“Reasonable bases”, in evidence of human rights violations

Caracas. Deaths in protests, torture, extrajudicial executions…

The investigation at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in Venezuela is going through a crucial moment: prosecutor Karim Khan alleges that there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that there were “systematic” violations of human rights. The period to analyze testimonies in The Hague expires on April 20.

Relatives of victims interviewed see international justice as “the only way to have some peace.”

University student Juan Pablo Pernalete died on April 26, 2017 in Caracas, hit in the chest by a tear gas canister fired by a soldier during demonstrations against Maduro that left more than 100 dead, the origin of the ICC investigation. He was 20 years old.

“Juan Pablo always went out to demonstrate (…). I told him: “Juan Pablo, I’m scared, they are killing boys.” He told me: “Mom, protesting is not a crime,” “says Elvira de Pernalete in his house, among balls and medals from his son, who played basketball.

The State finally recognized in 2021 that the death was due to a tear gas bomb and 13 soldiers were charged with homicide but with the intent to harm, not kill, without establishing individual responsibility.

Today, says Elvira, 11 are free and another two are fugitives.

“Fifteen times the prosecutor was changed and each prosecutor told us that he had to start the case again,” he narrates.

“That day we saw our son’s murderer, very painful (…), we had the strength to be there.”

“Suicide”

Opposition councilor Fernando Albán died at the age of 56, three days after his arrest in 2018, accused of being behind an attack with drones loaded with explosives against Maduro.

The official version points to a “suicide”. According to the authorities, the leader jumped out of a window on the 10th floor of the intelligence service (SEBIN) building in Caracas, after asking permission to go to the bathroom.

Relatives and activists maintain that it was thrown into a vacuum to erase evidence of torture.

“They violated all his rights: he was subjected to arbitrary detention (…), forced disappearance (…), torture and death in custody,” says his widow, Meudy Osío, in New York, where he lives with his two children. .

His body “had bruises, fissures, scratches (…). What the lawyers tell me is that there are signs of torture,” he says.