In an Argentine court, Venezuelans testify to alleged crimes against humanity under Maduro

In a first for Venezuela under the repressive rule of President Nicolás Maduro, a court in Argentina heard testimony from Venezuelan accusers as part of an investigation into probable human rights abuses. In a first for Venezuela under the repressive rule of President Nicolás Maduro, a federal court in Buenos Aires concluded two days of testimony from Venezuelan accusers on Friday as part of an investigation into probable human rights abuses they allege were committed by security forces in 2014, the year after Maduro took power. “Those testifying are people who have sought justice in Venezuela for a very long time, and have reached the end of where they can go,” said Yasmine Chubin, legal advocacy director at the Clooney Foundation, a nonprofit founded by George and Amal Clooney that provides free legal support to victims of human rights abuses. “The scale of atrocities in Venezuela, spanning thousands of deaths and numerous other violations like persecution, arbitrary detention, torture, and sexual violence calls for a broader approach.” Among the handful of countries that have adopted the principle in their legal systems, Argentina stands out in the region for its unusually favorable record of applying the legal concept to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed in Spain, Nicaragua and Myanmar.