International Criminal Court on Venezuela, Colombia: a double standard?

Two bitter political rivals, Venezuela and Colombia, saw contrasting decisions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in just one week. The Hague-based tribunal opened a formal investigation against the Nicolás Maduro administration for potential crimes against humanity following anti-government protests in 2017, while almost simultaneously shelving a 17-year old probe on Colombia’s military and paramilitary murders.

At the heart of both announcements was the recently-appointed ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who toured the region between October 25 and November 3 and met with high-level authorities in both nations, including presidents, Supreme Court justices, diplomats, and civil society representatives.

On the last day of Mr. Khan’s visit to the Caribbean, the prosecutor announced that the ICC concluded its preliminary investigation and opened a formal probe regarding torture, extra-judicial murder, and forced disappearance of Venezuelan citizens by state authorities, looking for a pattern of systematic government abuse and denial of a genuine judicial investigation in the country. 

Although no individual person or institution has yet been charged, an ICC fact-finding mission in Venezuela is expected to come next.

In a joint press conference with Mr. Maduro, Mr. Khan said that the court has jurisdiction over Venezuela due to the country’s adherence to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 1998. Most countries in the Americas are signatories of the treaty — with the notable exceptions of Cuba, Nicaragua, and the U.S.

“This Court is your court. And according to the Venezuelan Constitution, the Court is part of the constitution. Its values and principles are part of this country because they are part of the spirit of all human beings,” Mr. Khan argued. 

Sitting next to him, President Maduro stated that “the prosecutor decided to move on to the next phase to look for the truth. We respect his decision, although we have...