BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, June 29, (AP): Frustrated by the limits of the laboriously slow International Criminal Court and determined that the security officers who allegedly killed their loved ones not enjoy absolute impunity, Venezuelans have brought their crimes-against-humanity case to a federal court 3,000 miles from home - in Argentina.
In a first for Venezuela under the repressive rule of President Nicolás Maduro, a federal court in Buenos Aires concluded two days of testimony from Venezuelan victims on Friday as part of an investigation into probable human rights abuses they claim were committed by security forces in 2014, the year after Maduro took power.
Earlier in the year, Argentine prosecutors moved to revive a criminal complaint lodged in 2023 by the Clooney Foundation for Justice on behalf of survivors and the family members of those killed in what lawyers called a "systematic plan” by the state to crush dissent.
Prosecutors declared that the crimes committed by high-ranking members of the Venezuelan National Guard were of "extreme seriousness” and required an immediate investigation.
Several people flew from Venezuela for the first pre-trial hearing, which began Thursday in Argentina - a nation that has grappled with its own legacy of war crimes and has become committed to pursuing war criminals operating beyond its borders.
"Those testifying are people who have sought justice in Venezuela for a very long time, and have reached the end of where they can go,” said Yasmine Chubin, a legal advocate at the Clooney Foundation, a nonprofit founded by George and Amal Clooney that provides free legal support to victims of human rights abuses. "They’re continuing to fight to hold those responsible to account, and that led to us filing this case.”
Security forces used harsh tactics to clamp down on 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 have struggled to challenge Maduro in their own country, where legal experts say that cases against the government often punish low-level officers while protecting those in power.