ICC prosecutor seeks to reopen Venezuela human rights investigation 

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan said on Tuesday that he asked the court to reopen his investigation into the human rights violations committed by Venezuelan officials. 

Khan’s request to resume the probe comes six months after Venezuela asked the court to defer the investigation to authorities in the South American country. 

“I have concluded that the deferral request by Venezuela is, at this stage, not warranted and that the investigation should be authorized to resume,” Khan said. 

Khan added that Venezuelan authorities have launched legal reforms in the country but that they “remain either insufficient in scope or have not yet had any concrete impact on potentially relevant proceedings.” 

Venezuela is being accused of torture and extrajudicial killings committed by Venezuelan security officers of Nicolas Maduro’s regime. The case was brought to the court by Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru.

In 2020, Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, conducted a probe and found a reasonable basis to conclude that Venezuelan officials were committing crimes against humanity since at least April 2017, during a crackdown on antigovernment protests. 

Khan opened his investigation into the crimes in November of last year, claiming that his team would do their work “independently and devoid of any political agenda.”

“Irrespective of the outcome, I remain committed to engagement and dialogue to explore ways in which we can cooperate to ensure justice for victims in Venezuela,” he said. 

Venezuela’s information ministry and prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.