If Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, who was charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with several counts of genocide against different tribes of his country settled in the Darfur region, decided to accept the invitation from Venezuelan Head of State Hugo Chávez, who invited al-Bashir to come to Venezuela in 2009, the African ruler would find a “safe haven” in the South American country not only because Chávez’ government has rejected the case against him, but due to the lack of legislation to punish this serious crime.
To prevent this hypothetical scenario or any other from happening, Amnesty International made a series of recommendations to authorities that were compiled in a report on Venezuela entitled: End Impunity through Universal Jurisdiction.
In a 140-page paper, the human-rights watchdog asked the National Assembly to amend the Criminal Code or adopt a special law to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and extrajudicial executions, as well as legislate to ensure the exercise by “Venezuelan courts of universal jurisdiction over these crimes.”
Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas
Source: ElUniversal.com
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