MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro regime rejects ICC Prosecution condemnatory report; warms up to new prosecutor, UK's Karim Khan

The Chavista dictatorship now under Maduro had previously complained about an alleged “discriminatory and unequal” treatment from ex prosecutor Bensouda

The regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela rejected point blank the condemnatory report from the International Criminal Court, ICC, Prosecution which confirmed that Chavista forces repeatedly committed crimes against humanity in the country.

“Following on the public release from the former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the current examination in our country, we conclusively and forcefully reject the accusations in the report”, pointed out the Venezuelan Prosecution in an official communiqué.

Among the crimes committed by the dictatorship, the ICC report mentions cases of torture, sexual violence and persecution for political motives. According to Fatou Bensouda, the ICC prosecutor until last 15 June, an investigation into these crimes will be admissible before the ICC in “terms of inaction”, meaning the lack of will and/or interest from the regime of Maduro to look into the claims of violations.

Nevertheless the Venezuelan Prosecution under Tarek William Saab, a crony of Maduro, “denied the lack of action from the regime and ensured that the conclusions from the former prosecutor lack all value”. Furthermore Saab said the regime was willing to work with the new prosecutor, UK's Karim Asad Khan who replaced Bensouda last 15 June, “to underline the absolute institutional commitment against any form of impunity and in pursuance of the integral protection of human rights in Venezuela”

In her report the ICC former prosecutor concludes that the available information provides a reasonable base to believe that “since at least April 2017, civilian authorities, members of the armed forces and pro government people have committed crimes against humanity such as imprisonment or other serious privations of physical freedom in violation of fundamental rules of International Law”.

The alleged responsible for these crimes have been according to the ICC prosecution the Bolivarian National Police, PNB; the National Service of Bolivarian Intelligence, SEBIN; Military Counterintelligence, DGCIM; Special Action Forces, FAES; the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corps, CICPC; the National Bolivarian Guard, GNB; the National Command against extortion and kidnapping, CONAS; plus other units from the Bolivarian Armed Forces, FANB.

The Chavista dictatorship now under Maduro had previously complained about an alleged “discriminatory and unequal” treatment when Bensouda said she was expecting to announce if she would open, or not, an investigation in Venezuela as soon as the ICC tribunal decided on a request from Venezuela. However Bensouda left the post before making any announcement on the issue.

The Office of the Prosecutor is an independent organ of the ICC, responsible for examining situations under the jurisdiction of the Court where genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression appear to have been committed, and carrying out investigations and prosecutions against the individuals who are allegedly most responsible for those crimes.

It is for the first time in history that an international Prosecutor has been given the mandate, by an ever-growing number of States, to independently and impartiality select situations for investigation where atrocity crimes are or have been committed on their territories or by their nationals. Like the judges of the Court, the Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor are elected by the ASP for a non-renewable mandate of nine years.

OTP benefits from the services of approximately 380 dedicated staff members from over 80 different nationalities, including members of the legal profession, investigators and analysts, psycho-social experts, individuals with experience in diplomacy and international relations, public information and communication, and more.

The current Prosecutor is Mr Karim A. A. Khan QC from The United Kingdom; his Deputy is Mr James Stewart from Canada.