The Venezuela government of Nicolas Maduro filed a request with the international Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, seeking an investigation into American officials for “crimes against humanity” following US sanctions.
Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza stated that the sanctions constitute “a weapon of mass destruction” wielded against his country’s people. He added that the measures imposed by the US with the aim of denying resources to Maduro’s leftist government have caused death and hunger. Alongside a statistical report on the impact of these sanctions, the document submitted to ICC also addresses “the legality of the unilateral coercive measures” and Venezuela’s reasons for believing that the matter falls within the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Venezuela has not filed a request against Canada, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Paraguay, the countries that asked the ICC for an investigation into Maduro in 2018. Arreaza reasoned, “It is important to go after the boss of the circus, not the staff of the circus.” Venezuela invoked Article 14 of the Rome Statute in making the “referral” to the prosecutor. The same mechanism was used in September 2018 by the aforementioned six countries seeking an investigation into Maduro.
US sanctions against the Maduro government started in 2015 but increased since Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017. The US intensified its policy of economic, commercial, and financial sanctions against the Venezuelan government, causing billions of dollars in losses for the crisis-torn country.
The US deems Maduro’s 2018 re-election illegitimate and recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as country’s acting president. More than 50 other countries have followed suit. Russia, China, and India, on the other hand, continue to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president. Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov denounced the US foreign policy on Venezuela. Both countries have continuously clashed over Venezuela, with Russian military advisors and oil companies playing a key role in propping up Maduro's socialist government.
The Venezuelan foreign minister said he hoped that the ICC would take action and “create a judicial precedent to stop the madness of the US against all of the people who are subjects to unilateral coercive measures”.
Image Source: Bhaskar Live