The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly rejects the statements made by the Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Mame Mandiaye Niang, during the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute.
In the statement, the National Executive accuses the ICC of exercising «legal colonialism» against Venezuela by promoting a process that «does not fit the provisions of the Rome Statute» and that responds to an «anti-Venezuela agenda driven by hegemonic centers.»
Simultaneously, it denounces the selectivity of the international body, stating that it justifies actions against Venezuela while «it disowns the impunity surrounding the genocide committed by Israel against Palestine.»
The letter describes as «shameful» that, «in these dark times when humanity is a silent witness to the worst genocide ever perpetrated against the Palestinian people, this international body has only taken timid and fearful steps to bring the perpetrators of these terrible crimes against humanity to justice.»
The official statement also emphasizes that «the Israeli regime and its criminals roam the world with complete impunity,» contrasting this situation with the actions taken by the ICC against Venezuela.
With this statement, the Venezuelan government reiterates its critical stance regarding the unequal and politicized treatment by international criminal justice.
Following, the Communiqué:
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Communiqué:
ICC PROSECUTOR NEGLECTS HIS DUTIES TO JUSTIFY LEGAL COLONIALISM AGAINST VENEZUELA WHILE DISOWNING ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects the statements made by the Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mame Mandiaye Niang, during the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, held in The Hague, Netherlands.
It is worth recalling that Venezuela was the first country in the Americas to ratify the Rome Statute and, since then, has demonstrated a firm commitment to the International Criminal Court system.
Venezuela has engaged in good faith with the ICC Prosecutor’s Office in a process that, by all accounts, does not fall within the provisions of the Rome Statute, but which seeks to satisfy the anti-Venezuela agenda promoted by hegemonic centers. It is quite obvious that crimes against humanity have not been committed in our country, and we have demonstrated this at every stage of a process manipulated for geopolitical purposes.
Despite this, Venezuela—in a clear spirit of international cooperation— has committed to mechanisms of positive complementarity aimed at strengthening national capacities to ensure the effective administration of justice in our country, reaffirming that Venezuelan primary jurisdiction is irreplaceable.
Within the framework of this process, Venezuela and the Office of the Prosecutor signed two understanding memorandums and a roadmap to establish mechanisms that effectively contribute to national efforts in the areas of justice and human rights. In these documents, the Prosecutor’s Office assumed the responsibility of supporting national institutions and establishing an office within the national territory to facilitate technical assistance to the institutions of the country.
However, regrettably, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC showed not the slightest commitment or spirit of cooperation. Despite more than seven months having passed since the inauguration of its office in Caracas, the ICC’s Prosecutor’s Office never appointed any staff to occupy those spaces. Nor did it offer any input or recommendations on the various initiatives in Venezuela, irresponsibly disowning the responsibilities it had previously assumed.
Its agenda in the country was very clear: to disengage and do nothing in order to later manipulate the justice system for political ends.
It is shameful that in these dark times, when humanity is a silent witness to the worst genocide ever perpetrated against the Palestinian people, this international body has only taken timid and fearful steps to bring the perpetrators of these terrible crimes against humanity to international justice. The Israeli regime and its criminals roam the world with complete impunity.
Likewise, more than five years have passed without the ICC Prosecutor’s Office even issuing a statement on the «Venezuela II» case, which exposed and brought before that body the crimes committed by those who orchestrated the most brutal economic blockade against the Venezuelan people.
The ICC’s silence has been deafening. Venezuela will continue exerting all actions within its power to uphold the truth and defend its rights as a nation against any form of legal colonialism that seeks to use the institution of the International Criminal Court for political ends, in clear contravention of its very purpose and the norms and principles of international law.
The truth of our country will prevail. The maneuvers of those who have historically used the ICC against countries of the Global South that refuse to submit to the dictates of the destabilizing and decadent North have been exposed.
We are the sons and daughters of liberators, and we owe our allegiance to their true doctrine of justice. Venezuela will always prevail”.
Caracas, December 1, 2025