Rafael Uzcátegui: “The government of Nicolás Maduro is obliged to promote real reforms to the justice system”

Venezuela has been experiencing a political, economic and social crisis for several years and the Nicolás Maduro regime has been accused of violating human rights, the International Criminal Court (ICC) arriving to open an investigation.

Rafael Uzcátegui, director of the Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights (Provea), one of the most recognized local organizations on these issues, talks about what the new stage that the ICC began represents for his country.

What does the agreement mean for the country?

This is a decision that opens a window of justice for the victims of serious human rights violations in Venezuela. A window that did not exist, because precisely these international mechanisms are activated when internal justice does not respond to complaints and human rights organizations, together with the victims, have been going to all international protection organizations that have responsibility for rights human beings in Venezuela and they have been escalating the pressure mechanisms in the face of the deterioration of the situation … In the first place, it is an opportunity for justice. Second, it is a bittersweet achievement because we have been for almost two years making many efforts to get to this point, but that Venezuela has the sad honor of being the first country in Latin America to have a formal investigation at the ICC is very regrettable. … is what we have to do due to the general situation of impunity that exists.

What will happen initially in the process?

Venezuela was in what was called a preliminary examination by the ICC Prosecutor’s Office and in this two situations were clarified. The first of these is whether crimes had occurred in Venezuela that fell within the jurisdiction of the ICC, a serious fact that could be classified as crimes against humanity and that were the subject of an investigation by the ICC. Second, after it was found that crimes against humanity had occurred. So now we move on to a formal investigation where what is intended is that of all the situations that have been denounced, which constitute crimes against humanity, one or more specific cases are opened to determine responsibility.

That is to say, to make the judicial metaphor, there was a death and that murder had not been properly investigated and now we move on to the phase of who is responsible for that situation … the Venezuelan authorities also committed to the CPI Prosecutor’s Office to comply their commitments derived from the Rome Statute to try to have the cases sanctioned or processed by the internal justice system. But that is a commitment that has yet to be demonstrated, appealing to the so-called complementarity in the framework of the State’s relations with the ICC … for the victims it is a double chance, because if there is no internal justice, if reforms are not made If the procedures are not opened, then there would be the action of the ICC.

Is the signature by the regime looking for a facelift?

What the Government is trying to do is have the opportunity to carry out judicial proceedings within Venezuela and prevent the Prosecutor’s Office from finally opening the investigations, because it is supposedly going to demonstrate a genuine willingness to investigate and punish. So this has a very important significance for Venezuelans, because well, it is very easy to say or think that this is just an attempt to gain time and wash one’s face, which could be, but that the Venezuelan State has the obligation to transform the system of administration of justice so that the judicial procedures are considered as genuine, according to the standards of the ICC.

And when it comes to reforming the justice administration system, it has to be done through a plural agreement in which different sectors of society participate to design a public policy that guarantees access to justice … now (the State) He is obliged to promote real reforms to the justice administration system if he wants the ICC to finally not open cases about our country.

What comes now with the ICC, is there an estimated time to have results?

There is no estimated deadline because now what the ICC begins is to decide which cases are ultimately going to be brought to court. We hope and trust that when these specific cases are opened, the Prosecutor’s Office will have all the probative elements of the responsibility of the material and intellectual authors.

And although we want that to be as soon as possible, we want the cases to be sufficiently documented, that they have all the elements to be able to generate important precedents in terms of justice. So, if the reforms that the Government promotes within the justice system or the trials it carries out against human rights violators are not genuine, they are not adequate for due process … then the organizations and the victims are going to report to the ICC that The will of the Government is not genuine and, therefore, the action of this international court is absolutely essential. In other words, the necessary complementarity of the ICC with respect to the limitations of justice in Venezuela is demonstrated.

This is a “sword of Damocles” for the Government, which is now obliged by all the fears that it generates, by all the expectation that senior officials could be involved in an investigation of this, to promote reforms, at least in the justice, and this would be an important step for a process of democratic reinstitutionalization in Venezuela, because if there is no justice that functions independently and adequately, there is no democracy. And if there is no democracy, there are no guarantees for human rights either.

Will the ICC’s decision have any influence on the possible participation of the opposition in the elections this November?

There were doubts as to whether an ICC investigation would be opened, that would weaken the dialogue and we always thought that it would strengthen it because it forces the Government to create spaces … because on human rights issues, any public policy that wants to be sustainable and Legitimate must have the broadest consensus … in addition, it could be part of their campaign narrative for opposition candidates to say that they represent the change to a government that has allowed crimes against humanity, which is the most serious accusation ever. can do on human rights issues. This can enthuse the public that it is possible to begin a process of reinstitutionalization of public powers, starting with that of justice. A hope that this international accompaniment could begin to create conditions for a political solution that did not exist until now.

Civil society has made an important effort to pressure to create conditions for electoral participation. It should be remembered that two of the CNE rectors are well-known activists and this has generated a level of expectation and it should also be linked to the presence of the European Union electoral observation mission that is currently deployed in almost all of the national territory … Here there is an important sector of the opposition that has abandoned the abstentionist strategy of the previous processes and believe that there is a long way to press for conditions for the operation of the vote as a citizen mechanism for change.

For us as a human rights organization, it is an opportunity to generate a less traumatic and peaceful solution to the conflict. Hopefully this pressure from the ICC will cause sectors within the Government to be concerned about this blow to the international image and also allow conditions for a transition to democracy to prevent these international organizations from being the ones to deliver justice within the country.

As an organization of DD. HH., What do you want the world to know about the Venezuelan situation?

This is the worst poverty situation that Provea has diagnosed in its more than three decades. We do not have official figures to measure the different situations. However, there is a survey of living conditions carried out by the Andrés Bello Catholic University, which states that poverty in Venezuela already exceeds more than 70%. (These people) don’t earn a dollar a day, because in fact the minimum wage in Venezuela is around 3 to 5 dollars a month.

This explains the forced migration crisis experienced by Venezuelans, not only because there are political problems, but especially because there is a situation of very acute poverty and also a situation of social scarcity that has been aggravated by the impact of the pandemic in our country. where we do not know real numbers of sick or deceased either.

In addition, the situation of public hospitals to treat the disease is very precarious … and we permanently have cuts in electricity, water, and domestic gas services, which make it very difficult for a person to maintain restriction policies at home . Well, it is a crisis of multiple dimensions, of increasing poverty, absence of democratic institutions, repression of dissent, free expression, and where human rights organizations and humanitarian workers work in a context of great threat to our lives. work. (I)