Bolivia: the government files a complaint before the ICC against Evo Morales
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales at a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, February 21, 2020. RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP
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The government of Bolivia has indicated that it is filing a complaint before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against former Bolivian President Evo Morales for crimes against humanity, following the roadblocks organized by his supporters which paralyzed the country last month.
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Although a signatory to the Treaty of Rome, a state party like Bolivia cannot “
file a complaint
”, but ask the prosecutor to examine such and such a situation.
In addition, in the name of the principle of complementarity, the ICC only intervenes if the national judicial system is failing.
Blockages in the medical supply
"
The Office of the Attorney General (PGE) is at the ICC in The Hague to file a complaint for # crimes against humanity against Evo Morales and others,
" the interim president, Jeanine Añez, wrote on Twitter on Friday.
And the EMP confirmed the complaint.
According to the president, the complaint is motivated by "
the siege imposed on cities which has caused more than 40 deaths due to lack of medical oxygen supply
" in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
En estos momentos, the PGE está en la CPI de La Haya, presenting the denuncia por #DelitosDeLesaHumanidad in contra de Evo Morales y otros, por el cerco a las ciudades que causó más de 40 fallecidos por falta de oxígeno medicinal.
La impunidad no puede prevalecer.
Jeanine Añez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) September 4, 2020
Evo Morales resigned in November 2019 following a social revolt, after 14 years in power.
The former president denounced on Twitter "
a campaign of discredit
" against him.
“
They know very well that these accusations will lead to nothing because they are false.
It is a smokescreen during the election campaign.
They are trying to divert the attention of the Bolivian people from the economic, health and humanitarian catastrophe,
”he said.
Gobierno de facto de Bolivia, denunciado por ONU, CIDH, NGOs, Harvard observatorios and periódicos periódicos por masacres y violaciones DD.HH., ahora nos asked a mí y a algunos líderes del pueblo ante CPI por defender la democracia;
y sigue su campaña de desprestigio pagada
Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) September 4, 2020
Elections postponed due to pandemic
The government accuses the former left-wing president (2006-2019) of ordering
these roadblocks
in August to force the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to set a date for the elections, which have been postponed three times due to of the pandemic.
The TSE eventually set presidential and legislative elections for October 18, ending roadblocks that had caused shortages of food and medicine.
Evo Morales is already targeted by other complaints filed by the right-wing government, in particular for the
embezzlement of minors
.
Bolivia has been going through a post-election crisis since the October 2019 election. Evo Morales had declared himself the winner of the presidential election for a fourth term, but the opposition had cried out fraud.
After weeks of protests, the president resigned and fled Bolivia, let loose by the police and the army.
He first took refuge in Mexico and then in Argentina.
(With
AFP)
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Bolivia
Evo Morales
International justice
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