The attribution of superior responsibility for omission as indirect perpetrator or co-perpetrator in the “situation Venezuela I” before the International Criminal Court

Abstract

The determination of superior responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by subordinates, requires a thorough examination of the modes of liability and forms of participation applicable to both civilian and military superiors under the Rome Statute. To establish this regime of responsibility against the Venezuelan President as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the Situación Venezuela I before the International Criminal Court, this study relies on reports issued by both conventional and extra conventional United Nations human rights protection mechanisms, as well as on the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Accordingly, the present analysis examines whether indirect perpetration through organized structures of power, or co-perpetration by omission, would adequately reflect the superior military’s responsibility for failure to act.