April 20 is the deadline for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to analyze the testimony of crimes against humanity in Venezuela.

According to prosecutor Karim Khan, there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that there were “systematic” human rights violations. However, for Nicolás Maduro’s government, this is a “clearly biased view” and the justice system is making sure it responds to law enforcement excesses.

For the Chavista regime, the allegations are fallacies and deny that these crimes took place, assuring that they provided evidence that the cause is political in nature.

ICC refuses to postpone investigation of alleged crimes against humanity in Venezuela

Similarly, that day expires the deadline for Venezuela to respond to the prosecution’s arguments.

These are some of the testimonials given before the ICC:

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

“Juan Pablo always went out to demonstrate (…). I told him, ‘Juan Pablo, I’m afraid, they’re killing boys.’ He told me, ‘Mom, protesting is not a crime,'” she told the AFP Elvira de Pernalete at home, between balls and medals of her son, who played basketball.

He learned about his death at the health center where he was transferred. “I went crazy. I started throwing things, I started running (…), until I found (the cubicle) where my son was (…). I told him: ‘Get up, Juan, get out of there!’” he says.

Senior officials then claimed the young man was killed by other protesters with a bolt gun, a weapon used to kill livestock.

“They had already killed Juan Pablo, now they wanted to kill his memory too,” says his mother.

The state finally acknowledged in 2021 that the death was the result of a tear gas bomb and charged 13 soldiers with murder, but with 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 to start the case again,” he says.

The preliminary hearing was postponed 10 times, so Elvira and her husband filed a private suit, which was dismissed in 2022.

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

The family appealed, with no answers. “We need the research to continue in international organizations (…), it’s the only way we can have a little peace at some point.”

opponent tortured

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

The official version points to a “suicide”. According to authorities, the ringleader jumped from a window on the 10th floor of the Intelligence Agency (SEBIN) building in Caracas after requesting permission to go to the toilet.

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

“All his rights were violated: he was subjected to arbitrary detention (…), enforced 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, cracks, scratches (…). What the lawyers tell me is that there are signs of torture,” he says.

“They charged two custodians (of SEBIN) with something like violating guardianship duty; an administrative crime (…), as if to get out of trouble,” but when the ICC began its investigation, “they turned the crime of these two people into manslaughter,” he says.

These officials were sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison in 2021 for “culpable homicide” and other crimes, but were released after appeal, Meudy says.

According to his widow, Albán was in New York on October 1 to celebrate his birthday with his family, and returned to Venezuela on October 5, the day of his arrest.

“We were never able to recover the photos he took (with his phone) on his birthday. They kept the phone, with the money I had.”

Murder ‘accidental’

Anrry Chinchilla died on April 26, 2019 in a popular neighborhood of Caracas, during an anti-crime operation by the FAES, a police force that was disbanded after hundreds of complaints of extrajudicial killings. I was 30 years old.

In her parents’ apartment, religious images surround her photo. “I love you, Daddy,” reads a colorful sign made by his 10-year-old daughter.

Gregorio, Anrry’s father, says the young man’s sister saw the crime from a window.

“They take him out of the room, order him to go into the corridor, kneel down (…) and put a sheet on the clothesline that is there to prevent those who can see it anywhere (…) and the was when she says she heard the last three shots,” says Gregorio.

He says a police officer admitted to a neighbor that it was a “mistake” to look for Anrry. “He had no criminal record.”

On the street “there was a theater (…), they said: ‘turn yourself in, turn yourself in, drop your gun'”, he denounced. “They simulate a confrontation and what they do is kneel down and execute him.”

Gregorio saw his son’s body in the hospital morgue.

“They wouldn’t let me touch him (…), he had three shots at close range (…), all in the chest.”

When the family reported an “extrajudicial execution” to the scientific police, Gregorio says FAES officers often appeared in their neighborhood to intimidate them.

The trial, he denounced, was “at an impasse” for two years and only got going again after a change of prosecutor.