SW News: An investigation into suspected violations of human rights in the South American nation of Venezuela may now proceed, according to a decision by the International Criminal Court.

The court's ruling comes after the inquiry into torture, extrajudicial killings, and other crimes was put on hold in April 2022 at Venezuela's request so that the nation could launch its own investigation.

However, the International Criminal Court ruled in a statement on Tuesday that Venezuela had not done enough in its probe of government officials.

The court stated in a press release that while Venezuela is pursuing some investigative measures, the domestic criminal proceedings there do not adequately reflect the extent of the Prosecution's intended inquiry.

The court observed periods of unexplained investigative inactivity in Venezuela’s probe, as well as failures to sufficiently address questions of persecution and crimes of a sexual nature.

It shared concerns that the Venezuelan investigation focused primarily on lower-level perpetrators instead of senior-level officials.

Human Rights Watch, an international human rights monitoring group, welcomed the announcement.

“With today’s decision, ICC judges have green-lighted the only credible pathway to justice for the victims of abuses by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The decision confirms that Venezuela is not acting to bring justice for the crimes likely to be within the ICC’s investigation. Impunity remains the norm,” said Juanita Goebertus, the group’s Americas director.