Amnesty urges ICC to probe ‘crimes against humanity’ in Venezuela

MEXICO: Amnesty International said Tuesday it believes the Venezuelan authorities have committed crimes against humanity in their crackdown on anti-government protests, and urged the International Criminal Court to investigate.

The rights group said President Nicolas Maduro´s government responded with "a systematic and widespread policy of repression" in late January, when anti-government protests swept the country after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself acting president.

Maduro opponents were tortured and killed during the protests, it said.

"The nature of the attacks... the level of coordination by the security forces, as well as the signs of similar patterns in 2014 and 2017, leads Amnesty International to believe that the Venezuelan authorities committed crimes against humanity," Amnesty said in a statement. Maduro, the political heir to late leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez, has presided over a spiralling political and economic crisis in Venezuela since taking office in 2013.

He was re-elected to a second term in May 2018, in a vote boycotted by the opposition and rejected by much of the international community. Guaido, the leader of Venezuela´s opposition-controlled legislature, declared himself acting president on January 23.