The Chilean Senate expects Boric to comply with the request in the next few hours / Photo: Felipe Kast Press
The Chilean Senate has approved a draft resolution calling on President Gabriel Boric to refer to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) an action against Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, for “serious crimes that constitute a threat to peace, security and the well-being of humanity.”
“It is not possible to ignore the suffering of thousands of victims due to persecutions of various kinds that have occurred in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for years and especially due to the persecution suffered by thousands of victims after the presidential election held on July 28 of this year, among which are especially vulnerable groups such as children, older adults and women,” says the proposal.
Presented by senators Felipe Kast, of the conservative party Evolución Política (Evópoli), and Francisco Chahúan, of the also conservative Renovación Nacional (RN), the draft agreement was approved by a simple majority with the support of 21 senators and without any votes against or abstentions, according to the Senate website.
The petition addressed to the leftist Boric, who has described the government headed by Maduro as a “dictatorship” and does not recognize the victory that the National Electoral Council has attributed to the current president in the presidential elections of July 28, points out that it is the duty of a State with international commitments to “denounce and demand measures” when it has “before its eyes, crimes and atrocities as brutal as those committed in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
More requests
The Court therefore calls on the Head of State to “submit a request to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to lift the arrest warrant against the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.”
Venezuelan authorities have been the subject of an investigation since November 2021 by the ICC Prosecutor’s Office for alleged crimes against humanity.
In 2023, the ICC rejected an appeal by the Venezuelan government, which argued that the principle of complementarity should be respected, according to which the international court complements the country’s justice system, not replaces it, and can only intervene if the State does not investigate.
Last March, the Appeals Chamber ruled against the Venezuelan appeal, authorizing the ICC to continue its investigation.
Santiago / EFE
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2024-08-31 12:07:11
