In a report released today, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) evaluates the failure of Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor’s Office to address cases involving gross human rights violations amounting crimes under international criminal law.
The report concludes that the Office has been unable or unwilling to act in the vast majority of such instances, leading to a situation of near total impunity.
The report calls on the Venezuelan authorities, specifically the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the parliament and the executive branch, to take a number of swift measures to overcome this rampant impunity, in line with the State’s international legal obligations and Venezuelan law.
The report, No will for Justice in Venezuela: A Prosecutor’s Office that fosters impunity, identifies several main obstacles to investigating and prosecuting gross human rights violations. Among these is the fact that the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s lacks independence and is subject to undue political control or influence, thereby undermining the effectiveness of criminal investigations, particularly in respect of State agents implicated in human rights violations.
“The lack of political will to tackle impunity for gross human rights violations compromises any prospect to close the accountability gap for such violations,” said Santiago Canton, ICJ Secretary General. “The essential role of independent prosecutors is to ensure effective and fair investigations and prosecutions and this is a prerequisite for ending impunity.”
The ICJ’s report reveals a persistence of structural problems in Venezuela’s legal framework and its failure to conduct prompt, independent, thorough, and effective investigations of gross human rights violations. Responsible domestic authorities are typically unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute these types of crimes, especially when they implicate high-ranking officials.
“It is crucial for the pursuit of justice in Venezuela that the investigations conducted by the domestic Prosecutor’s Office prioritize accountability for victims and survivors of gross human rights violations,”, said Santiago Canton.
The ICJ also emphasized the importance of securing the independence and impartiality of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, by ensuring security of tenure for prosecutors, provided it with adequate financing and resources, and preventing political interference in the exercise of prosecutorial functions.
You can find the published report here:
No will for Justice in Venezuela. A Prosecutor’s Office that fosters impunity.
Watch the live presentation of the report on ICJ LATAM’s YouTube channel.
Background
The ICJ, in a series of reports from 2014 to 2022, has issued a recommendations to the Venezuelan authorities with a view to entrenching key rule of law principles and human rights standards into prevailing law, policies and practices.
These may be found at:
Venezuela: The Sunset of the Rule of Law
Achieving Justice for Gross Human Rights Violations in Venezuela
The Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela: An Instrument of the
The Trial of Civilians by Military Courts in Venezuela (only available in Spanish)
Judges on the Tightrope: Report on the Independence of the Judiciary in Venezuela
Please find here the Spanish version of the report: Sin voluntad de Justicia en Venezuela. Un Ministerio Público que fomenta la impunidad.