowed access to the files, courts and some detention centers », highlighted the interviewee, who asked for protection of his identity.
Another source who confirmed the presence of this commission stressed that a public report cannot be expected from this inspection, since it is a visit different from the investigation carried out by the ICC in Venezuela for crimes against humanity.
«The ICC will not open an investigation into the electoral events, but it is verifying whether all those processes reported to this body that do not guarantee justice continue to be replicated. “You will realize that in Venezuela they have done nothing to reverse what gave rise to the ICC investigation into the commission of crimes against humanity,” said the source, referring to the process ordered by prosecutor Karim Khan in November 2021.
The aforementioned investigation began after the publication of a report in December 2020 by the Court’s Prosecutor’s Office, in which it was stated that they had reasonable grounds to believe that, at least since 2017, civil authorities and members of the Force Navy committed crimes against humanity.
Attention of the Prosecutor’s Office
Last Wednesday, November 13, human rights prosecutors from the Public Ministry met with the seven adolescents and the 18-year-old young man held in the House of Justice located in El Cementerio, in Caracas, for three months.
According to family members, some officials interviewed them about the context of their detention and a forensic doctor performed examinations on them. The Pitazo The day after this meeting, he reported that all of the detainees assured the commission that they were in a place other than a protest when they were detained after the elections. The police took several of them out of their home to arrest them.
This meeting would initially be in the presence of the representatives, but it was held only with the teenagers, according to their mothers. One of them explained that officials from the center informed her that the commission was accompanied by foreigners, possibly members of the ICC.
The trial of one of the teenagers, 16 years old, was scheduled for Tuesday, November 12, but it was rescheduled for next week, since the Prosecutor’s Office did not present accusatory evidence.
Testimonies collected by relatives of these young people, as well as of others detained for the post-election protests, detail that during the presentation hearings they were persuaded to plead guilty to the crimes of terrorism and incitement to hatred. Likewise, they also incited them to blame opposition leaders for paying them to demonstrate, cause destruction and destabilization, with the excuse of reducing their sentences, but none of those interviewed agreed, since they all declared themselves innocent.
During the post-election protests that took place in different areas of the country, 25 people were murdered; 8 of the cases occurred in Caracas. Different human rights organizations reported that the protesters were shot by police officers or armed groups.
In the most recent registry of detainees of the Penal Forum, there are 1,976 people arrested for the protests. Among them are 69 teenagers, 146 women, 163 military officials and 18 detainees, whose whereabouts are unknown.
Khan and Maduro
In April of this year, the fourth visit to Venezuela of the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, was recorded. At that time, the Maduro government committed to incorporating the Rome Statute into Venezuela’s national legal framework.
The return of a technical team from the ICC to Caracas was also agreed to agree on initiatives to complement the Rome Statute, to act on reports of crimes.
In the press releases issued by the Maduro government about said meeting, it committed to “follow the process of legal renewal in matters of justice and human rights and incorporate the principles and values of the Rome Statute into the domestic legal system.”
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