Families of young people who died during protests against power in 2017 in Venezuela requested Tuesday (November 2) a hearing from the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, visiting the country.
"Here, we continue to commit human rights violations ... We are the voices of our children"
, denounced, during a demonstration in Caracas of several dozen relatives of victims, Elvira Pernalete, mother of Juan Pablo Pernalete, who died after being shot in the chest with a tear gas canister in 2017.
To read also Juan Guaido in Figaro: "The solution in Venezuela passes by the end of the usurpation"
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday received the ICC prosecutor, who is on a three-day visit to the country, under preliminary investigation for alleged crimes against humanity, in particular due to the violent crackdown on anti-government protests in 2017 during of which nearly 100 people died.
Gambian Fatou Bensouda, who preceded Karim Khan, said there was a
"reasonable basis"
to believe that crimes against humanity were committed and spoke of the
"inaction"
of the Venezuelan authorities to investigate them .
Karim Khan will have to decide whether to ask ICC judges to open a full investigation into the case, which could lead to indictments of those linked to the crackdown.
Read also Venezuela: 67 people died during protests in 2019
Venezuelan justice indicted and sentenced law enforcement agents for death during the 2017 protests, but critics believe that the measures were taken only to avoid a trial at the ICC.
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