A visit by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to Venezuela is expected in the next few hours.
According to human rights defender Marino Alvarado, this visit comes in response to the persistence of human rights violations in the country.
Mr. Alvarado explained that ICC Prosecutor Khan is visiting the country once again because crimes against humanity continue to be committed in Venezuela, while no domestic investigation or sanction has been established for the cases registered since 2014, including the most recent ones.
ICC officials in Caracas
In February, the human rights activist informed that a group of officials from the ICC Prosecutor’s Office were in Caracas, following a memorandum of understanding signed by the Court and the Maduro government to establish an in-country office.
“We must bear in mind that the presence of ICC Prosecutor Khan is a response to the fact that the levels of repression of dissent in Venezuela were of such a magnitude that amount to serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity. His presence also responds to the impunity [that prevails in Venezuela],” he added.
Gabriela González, a journalist and correspondent for Colombia’s W Radio in Caracas, said on her X account that Prosecutor Khan would be paying a visit to the country starting Monday, April 22.
Mr. Alvarado added that were human rights violations being duly investigated in Venezuela, there would be no need for the presence of an ICC office in Caracas or an international investigation into the alleged commission of crimes against humanity as the one currently undertaken at the ICC, which currently entered a new phase.
“If the rule of law were respected in Venezuela and no serious violations of rights were taking place, an investigation by the ICC would not be required,” the activist stated.
Karim Khan’s visits to Venezuela
This will be Khan’s fourth trip to Venezuela; his first visit took place in November 2021 when he announced the continuation of the investigation involving officials of the Maduro government and signed the first agreement to establish an in-country office.
ICC Prosecutor Khan returned to the country in March 2022 and June 2023 for a second and third visit. On those occasions, he met with Nicolás Maduro and members of his executive team, including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as with representatives of the Public Ministry and the Judiciary.
The visit is taking place two months after the Venezuelan government expelled the staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and ceased the work of this agency in Caracas and amid an escalation of detentions of opposition leaders, prominent human rights activists such as Rocío San Miguel and other social activists, including journalist and community leader, Carlos Julio Rojas.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
