Venezuela’s National Assembly has voted to peel back the South American country’s commitment to the Rome Statute, the international treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On Thursday, top Venezuelan lawmakers applauded the vote as a strike against an antiquated institution – one that has sought to investigate alleged human rights violations in Venezuela in recent years.
“It is to demonstrate and denounce to the world the uselessness and subservience of an institution that should serve to protect the people,” the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, wrote in a government statement posted online.
Rodriguez is the brother of Venezuela’s vice president and is considered a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro.
In his statement, Rodriguez sought to tie the court’s efforts to those of the United States, a country that has long refused to acknowledge Maduro as Venezuela’s president.
“It only serves the designs of American imperialism,” Rodriguez said of the court.
But the US is not a party to the Rome Statute, and the North American country has repeatedly denounced efforts by the court to investigate allegations of human rights abuses against its citizens and allies.
Just this year, the administration of US President Donald Trump issued multiple rounds of sanctions against officials on the ICC, claiming the judicial body had taken “illegitimate and baseless actions”.
Venezuela, for its part, signed onto the Rome Statute in October 1998, and its legislature ratified the treaty in June 2000, bringing the law into force.
Maduro is expected to sign Thursday’s legislation to revoke the ratification.
The South American country has itself rejected the accusations brought before the court against its leadership.
In November 2021, for example, the ICC opened an investigation into the Maduro government for allegedly carrying out crimes against humanity, including torture, sexual violence and other instances of inhumane treatment.
It cited the violent treatment and even killing of political dissidents, particularly during the 2017 antigovernment protests.
That investigation was paused, however, to allow Venezuela to address the allegations internally. But the court ultimately allowed the probe to proceed in June 2023, finding Venezuela’s efforts insufficient.
According to court filings, Venezuela has maintained that “there was no systematic attack on the civilian population, and that no crimes were committed”.
Multiple human rights organisations, however, have accused the Maduro administration of extrajudicial executions, unlawful imprisonments and violent crackdowns against members of Venezuela’s opposition.
Advocates have also questioned whether Venezuela’s National Assembly can be considered an independent branch of government, given Maduro’s firm grip on its membership.
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