Venezuela will denounce Colombian President Iván Duque before the International Criminal Court (ICC), for the crime of extermination and persecution of Venezuelan migrants, as a result of the execution of young fellow nationals that occurred on October 8 in the town of Tibú, North Santander department .
This was announced by executive vice president Delcy Rodríguez, who indicated this Tuesday that the denounce will be based on the crime of extermination and persecution contemplated in article 7.1.H of the Rome Statute, for the persecution and murder of Venezuelan migrants “which has become in a systematized policy under the management of Iván Duque”.
“In 2021 so far, more than 300 Venezuelans have been murdered in Colombia”, a population that suffers from persecution in Colombian territory, she said.
Venezuela demands immediate investigation:
She criticized that to date organizations such as UN’s UNHCR, have not made a statement “repudiating this abominable act against our nationals”, which is why he requested the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and Filippo Grandi of the UNHCR for a statement and immediate investigation of the recent events against Venezuelan nationals in Colombian territory.
It is worth remembering that last Friday, October 8, two Venezuelan migrant children, ages 12 and 18, were murdered after being accused of an alleged robbery in Tibú, a municipality in the troubled border region of Catatumbo.
The North Santander Police in Colombia offers the equivalent of more than US $ 26,500 for information leading to the capture of those responsible for the homicide:
“This is an abominable fact that has shaken Venezuela in recent days, but it is reflecting a reality that is the crime of xenophobia, persecution and extermination against Venezuelan migrants”, she said.
In this context, she pointed out that 2,061 Venezuelans have been murdered in Colombia since 2017, according to figures from the Department of Legal Medicine of the neighboring country, which corroborates the extermination policy against our migrant compatriots who have been victims of hate crimes, sexual violence and xenophobia.
In the opinion of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, this situation has been driven by extremist sectors of the opposition, led by Juan Guaidó and his entourage, which have promoted migration, with the support of sanctions and the theft of assets of the Republic in the outside.
She reiterated that this public and notorious fact can be seen in the statements of the fugitive from justice Julio Borges, who in 2018 stigmatized Venezuelans, qualifying them as “a disease that is going to infect the region, as a social malaise for the countries of our region”.
