International
ICC to probe possible Venezuela rights violations

AFP
The International Criminal Court will investigate whether crimes against humanity were committed during Venezuela’s clampdown on anti-government protests in 2017, President Nicolas Maduro and ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said Wednesday.
More than 100 people died as the security forces cracked down on the demonstrations sparked by the arrests of several opposition leaders and the supreme court’s decision to dissolve the opposition-dominated National Assembly.
After a preliminary evaluation, Khan “has decided to move on to the next phase to seek the truth,” said Maduro. “As a state, we respect his decision, although we do not share it.”
“I ask everyone, as we enter this new phase, to give my office space to do its work,” added Khan.
The move was hailed by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has claimed since 2019 to be Venezuela’s interim president, backed by around 60 countries.
Guaido said on Twitter that this move would enable the victims and their families to “claim the right to obtain justice that has been denied in Venezuela.”
When the ICC opened the preliminary investigation in 2018, Khan’s predecessor Fatou Bensouda said there was a “reasonable basis” to believe the government had committed crimes against humanity.
Maduro complained that the Venezuelan state was not given access to the documents and information evaluated during that phase.
“We were blind in that stage,” said the president.
During Khan’s three-day visit, which began on Sunday, small groups of family members of the victims of the alleged rights abuses held street protests demanding an audience with Khan.
On Wednesday there was also a small protest outside the intelligence services headquarters in Caracas, where opposition figures are being held.
“I’m fully aware of the flaws that exist in Venezuela, the political division. We (the ICC) are not political, we are guided by the principles of legality and the rule of law,” said Khan.
Khan and Maduro signed an agreement to collaborate on the next step of the investigation.
The ICC prosecutor praised the “constructive dialogue” he had following meetings with Maduro, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez, Attorney General Tarek William Saab and representatives of the Supreme Court.
Since 2017, some 150 members of the police and military have been charged or sentenced for human rights violations, according to the public ministry.
The opposition claims those actions were taken merely to try to avoid an ICC investigation.
Rafael Uzcategui, a leader of the Provea human rights NGO, said the opening of an investigation showed that “there were crimes against humanity and … they have so far not been properly investigated.”
The ICC is also at the preliminary stage of another case involving Venezuela, brought by the government accusing the United States of crimes against humanity over its sanctions against the South American country’s leaders.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
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