Regarding the request from the United Nations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for this instance of justice to issue arrest warrants against torturers in Venezuela, Witnesses to crimes against humanity in the Caribbean country narrated the violence they suffered.
Olga González, wife of Leonardo González, murdered by Venezuelan State officials during a protestwas one of the first to speak in front of the OAS panel of experts.
“His vehicle received 21 bullet hits, when they searched him, my husband had four candies in his pocket, those were his weapons. There is not a single piece of evidence that says that these officials received a stone or a single scratch. Here there was an extrajudicial execution (…) there was a massacre”, said the defender of DD. H H.
For his part, Jesús Alemán, former political prisoner, stated: “They gave me electric shocks on my back and chest, I only thought about my family, girlfriend and friends, and that gave me strength to continue moving forward. They denied me medical assistance. The flesh fell to pieces, I could see the tendons in my feet.”
Nixon Leal Toro, also a former political prisoner, said: “I was a victim of forced disappearance. My mother even looked for me in the morgue, no one knew my whereabouts. Men in unidentified uniforms took me to a building and tortured me. “They hanged me for periods of time and covered my face with a hood.”
Another former prisoner of the Venezuelan dictatorship, Captain Luis de la Sota, gave his testimony before the Organization of American States.
“They forced me to strip naked, even in the presence of female staff. They hit me on the head, they insulted me, they made fun of me, they told me that they were going to rape my wife, that human rights did not exist. “They deprived me of food and I had to relieve myself on the floor”mentioned de la Sota.
At this meeting, the OAS panel of experts concluded that “There has been a systematic attack organized by the State under the direction of members of the current regime against the civilian population.”
Furthermore, this committee maintains that “all perpetrators of crimes are still in the same place and have the possibility of continuing to commit criminal acts.”
They also emphasized that A pattern of repression is repeated in Venezuela, while the “authorities” of the Caribbean country do not fulfill their obligations to prosecute crimes against human rights.
The OAS recommendation is that the ICC, urgently, intervene in investigations against specific people in the Venezuelan regime.
