Venezuela Saturday rejected a decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resume an investigation into alleged human rights violations by the country’s officials.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria said that the government does not agree with the official request made by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP). He stated, “Venezuela regrets that, despite all the information provided and the exchanges held with the Prosecutor’s Office during the year 2022, the prosecutor insists on an investigation based on secondary sources guided by political interests, in the V1 case.”

The statement follows the application of ICC Chief Prosecutor, Karim Kham, for an order under Article 18(2) seeking authorization to resume investigations within the V1 case. The application sought to “continue cooperating in good faith and supporting the efforts of the Venezuelan authorities to conduct domestic proceedings that satisfy the statute’s requirements.”

Whereas the state’s foreign minister alleges that the prosecutor proceeds on secondary sources guided by political interests, the application states that:

The OTP has carefully analyzed all the information communicated by Venezuela in support of the Deferral Request and as a result of an independent and objective assessment of this information and concluded that the government has not adequately demonstrated, in accordance with Article 18(2), that it has investigated or is investigating its nationals or others within its jurisdiction with respect to criminal acts which may constitute crimes referred to in Article 5 of the statute and which relate to the information provided in the notification to states.

The foreign minister’s announcement also states that the investigation consists of “marked bias and clear politicization, to the detriment of the rigor expected from an international instance.”

On September 27, 2018, the OTP received a referral from several state parties, requesting that the prosecutor investigate alleged atrocious crimes committed in Venezuela since February 12, 2014. The referral also requested that the prosecutor determine whether one or more persons should be charged with the commission of the atrocious crimes.

Following the completion of its subject-matter assessment of the situation in the V1 case, the OTP in its December 2020 report, concluded that there is a “reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela since at least April 2017.” Therefore, in November 2021, the Chief Prosecutor opened an investigation in Venezuela I and concluded with a memorandum aimed at facilitating dialogue and cooperation as the investigation proceeds.