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(CNN Spanish) - The Ministry of Justice of Argentina presented a report on Tuesday to the International Criminal Court with allegations of human rights violations that would have occurred in Venezuela between 2014 and 2019.
Who made the complaints?
Between July 24 and August 22 of this year, the Argentine Government received 54 testimonies of Venezuelans based in this country. Of these, 29 "would fit into possible crimes against humanity", as stipulated in the Rome Statute.
The testimonies refer to possible murders, torture, imprisonment and serious deprivation of physical freedom, as well as sexual violence, forced disappearances, persecution based on political motives and excessive use of force to repress demonstrations.
On torture, they mention:
- Physical blows until unconscious
- Squat or kneel for hours
- Death threats and disappearance of the victim and his relatives
- Stand on hot asphalt
- Overcrowded situation
- Enclosure in confined spaces for hours
- Tear bomb attacks in enclosed places
- Shots at close range
- Electrocution
- Suffocation
- Sleep deprivation
- Use of electric spikes on legs, genitals and arms
The declarants have identified the various security groups that, they say, have committed these acts, among which the following are distinguished:
- The Special Action Forces (FAES)
- The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN)
- The General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DEGECIM)
- The Bolivarian National Guard (GNB)
- The National Guard of Venezuela (GAE)
- The National Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command (CONAS)
- The Bolivarian National Police (PNB)
- The Corps of Criminal and Criminal Scientific Investigations (CICPC)
In particular, the following detention centers were detected, as stated by the complainants:
The Helicoid (JUAN BARRETO / AFP / Getty Images)
- Boleíta (one of the headquarters of DEGECIM)
- El Rodeo 2 Penitentiary Center
- Altamira detachment
- Detention Center “Ramo Verde”
- Regional Operational Command No. 5 (CORE)
- “La Tumba” (SEBIN headquarters)
- YARE Jail
- Helicoid
CNN has tried to communicate with spokesmen of the Government of the questioned President Nicolás Maduro, but has not yet received an answer.
When the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report documenting possible cases of extrajudicial executions in Venezuela, Maduro described it as a work “loaded with lies, manipulations, inaccurate data, false data”.
Hague International Court of Justice Human Rights