Judge SANG-HYUN SONG

PRESIDENT OF THE
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

The Hague

Netherlands 

Dear Sir,

 

WILLIAMS CÁRDENAS RUBIO, Venezuelan lawyer, acting on behalf of the Democratic Platform of Venezuelans in Madrid, with headquarters in Madrid, Spain, with the backing of the 53 non-government organizations identified in the attached list, making up the International Campaign “Juzgar a Chávez, I write to you most respectfully in order to state as follows: 

On 31 March of this year, in the city of Doha, Emirate of Qatar, the President of Venezuela, Mr. Hugo Chávez Frías, invited to Caracas the President of Sudan, Mr. Omar Al Bashir, against whom this respectable Court issued an arrest warrant on 4 March, for his presumed responsibility in the committing of crimes against humanity in the region of Darfur. 

It is evident that the invitation extended by the President of Venezuela constitutes an attempt to prevent the International Criminal Court from being able to exercise its functions and duties in conformity with the Rome Statute, since the notification to Party States of the arrest warrant issued by the Preliminary Questions Court I in the Case: “Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Al Bashir” has been ordered in accordance with the provisions of rule 31 of the Court Regulations. 

Likewise, that declaration made by the President of Venezuela, which is a Party State of the International Criminal Court, whose Statute it signed, approved and ratified, violates the general obligation to cooperate with the Court under article 86 of the Rome Statute. 

The conduct of Hugo Chávez could be on account of the fact that two preliminary investigations have been opened by the Prosecutor’s Office of the ICC as a consequence of the accusations that we have presented it with, known as “Venezuela Case” and “External support for the FARC”, in which the criminal responsibility of the Venezuelan president could find itself compromised, and so he has commenced a defensive strategy of launching preventive attacks which, fruitlessly, seek to deny the jurisdictional competence of the Court. 

The proof of what Hugo Chávez has stated does not require any special investigation, since it concerns a public declaration of President Hugo Chávez, widely disseminated by the national and international communications media. 

The situation that the Court is investigating in relation to the President of Sudan, in which the said arrest warrant has been issued, was referred to the Prosecutor’s Office of the ICC by the United Nations Security Council, by means of its Resolution Nº 1593, of 31 March 2005. 

For that reason, we most respectfully ask this Court to act in conformity with the provisions of article 87, paragraph 7, of the Rome Statute, ordering that this question be referred to the United Nations Security Council in order to establish the responsibilities and sanctions as appropriate. 

I would like to take the occasion to inform you that you are assured of our greatest respect and most distinguished consideration. 

Madrid, 2 April 2009 

 

Williams Cárdenas Rubio

IPSA Nº 20.408

Democratic Platform of Venezuelans in Madrid.

International Campaign “Juzgar a Chávez”.

 

C/C

- To Judge AKUA KUENYEHIA

Judge and President of the

Preliminary Questions Court I.

International Criminal Court

The Hague

 

- To Ambassador CLAUDE HELLER

President of the United Nations Security Council

 

 

LISTA ANEXA:

 

Campaña Internacional "Juzgar a Chávez"

 

ONG´s que la integran:

 

1-     Plataforma Democrática de Venezolanos en Madrid (PDVM)

 

2- Frente Iberoamericano por la Libertad (FIAL)

 

3 -   Asociación de Madres y Mujeres Venezolanas en el Exilio (AMAVEX)

 

4-    Resistencia Civil de Venezolanos en el Exterior (RECIVEX)

 

5-Asociación Venezolana de Desplazados (AVD)

 

6-    Centro de Estudios Democráticos para Iberoamérica y el Caribe (CEDIC)

 

7-Frente Patriótico

 

8- Bloque Democrático

 

9- Frente Institucional Militar

 

10- Foro de Caracas

 

11- Fundación Orión

 

12- Alianza Popular

 

13- Unapetrol

 

14- Gente de Petróleo

 

15-    Free Venezuela Center for Democracy in the Americas

 

16-    International Venezuelan Council for Democracy (IVCD)

 

17-    Participación Venezuela

 

18-    Social Artistry Venezuela SA-VE

 

19- Venered

 

20-    Venezuela Somos Todos

 

21-    Lucha Democrática

 

22-    Primero Justicia Región Exterior

 

23-    Venezolanos en México

 

24-    Venezolanos en Chile

 

25-    Venezuelan for Democracy

 

26-    Venezolanos en Bélgica

 

27-    Libertad y Democracia en Berlín

 

28-    Diálogo por Venezuela-Francia

 

29-    Cubalíbera

 

30-Mujeres por la Libertad

 

31-    Mujeres x Venezuela

 

32-    Fuerza Liberal

 

33- Movimiento Ecológico de Venezuela, AC, ORG

 

34-    Vecinos en Acción.ORG

 

35-    Cumbre Patriótica del Presidio Político Cubano.ORG

 

36-    Asociación Hispano Venezolana de Cooperación.ORG

 

37-    Movimiento Social & Ecologista Rescatando a Portuguesa.ORG

 

38-    Fundación Ambiental de Venezuela AVE ¨Kathy Phelps ORG

 

39-    Asociación Civil de Desarrollo Ambiental

 

40-    Asociación Patriótica "José Martí " ORG

 

41-    Fuerza Solidaria ORG

 

42-    Junta Patriótica Cubana

 

43-    Unidad Hondureña

 

44-    Movimiento Nacionalista Contrarrevolucionario de Venezuela, MNCRV

 

45-    Foro de Líderes por la Libertad (FLL)

 

46- Grupo Lucha por la Democracia (GPL)

 

47-    Movimiento de Recuperación Revolucionaria (MRR)

 

48- Red Nacional de Asambleas de Ciudadanos (RNAC)

 

49-    Congreso Federal de Organizaciones Ciudadanas de Venezuela.

 

50- Libertad y Democrácia.org.

 

51- Poder Juvenil Demócrata-Bolivia

 

52-Fundaven

 

53-Unidos Por Venezuela Y América

 

54- Movimiento Republicano de Venezuela.