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Colombia to present border crisis with Venezuela to International tribunal

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Colombia's attorney general is assessing the possibility of presenting the country's border crisis with Venezuela to the International Criminal Court, the website of El Tiempo daily reported.

"(The Attorney General) told me that he is seriously considering filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court against members of the civilian and military leadership of the Venezuelan government, who may be responsible for crimes against humanity enshrined in the Rome Statute," President Juan Manuel Santos was quoted by the report as saying on Tuesday.

In his speech, Santos again blamed Venezuela for violating the human rights of around 1,100 Colombians who have been expelled from the neighboring country, reaffirming that his government will use all diplomatic means to denounce the crisis and safeguard the rights of the Colombians affected.

"This is specifically regarding the deportation or forced transfer of the Colombians, who were subject to expulsion and other actions in breach of the international law," Santos said.

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said Bogota plans to present the case of human rights abuses to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and to the International Organization for Migration.

A crisis between Venezuela and Colombia erupted on Aug. 19 when three Venezuelan army officers were wounded by suspected paramilitary gunmen operating in Colombia, leading to the closure of a major border crossing with Colombia in Venezuela's western state of Tachira as ordered by President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela said the deportation of over 1,000 undocumented Colombians from Venezuela's border state of Tachira had been carried out with full respect for their human rights. Another 5,000 have left voluntarily.

"There was no violation of human rights. None of them were injured or killed, none of them were hit, tortured or humiliated. Everything was done within the spirit of human rights," Venezuela's Governor of the state of Tachira Jose Vielma Mora said last Friday.

A day earlier, the two countries recalled their ambassadors. Endi