OAS supports ICC prosecutor in light of doubts in his investigation into Maduro

The Organization of American States (OAS) on Sunday defended the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, in the face of doubts that arose in his investigation into Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, due to a possible conflict of interest due to family ties.

“We understand that it is not acceptable to doubt the honorability of any person or to speculate on the content of the actions that have taken place, but rather on the well-founded analysis of the same,” the Pan-American organization said in a statement.

The Washington Post had published on Friday that criminal lawyer Venkateswari Alagendra, who has joined the team defending Maduro before the ICC, She is Khan’s sister-in-law.

The American newspaper had specified that the ICC has a code of conduct for the prosecutor’s office that orders its members to abstain from any conflict that may arise from personal interest in the case, “including a marital, parental or other close family, personal or professional relationship with any of the parties.”

Statement by the General Secretariat of the OAS on press reports on the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICChttps://t.co/wCHLLAT6jF pic.twitter.com/ykrhQwHLdd

— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) September 8, 2024

They ask to challenge the ICC prosecutor

Khan’s office stressed in a statement that “the composition of the legal team representing Venezuela in the proceedings in which the Prosecutor’s Office successfully defended its right to assert its jurisdiction in this situation It is a matter of public domain”.

“We must assume that prosecutor Karim Khan acts well and will act well and in accordance with the ethical standards required of him and that his position merits,” the OAS said on Sunday.

The general secretariat of the organization, according to its note, “does not consider it pertinent” that he should be challenged, “especially by political actors who have been alien to any procedure developed currently in the complaint to the chain of command of the Venezuelan authoritarian regime” before the ICC, which is investigating him for crimes against humanity.

“We consider the processing of unfounded or hastily formulated requests that only undermine the proceedings being conducted to be inappropriate. The General Secretariat will continue its efforts to ensure that there is justice for the victims and families of the victims” at the ICC, concluded its statement in defense of the prosecutor.

The Washington-based NGO Arcadia Foundation had requested this Sunday to recuse Khan on the grounds of a “serious conflict of interest” which compromises the impartiality of the prosecutor and puts at risk the integrity of the judicial process, with profound implications for the credibility” of the court.