The victims of crimes against humanity committed during the border closure. All those who suffered deportations and forced displacements ordered by Nicolás Maduro in August 2015, will present their experiences and observations before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the occasion of the Preliminary Affairs Chamber’s decision to listen to the Venezuelan regime, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, and the victims of crimes against humanity, to evaluate the continuation of the investigation against the Venezuelan State, which has requested that it be halted.
By La Patilla
Jan 12, 2023
In this regard, the human rights defender, President of the El Amparo Foundation and Director of the International Committee against Impunity in Venezuela (Ciciven), Walter Márquez, stated that the organizations that group deportees and displaced persons in the border, who mostly reside in Cúcuta, such as the Foundation for Deportees, Repatriates and Displaced Persons (Deredez), this is chaired by Ana Teresa Castillo, and the “Civil Association United for a Common Purpose”, coordinated by Adriana Barragán, are working together with the El Amparo Foundation to fill out the consultation forms that will be forwarded to the ICC, with the aim to set forth the opinion of the victims on the investigation against senior civil and military officials of Venezuela.
“In August 2015 the border was closed, the government deported and forcibly displaced more than 24,500 Colombians, all of which was accompanied by the demolition of homes in the “La Invasión” neighborhood of San Antonio del Táchira. Homes were first marked, as in Nazi times, with an “R” for review and “D” for demolish, and they destroyed more than 200 houses, according to an OAS report, violating national and international standards, when many of these people were in Venezuela under refugee status and protected by international law,” he recalled.
Mr. Márquez explained that during this process, the International Criminal Court will review the different crimes committed by the Venezuelan State through the voices of the victims, for which the El Amparo Foundation, Deredez and the Civil Association United for the a Common Purpose are compiling the relevant information and submitting it on the forms designed by the ICC.
On January 1st, the border was gradually opened through the Atanasio Girardot International Bridge (known as “Las Tienditas” Bridge), for which Márquez reiterated the importance of a total opening without impunity, since the crimes against humanity formerly committed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime have to be investigated and punished.
“That is why the thousands of those affected and are victims are asking the International Criminal Court to reactivate the investigation and punish those responsible for these collective crimes. A team of lawyers is working in Cúcuta and another in Venezuela with lawyers accredited to the ICC in The Hague. They will represent the victims of these heinous crimes committed during the border closure,” Márquez added.
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