By: Staff Writer
August 10, 2021
The Organisation of American States (OAS) has urged action in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on their 2018 Panel report on “crimes against humanity” by the Nicholas Maduro led administration with one congressman saying “they can’t stall anymore.”
Armando Armas, congressman for district four of Anzoátegui estate, Venezuela, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that it was about time the OAS take the crimes against humanity in Venezuela seriously and urge more action in a year’s old report that was being stalled by the Nicholas Maduro administration.
The OAS Panel report, was finalized in May, 2018, after an extensive investigation into crimes against humanity in Venezuela. This report was sent to the ICC for action and pre-trial action was taken on July 2, 2021.
Mr Armas said: “This initiative goes way back to 2017/2018. I was one of the witnesses at the commission and I gave my testimony. I had to explain the attacks on the parliament and how the Members of Parliament were being constrained by the regime in every sense.”
The panel was comprised of experts on human rights and crimes against humanity. The panel was also in lock-step with US policy towards the Maduro regime which in August, 2019, President Donald Trump imposed additional sanctions on Venezuela, ordering a freeze on all Venezuelan government assets in the United States and barred transactions with US citizens and companies and accused the members of the Venezuelan government of drug trafficking and causing a humanitarian, causing thousands of Venezuelans to flee to neighbouring countries.
The Maduro administration have denied all claims of drug trafficking and assertions that the country is in economic and political turmoil, despite the thousands of Venezuelan refugees flooding neighbouring countries and political opponents having to function in exile in foreign countries for fear reprisals from the Maduro regime.
Mr Armas, as one of those politicians in exile, is no stranger to attacks from the Maduro regime as he has a quite visible record of being assaulted by members of the Venezuelan armed services on which he says were orders from the leadership of the regime.
“The OAS panel was doing research and analysis on the systematic pattern of persecution, attacks an sexual crimes and violence against Venezuelans, and some of these crimes date back to 2014,” said Mr Armas.
He also said: “The government was stalling this report. They were delaying it because they don’t want to answer to the charges.”
In fact, the recent urgency of the OAS was as a result of the ICC stating in July of this year, in limine the request for judicial review made by Venezuela as inadmissible, calling it nothing more than a stalling tactic by the regime that would not be tolerated. The OAS also said that any further delay would be “inappropriate and harmful” to the people of Venezuela.
Mr Armas added: “They tried to delay it, but they couldn’t. They can’t stall anymore. The current defence counsel for the Venezuelan government is trying to legitimize himself as an independent prosecutor, but he was selected by the Maduro regime and he cannot stall this ICC action any further by asking for a judicial review”
The former prosecutor, Luisa Ortega Diaz, a dissident of the Maduro regime, is in exile in Colombia. She too has faced corruption scandals having been named in a major US corruption case with a Venezuelan oil contractor and receiving over $1m in bribes, according to the Miami Herald.
According to Mr Armas, however, Ms Ortega-Diaz was pivotal in putting together the case against her former boss and compiling the data of abuses by the Maduro regime.
Mr Armas also said: “Right now the OAS needs to have people on the ground in Venezuela to do their investigations. I think this is basically what they are trying to do now.
“All of this comes at a time where the regime and our democratic coalition is heading to Mexico to meet for negotiations in August, starting from August 10 and ending in August 20. We are going to discuss the upcoming electoral process in Venezuela and how will we all participate in the next Venezuelan elections.”
The Maduro regime, who may fear retribution if they were to lose a free and fair election, want to negotiate with opposition members to ensure that they are not pursued in the event they lose the next Venezuelan general elections. “They know that if we go to a free and fair election, they will lose and because of that they want guarantees,” Mr Armas added.