International court closes case on US sanctions against Venezuela

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has dropped its investigation into US sanctions on Venezuela , saying there was insufficient evidence that the measures constituted crimes against humanity.

The case began in 2020 when the Venezuelan government filed a complaint against the United States, calling its asset freezes and travel bans on Venezuelan officials “unlawful coercive measures” that had caused widespread suffering among civilians . Many sanctions were first imposed during the presidency of Barack Obama and later expanded, and Caracas argued that they worsened shortages of food, medicine, and essential goods in the country.

After a preliminary investigation spanning several years , ICC prosecutors concluded that while the sanctions may have exacerbated Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis , there was no evidence that they were intended to deliberately harm civilians . The court emphasized that proving “necessary intent” is crucial for classifying an act as a crime against humanity. Simply causing suffering, even if severe, is not enough under international law .

The court also clarified that this decision is unrelated to January 2026 events in Venezuela , when US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a lightning military operation, or to ongoing ICC investigations into alleged abuses by Venezuelan security forces during the 2017 crackdown on anti-government protests.

The ICC’s work on this case was further complicated by prosecutor Karim Khan’s The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a permanent global tribunal based in The Hague, set up in 2002 under the Rome Statute to investigate and prosecute individuals for the gravest crimes, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression, when national courts are unwilling or unable to act; it complements, rather than replaces, domestic justice systems and can exercise jurisdiction mainly over crimes committed after 2002 in countries that have ratified the treaty or in cases referred by the United Nations Security Council.