The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court rejected the request of the government of Nicolás Maduro to postpone its investigation and will request that victims of crimes against humanity or their legal representatives formulate their observations.
This is indicated by a communication from the prosecutor Karim Khan to the judges of the Preliminary Matters Chamber I of the Court of The Hague, where he highlights that they have tried to “maintain a meaningful dialogue with Venezuela, in line with the principle of complementarity, during the preliminary examination and beyond”.
The text indicates that the government did not attach any supporting material in its request for postponement and, instead, “refers to the nine reports that it had previously submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office since 2020.”
The Prosecutor’s Office, the statement continues, informed the Venezuelan authorities of its understanding that an evaluation must be made “based on the facts as they currently stand.”
It adds: “The evaluation of the complementarity of the Prosecutor’s Office cannot be prospective and speculative, based on events that may occur in the future.”
Last month Khan reported that the court will open a office in Venezuela after an agreement with the government in private meetings.
“We have had some constructive exchanges. We have agreed that my Prosecutor’s Office will be able to open an office in Caracas. It is an important and significant step to comply with the Rome statute”, said the lawyer.
He added: “We agreed on working meetings between technical members of my office and a group from your government. And we reached a consensus, since the Prosecutor’s Office will be able to work with international organizations in the country.”
Two weeks ago Maduro’s attorney general, Tarek William Saabassured that in the country “there is no need” for an ICC investigation, which, he stressed, will be demonstrated.
“Honestly, there is no need for the International Criminal Court to investigate and we are going to prove it. We have been demonstrating it, we have been meeting, the memorandums have been signed, but in practice we are going to demonstrate it, ”said the official in the presentation of his report and account before Parliament.
“In Venezuela, human rights violations are sanctioned, persecuted, and judged without the need for a kind of legal colonization to protect what is already being done here, fairly and with all the sacrifices, by the Public Ministry and the system. of justice,” he insisted.
