Venezuelans testify in Argentinian court about alleged crimes against humanity committed under President Maduro

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Frustrated by the limitations of the International Criminal Court's laborious pace and determined that security agents who allegedly killed their loved ones should not enjoy absolute impunity, Venezuelans have taken their crimes-against-humanity case to a federal court 3,000 miles from my home — in Argentina.

In a first for Venezuela under the repressive regime of President Nicolás Maduro, a federal court in Buenos Aires on Friday concluded two days of testimony from Venezuelan victims as part of an investigation into probable human rights violations that it said They were allegedly committed by security forces in 2014, the year after Maduro came to power.

Earlier this year, Argentine prosecutors attempted to revive a criminal complaint filed in 2023 by the Clooney Foundation for Justice on behalf of survivors and family members of those killed in what lawyers called a “systematic plan » of the state to crush dissent.

Prosecutors said the crimes committed by high-ranking members of the Venezuelan National Guard were “extremely serious” and required immediate investigation.

Several people flew from Venezuela for the first preliminary hearing, which began Thursday in Argentina, a country grappling with its own legacy of war crimes and which has vowed to pursue war criminals operating abroad. beyond its borders.

“The people who are testifying are people who have been seeking justice in Venezuela for a very long time and have reached the point where they could go,” said Yasmine Chubin, an attorney at the Clooney Foundation, a nonprofit founded by George and Amal Clooney who provides free legal assistance to victims of human rights violations. “They continue to fight for accountability, and that’s what led us to file this complaint. »

Security forces have used harsh tactics to suppress mass anti-government protests – arresting, torturing and killing those suspected of dissent. At least 43 people, including security officials and protesters, were killed in that 2014 crackdown.

Venezuelans are struggling to challenge Maduro at home, where legal experts say lawsuits against the government often punish lower-ranking officers while protecting those in power.

The International Criminal Court opened its first investigation into abuses in Venezuela in 2018 – following an unprecedented referral from five Latin American countries and Canada – but years later, the probe is still in its early stages.

In March, the Hague court rejected Venezuela's appeal, upholding its decision to investigate alleged atrocities in the country. Maduro's government denies accusations of widespread crimes and says it is already looking into some alleged abuses internally.

Human rights lawyers around the world are increasingly bringing cases to national courts under what is known as the principle of universal jurisdiction, saying the ICC often acts too slowly to have an effect in real time on current events.

“The ICC’s capacity is limited in that it can only handle a handful of cases,” Chubin said. “The scale of the atrocities in Venezuela, which have resulted in thousands of deaths and many other violations such as persecution, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence, calls for a broader approach.”

Among the handful of countries that have adopted this principle in their legal systems, Argentina stands out in the region for its exceptionally favorable record in applying the legal concept to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed in Spain, in Nicaragua and Myanmar.

The foundation said it chose to file its case – along with 15,000 pages of documentation – in Argentina because of the country's proximity to Venezuela, its large community of Venezuelan immigrants and its broad interpretation of universal jurisdiction, product of its 1983 transition to democracy from a brutal military dictatorship.

Under legal principle, neither defendants nor plaintiffs need to reside in the country where the trial is taking place. The foundation declined to provide details about the plaintiffs who testified Friday, citing the dangers they still face in Venezuela.

It's unclear how long the process might take, but lawyers say they are encouraged by how quickly Argentina decided to launch its investigation – only a month after the foundation's complaint was filed. Although the case is not expected to result in arrests before Venezuela's July 28 elections, any risk of heated litigation in Argentina's courts could overshadow the vote.

“Depending on the situation with universal jurisdiction, you would expect symbolic results. That’s not what we’re looking for,” said Ignacio Jovtis, senior program officer at the Clooney Foundation for Justice. “We’re very committed to seeing this through and getting concrete results.”

In other words, Jovtis said, the plaintiffs hope to see top Venezuelan security officials extradited and tried in Buenos Aires. The foundation declined to publicly name the defendants, reluctant to notify defendants in advance of the charges against them.

The Argentine federal prosecutor in charge of the case, Carlos Stornelli, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hearings that lasted several hours Thursday and Friday exhausted the plaintiffs, many of whom broke down as they recounted the horrors they endured, Chubin said. But on Friday, in court in Buenos Aires, they said they felt a kind of hope.