Venezuela: ICC asked to probe crimes against humanity
September 26, 2018
Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Canada have demanded the UN-backed court in The Hague look into Nicolas Maduro's alleged crimes. The unprecedented call came at a crucial moment for global institutions.
Image: picture-alliance/Zuma/R. Camacho
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Five South American nations and Canada lodged a historic request with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday, asking it to look into alleged crimes against humanity committed by Venezuela's government under President Nicolas Maduro.
In filing their complaints, Peru, Paraguay, Chile Argentina, Colombia and Canada took the unprecedented step of asking the tribunal in The Hague to investigate a fellow member country.
They presented their request at the UN General Assembly in New York as Maduro was on his way to the gathering, where concern has been voiced over his repressive leadership and the related economic and humanitarian crisis, including the outpouring of Venezuelan refugees into neighboring countries.
The perilous flight out of Venezuela
Millions of Venezuelans have fled their country to escape President Nicolas Maduro's dictatorial regime. As refugee numbers have grown, nations such as Peru, Ecuador and Brazil are now trying to limit migration flows.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/colprensa/J. Pablo Cohen
Iconic image
Each day 30,000 to 40,000 people cross the 315-meter-long (1,000-foot-long) Simon Bolivar bridge (pictured) between Venezuela and Colombia. Since September 2015 some 20 million Venezuelans have crossed into the neighboring Colombian province of Norte de Santander, says its governor William Villamizar. At the same time, he adds, 17 million individuals have been registered as entering Venezuela.
Image: picture alliance/colprensa/J. P. Cohen
Shopping over the border
Most Venezuelans come to Colombia to stock up on basic food stuff and medicine. It is cheaper there than in their own country, where inflation has spiraled out of control and made the Bolivar, Venezuela's currency, nearly worthless. Some 3 million citizens are thought to have permanently migrated to Colombia.
Image: picture-alliance/EFE/S. Mendoza
Refugiados welcome?
Colombians initially welcomed fleeing Venezuelans with open arms, just like Germans welcomed refugees in summer 2015. But now, experts say, the mood has shifted. Many have begun demanding the government provide less financial support to refugees and instead invest more in helping ordinary Colombians. However, aid for refugees is still provided in reception centers (above).
Image: Reuters/L. Gonzales
Heading south
According to official figures, approximately 1 million Venezuelan nationals currently reside in Colombia. Given that a total of 3 million Venezuelans crossed into Colombia, about 2 million must have traveled onward. In the first half of 2018 alone, over 500,000 of them migrated to Colombia's southern neighbor Ecuador.
Image: Reuters/D. Tapia
Stopover in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities estimate that only 20 percent of Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the country in 2018 permanently settled there, like this family living in a makeshift camp near the capital, Quito. Most Venezuelans presumably intend to keep on traveling southward and reach either Peru, Chile or Argentina.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/D. Ochoa
Hitting the brakes
After several days when some 5,000 Venezuelans wanted to cross from Colombia into Ecuador, Quito began demanding that Venezuelan nationals show valid passports to emigrate, rather than just an ID as was previously needed. This new regulation applies to adults. For children, proof of paternity and parental passports is enough to let them cross the border.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Robayo
Chain reaction
After Ecuador Peru followed suit, announcing it would implement the same regulation in the near future. Peruvian Interior Minister Mauro Medina said that about 80 percent of Venezuelan refugees arrive with valid passports, but many Venezuelan NGOs warn that passports have now become luxury items in the crisis-stricken country, requiring large sums of cash or high-level contacts to acquire one.
Image: picture alliance/AP/D. Ochoa
Tension in the air
More than 100,000 Venezuelans have migrated to Brazil since 2016, most of them to the country's north. From there, roughly half them travel onward to Ecuador and Peru. The situation in northern Brazil is tense: The country's government has said it will redistribute Venezuelan immigrants to other regions. Critics have accused the government authorities of failing to support Brazil's border region.
Image: Reuters/N. Doce
Attacks and confrontations
Last weekend, local residents in the Brazilian border town of Pacaraima attacked makeshift camps housing Venezuelan refugees. They set their dwellings on fire and drove hundreds back across the border. Media reports say Brazilian police did nothing to stop the mob violence. The attack was said to be triggered by the robbery of a Brazilian businessman — a crime allegedly committed by refugees.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/I. Dantes
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'We will not be complicit'
The filing nations called upon the ICC to investigate alleged torture, rape, murder, violations of due process and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Maduro's government since February 2014.
In their seven-page letter, the nations referred to reports by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and international lawyers documenting the suspected crimes.
"To remain indifferent or speculative in front of this reality could be perceived as being complicit with the regime. We are not going to be complicit," Paraguayan Foreign Minister Andres Rodriguez Pedotti said.
While the request for a probe does not guarantee its taking place, it could speed up and broaden the scope of an ongoing preliminary probe in the ICC.
The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, applauded the six countries' action in "creating a crucial milestone in the interests of justice, accountability, non-repetition and reparation to the victims of the Venezuelan dictatorship."
Venezuelan officials did not immediately respond to the action.
The political crisis in Venezuela has exacerbated an already feeble economy and sent more than 2 million of Venezuelans fleeing into neighboring countries, with 1 million landing in Colombia alone.
Colombian President Ivan Duque called for the creation of a multilateral fund to help Venezuela's neighbors deal with the influx of refugees.
The historic request for the UN-supported ICC to investigate Venezuela came as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly denounced the efficacy of multilateral institutions.
Canadian President Justin Trudeau, one of the signatories on Wednesday's letter, described the court in The Hague as a "useful and important way of promoting an international rules-based order."
The ICC was created with the support of the UN in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity that otherwise might not be brought to justice.