OAS Secretary General wants ICC to probe abuses by Venezuelan authorities

WASHINGTON, CMC – The Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro says he will submit a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) reinforcing probative evidence of the complaints of various abuses against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The move by the OAS Secretary General is the latest chapter in the ongoing strained relationship and comes after Maduro was re-elected in presidential elections earlier this month that has been condemned by the United States and the European Union among others.

However, several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries including, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have publicly endorsed Maduro’s re-election and Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley told a news conference Tuesday that his administration would maintain its position of non-interference in the affairs of the South American country.

In his lengthy statement, the OAS Secretary General said that the General Secretariat (GS) of the hemispheric body “is unable to ignore the reports and testimony presented for years by Venezuelans who have endured persecution by the regime”.

He said this testimony was presented to the OAS specifically by those who had already reported these cases or had decided to appear before it in the quest for justice.

“The GS of the OAS has not evaluated those accounts, this being the purview of the International Criminal Court. Instead, we have striven to ensure that that information had proper judicial reading through the work of the Panel of Experts designated for that purpose.

“Based thereon, we understand it to be the legal and moral obligation of the International Criminal Court to investigate these allegations. Other reports have been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, some long ago and others recently. We are aware that that internal evaluation period has led to an authorisation to initiate an investigation.”

Almagro said that on several occasions, he has indicated that the OAS must be a moral force, the force that gives voice to the voiceless, that overcomes discrimination, and that kindles justice where conditions for it are absent.

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