The Attorney General of the Republic, Tareck William Saab reported, that together with the Ombudsman, Alfredo Ruíz, visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, in the Netherlands, to strengthen ties between the organization and Venezuela.
He highlighted that during the visit that was carried out at the request of the Venezuelan State, details were provided of the progress of the country’s justice system, to punish Human Rights (HR) violations, where it was also noted that the commitment of its institutions is to investigate, prosecute, accuse and convict those responsible for said transgressions.
He also announced that the ICC Prosecutor’s Office is analyzing two issues about Venezuela, such as the one called “Venezuela I” which refers to alleged crimes committed since at least April 2017, during demonstrations and related political disturbances.
The Prosecutor explained that in this case, actions by the security forces that have resulted in human rights violations are being investigated, as well as by private actors that caused injuries and death to State officials.
He also added that there is also the so-called Venezuela II, concerning alleged crimes against humanity committed, “as a consequence of the application of illegal coercive measures adopted unilaterally by the government of the United States against Venezuela, at least since 2014.”
He detailed from the headquarters of the Public Ministry (MP), that for this case the serious violations of human rights, suffered by the Venezuelan people as a result of the sanctions against Venezuela, are being studied.
“Prosecutor Bensouda confirmed that both Venezuela I and Venezuela II issues remain under preliminary examination with a view to making a decision on whether to open an investigation or not. In other words, an investigation has not yet been started in this regard, ”he said.
That is, it acts only when the national jurisdiction of a country has not wanted to investigate crimes that are under its jurisdiction or have not been able to do so due to certain circumstances.
For a case to go to the Court, it must pass the preliminary review process in which it will be verified that the crimes studied are within the jurisdiction of the Court, and then their admissibility must be verified.
On the other hand, Alfredo Ruiz thanked the ICC prosecutor for the willingness to receive them and was also notified, what is being managed by the justice system, investigations to punish cases of violations against human rights.
In the same way, he stated that the situation was exposed with the government of Spain, which has not yet extradited the alleged person responsible for the burning of Orlando Figuera, nor has it tried him in its territory, and they also discussed the sanctions against Venezuela, which have prevented the buy of food, medicines, as well as continuing with very important treatments.
