International Criminal Court Rejects Maduro Regime's Appeal and Will Continue Prosecuting Venezuela for Crimes Against Humanity

Appellate Chamber International Criminal Court (ICC) He issued his verdict on Friday Appeal Provided by Govt Nicolás Maduro Against the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I, it allowed the trial to continue Crimes against humanity In Venezuela.

“The Appeals Chamber considers it appropriate to confirm the contested decisionsaid the President of the Appellate Body. Judge Marc Perrin de BrichambautBy declaring that They have “unanimously” rejected the regime's arguments And Confirmed the continuation of the trial for crimes against humanityReport We monitor.

On November 3, 2021, The ICC Prosecutor's Office has decided to investigate alleged crimes against humanity in the Caribbean country.Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru all made referrals to the case in 2018.

however, The trial was terminated in April 2022 It argued that national measures were already progressing in the country due to the request for a ban put forward by the Maduro regime.

On November 1, 2022, the ICC Prosecutor's Office requested a pre-trial chamber At this stage the investigation should be restartedBecause of what is said to be Venezuela's national activities They are not real or cover all crimes That was investigated at The Hague. After examining the case, On June 27, 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber I allowed the ICC Prosecutor's Office to resume its investigation..

With this in mind, on July 3, 2023, the Maduro regime announced its intention Appeal the decision He filed his appellate brief on August 14, 2023. In this process, the Appeals Chamber received the ICC Prosecutor and the General Office for the Protection of Victims, as well as representations from victims and the observations of the Independent International Panel of Experts of the Organization of American States (OAS). It held a public hearing on 7 and 8 November 2023 to hear the views of the parties.

During the trial, Representatives from the ICC Prosecutor's Office and Victims' Office dismissed the regime's arguments..

“The victims' position is that Venezuela does not and will not investigate the crimes of their family and friends.“, under control Paolina MasitaA representative of the Office of the Public Protection of Victims of the ICC.

Also, representatives of the regime in Venezuela agreed Most cases go unpunished He submitted documents to the Hague Tribunal.

In another order, this Thursday Kasla Company Condemned The critical situation facing political prisoners in VenezuelaThe Enforced disappearance Many of those detained in the past three months, “The government continues to commit crimes against humanity”.

In a statement, he recalled learning about him last Monday, February 19 Forced transfer of unknown number Political prisoners from headquarters DGCIM (General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence) in Polita Norte, Caracas; Newly modified El Rodeo 1 Judicial Detention CenterLocated in the quarter of the state of Miranda.

“They were taken without the few belongings they had and without notification to their families and lawyers. These transfers and, from what little information is known, it They are presumably housed in cells similar in size and content to the cells of DGCIM's dream house.“They are not allowed to communicate with their families, without potable water, and have to drink water from street taps,” the Khasla agency explained.

And he continued: “Also Books, letters or any other reading materials are prohibited. It is not known whether they are provided Medicines Since they are in need, many are present Serious pathology acquired during their detentionAnd because of the type of hydration they consume we assume that gastrointestinal diseases will be included.

The agency recalled that there were many among those displaced Security Precautions Before the American Commission on Human Rights. Common among them Hector Hernandez da Costa, in critical condition; And this Colonel Osvaldo Garcia Palomo.

“All of them had precautionary security measures while in DGCIM and were violated, physically and psychologically tortured in recent months.A situation that was reported to the IACHR on time and we did not get a response,” he explained.

He also noted that it is important to remember that many of the transferred political prisoners have been declared in detention.Arbitrary“To him United Nations Committee against Arbitrary DetentionA complaint has been lodged against their cases, demanding their immediate release International Criminal Court.