NGOs in Argentina call for Maduro’s extradition to Argentina for prosecution
NGOs on Sunday called on Argentine courts to request the extradition of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro detained in the United States to Buenos Aires to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
The United States on Saturday arrested the ousted Venezuelan president, transferred him to its territory and put him in jail, and the two are before trial in New York to face several charges, including drug-related terrorism.
An Argentine judge had called for Maduro’s arrest in 2024 as part of an investigation into crimes against humanity, as Argentina has universal jurisdiction to hear such cases.
Argentine NGOs representing Venezuelan prosecutors appealed to the judiciary on Sunday to request the immediate extradition of Nicolás Maduro to Argentina.
In 2023, two other organizations, the George and Amal Clooney Foundation and the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy, filed a lawsuit against the Venezuelan government’s actions before the Argentine judiciary on the basis of its universal jurisdiction, and later consolidated their claims.
“A systematic plan of repression, enforced disappearance, torture, murder and persecution against part of the civilian population has been carried out since at least 2014 until today,” the Argentine judiciary said, and issued arrest warrants for Nicolás Maduro and his minister Diosdado Cabello.
Argentine courts have previously heard cases under their universal jurisdiction.
In 2021, the Argentine judiciary opened an investigation into allegations that Burmese military personnel committed crimes against the Rohingya minority.
