Even Silence Has a Witness
The Whitewashing of Ethical Corruption at the International Criminal Court
Public Record and Source Documents | Website Section for Arcadia Foundation
Public Record and Source Documents
A Documentary Companion to Even Silence Has a Witness
This section accompanies Even Silence Has a Witness: The Whitewashing of Ethical Corruption at the International Criminal Court as a public record room. It does not reproduce the manuscript. It gives readers, journalists, lawyers, scholars, human-rights organizations and institutional observers a disciplined way to examine the principal documents for themselves.
The book advances an interpretation: that a visible integrity crisis in the ICC’s Venezuela I Situation was delayed, narrowed and finally acknowledged only after sustained pressure. The records below do not ask the reader to accept that interpretation by trust. They make the chronology, legal instruments and public filings available in one place, so that the argument can be tested against the documentary record.
The collection is organised around the book’s central documentary architecture: the Venezuela I situation, the Article 18 complementarity proceedings, the November 2023 Appeals Chamber hearings, the Khan-Alagendra conflict, the recusal and ex officio review sequence, the decisions of 10 February, 1 August and 2 September 2025, the governing ICC legal texts, and selected public human-rights materials concerning Venezuela’s institutional collapse and continuing repression.
Primary Arcadia Resources
Arcadia — Official Analytical Reference Document. Public analytical summary and methodology for the book, preserving the manuscript while stating the documentary structure, legal concepts and chronology.
Arcadia — Selected Public Record / Verified Chronology. Chronological public-record room for the documents most directly connected to the book’s legal sequence.
Chapter-linked Research Guide
Prologue and Chapters Five to Six: Venezuela I, complementarity, the opening of the investigation, the MoU with Venezuela, the Article 18 litigation, the OTP complementarity policy and the Caracas country office.
Principal records to consult: ICC Venezuela I situation page; 3 November 2021 investigation/MoU; ICC-02/18-18; ICC-02/18-45; ICC-02/18-89; OTP Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation; 24 April 2024 Caracas office statement.
Chapter Seven: The November 2023 Appeals Chamber hearing in which the conflict later named in the filings appeared in the public institutional record.
Principal records to consult: 7 November 2023 transcript; 8 November 2023 transcript; ICC-02/18-89.
Chapter Eight: The comparative double-measure analysis concerning prosecutorial tempo, complementarity and the different public record in the Israel/Palestine track.
Principal records to consult: 30 October 2023 ICC Prosecutor statement; 3 December 2023 Israel/Ramallah visit; 20 May 2024 warrant applications; Reuters 5 July 2024 report.
Chapters Nine to Fifteen: The September 2024 recusal filings, the first Registry transmission, the Prosecutor’s response, the February 2025 standing decision, the April 2025 ex officio review sequence and the August 2025 Appeals Chamber ruling.
Principal records to consult: Washington Post report; 8 September 2024 recusal request; ICC-02/18-92; ICC-02/18-99; ICC-02/18-109; ICC-02/18-110; ICC-02/18-112; ICC-02/18-113; ICC-02/18-118.
Chapters Sixteen to Eighteen: The perimeter of excusal, counsel-side accountability and the Registry’s administrative role in routing, transmission and institutional ownership.
Principal records to consult: ICC-02/18-120; ICC-02/18-121; ICC-02/18-122; ICC-02/18-124; ICC-02/18-125; Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel; Regulations of the Registry.
Chapter Nineteen: The wider institutional environment, including ASP access, civil-society gatekeeping and external political responses.
Principal records to consult: OAS statement; ICC Resource Library; Assembly of States Parties materials through the ICC website.
Chapter Twenty: Protection of persons, preservation of evidence and the human-rights record concerning Venezuela’s continuing repression.
Principal records to consult: OHCHR Fact-Finding Mission index; A/HRC/60/CRP.4; IACHR 2024 elections report; Human Rights Watch Punished for Seeking Change; Amnesty International Venezuela report; OAS 2025 Panel report; Annex A-VE; Annex B-VE; 27 October 2025 emergency protective-and-evidence-preservation application; ICC-02/18-150; ICC-02/18-152.
Chapters Twenty-One to Twenty-Six: The institutional-reform argument: Article 42(7), Rules 34 and 35, victim-triggered integrity review, disclosure duties, Registry audit trails and Court-led review.
Principal records to consult: Rome Statute; Rules of Procedure and Evidence; Regulations of the Court; OTP Code of Conduct; Counsel Code; VCLT Article 33; 22 April 2026 amended Regulation 119 request; ICC-02/18-166.
Public Record Library
Primary ICC situation and complementarity record
27 September 2018 — Statement of ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on the referral of the situation in Venezuela by six States Parties. The formal public context for the State Party referral of Venezuela I.
27 September 2018 — Referral of the situation in Venezuela to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor by a group of States Parties. The initiating referral document for Venezuela I.
28 September 2018 — ICC-02/18-1 — Decision assigning the Situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I to Pre-Trial Chamber I. The first public judicial assignment record in the Venezuela I situation.
Venezuela I situation page — ICC Situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I. The ICC’s official situation page, containing the procedural posture and court records.
Victims page — ICC Victims page — Situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I. Official ICC page concerning victims’ participation in Venezuela I.
3 November 2021 — ICC Prosecutor opens the Venezuela I investigation and concludes a Memorandum of Understanding with Venezuela. The formal opening of the investigation and the first major public record of structured engagement with the Venezuelan state.
1 November 2022 — ICC-02/18-18 — Prosecution request to resume the investigation pursuant to Article 18(2). The Prosecutor’s request to resume the investigation after Venezuela sought deferral.
27 June 2023 — ICC-02/18-45 — Decision authorising the resumption of the investigation pursuant to Article 18(2). The Pre-Trial Chamber decision rejecting Venezuela’s attempt to keep the matter deferred under complementarity.
7 November 2023 — Appeals Chamber hearing transcript — Venezuela I Article 18 proceedings, Day One. The hearing record in which the later conflict was visible in plain institutional sight.
8 November 2023 — Appeals Chamber hearing transcript — Venezuela I Article 18 proceedings, Day Two. Continuation of the Article 18 appeal hearing record.
1 March 2024 — ICC-02/18-89 — Appeals Chamber judgment upholding the resumption decision. The Appeals Chamber judgment confirming that the investigation could resume.
1 April 2024 — OTP Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation. The policy document giving formal shape to the Prosecutor’s complementarity method.
24 April 2024 — ICC Prosecutor concludes visit to Venezuela and opens country office in Caracas. The clearest official public record of the deepening of positive complementarity in Venezuela.
Khan-Alagendra conflict, recusal, ex officio review and excusal
6 September 2024 — The Washington Post — report bringing the Khan-Alagendra family connection into broad public view. Public reporting that made the conflict visible to a wider international audience; access may depend on subscription.
8 September 2024 — Request for Disqualification of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in the Situation in Venezuela I. The foundational applicant-side filing formally placing the conflict before the Court.
8 September 2024 — Formal Complaint Regarding Conflict of Interest and Professional Misconduct. Parallel filing seeking scrutiny of counsel-side conflict and professional conduct.
8 September 2024 — Request for Recusal of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in Venezuela I. Public related-record version belonging to the initiating recusal cluster.
8 September 2024 — Urgent Call for Preventive Action Against Ongoing Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Venezuela. Applicant-side filing linking institutional integrity to ongoing risk and preventive action.
8 September 2024 — OAS General Secretariat statement on press reports about the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. External institutional response forming part of the public environment surrounding the recusal effort.
12 November 2024 — ICC-02/18-92 — Registry transmission of the recusal request. The formal Registry transmission that brought the recusal issue into the Court’s procedural record.
14 November 2024 — ICC-02/18-93 — Decision of the Presiding Judge of the Appeals Chamber. Initial judicial management decision in the recusal proceedings.
15 November 2024 — ICC-02/18-94 — Order setting a deadline for the Prosecutor’s written submissions. The order fixing the timetable for the Prosecutor’s formal response.
18 November 2024 — Additional Clarifications on Document Submission and Procedural Concerns. Clarification filing concerning the recusal request and ethical review.
18 November 2024 — Court Management Section communication. Part of the internal documentary trail concerning how the filings were handled.
18 November 2024 — Clarification to the Honourable Judges of the Appeals Chamber. Companion clarification document addressed to the Appeals Chamber.
22 November 2024 — ICC-02/18-98 — Views and concerns of victims on the recusal request. Victims’ views and concerns filed in relation to the recusal proceedings.
29 November 2024 — ICC-02/18-99 — Prosecutor’s submissions on the recusal request. The Prosecutor’s formal written answer contesting standing, case, timeliness and merits.
4 December 2024 — Request for leave to reply to the Prosecutor’s submissions. Applicant-side request to answer the Prosecutor’s submission.
12 December 2024 — ICC-02/18-102 — Decision on Arcadia Foundation’s request for leave to reply. Judicial ruling on the request to file a reply.
12 December 2024 — Public redacted version of the applicant-side reply. Public applicant-side reply in the ICC Related Records archive.
23 December 2024 — Safeguarding the ICC’s Integrity — A Call for Accountability and Impartiality in Venezuela I. Filing reframing the issue as one of institutional integrity.
23 December 2024 — Applicant-side public version of Safeguarding the ICC’s Integrity. Related-record version of the applicant-side filing.
30 December 2024 — ICC-02/18-106 — Prosecutor’s request for leave to sur-reply. The Prosecutor’s application for leave to answer the 23 December filing.
7 February 2025 — ICC-02/18-107 — Urgent motion to address procedural irregularities. Further procedural concerns placed before the Court.
7 February 2025 — Applicant-side public version of the urgent motion. Related-record version of the same procedural step.
10 February 2025 — ICC-02/18-109 — Appeals Chamber decision dismissing the recusal request on standing grounds. The decision holding that Carmona-Borjas and Arcadia lacked standing because they were neither investigated nor prosecuted persons.
8 April 2025 — ICC-02/18-110 — Request for ex officio review of the Prosecutor’s conflict of interest. The filing that shifted the matter into the Court’s own ex officio authority.
8 April 2025 — Applicant-side public version of the ex officio review request. Public applicant-side record of the decisive ex officio filing.
9 April 2025 — ICC-02/18-111 — Order on the filing of submissions. Order inviting written submissions on the ex officio request.
15 April 2025 — ICC-02/18-112 — Prosecutor’s submissions on the ex officio review request. The Prosecutor’s answer to the Chamber’s order on the merits of ex officio review.
15 April 2025 — ICC-02/18-113 — OPCV submissions on the ex officio review request. Submission clarifying the Chamber’s inherent authority to act proprio motu to safeguard integrity.
1 August 2025 — ICC-02/18-118 — Decision on the ex officio review request. The pivotal ruling finding reason to believe that a ground for disqualification existed and requiring the Prosecutor to seek excusal.
11 August 2025 — ICC-02/18-120 — Request for targeted transparency measures. Applicant-side request seeking clarity on the perimeter of the conflict after the 1 August ruling.
18 August 2025 — ICC-02/18-121 — Prosecutor’s request to be excused. The Prosecutor’s formal request following the Appeals Chamber’s order.
20 August 2025 — ICC-02/18-122 — Applicant’s response to the Prosecutor’s communication seeking excusal. Applicant-side response renewing the request that the Court safeguard its integrity.
26 August 2025 — ICC-02/18-124 — Registry transmission of observations concerning the Prosecutor’s request. Part of the Presidency-stage record before the final excusal decision.
2 September 2025 — ICC-02/18-125 — Decision on the Prosecutor’s request to be excused from Venezuela I. The Presidency decision granting the Prosecutor’s excusal from Venezuela I.
22 April 2026 — Amended Regulation 119 request for preservation measures and certified administrative chronology. Public Arcadia version of the amended request later rejected by the Presidency. The request sought preservation of relevant material, a certified administrative chronology, and assessment, referral or transmission of Registry-related issues concerning the Court’s administrative handling of the Khan–Alagendra conflict. It also asked that the public version be placed on the ICC-02/18 record or transmitted to the Appeals Chamber.
12 May 2026 — ICC-02/18-166 — Presidency decision rejecting the amended Regulation 119 request. Public decision rejecting the request for preservation measures, a certified administrative chronology, and assessment, referral or transmission concerning the Registry’s handling of the Khan–Alagendra conflict. The Presidency held that Regulation 119 had been superseded by the amended Rule 26 framework, declined administrative action, found no valid legal basis for the Applicants to seek administrative action from the Presidency, characterised the Registry-related allegations as speculative and unsubstantiated, treated the conflict issue as fully resolved, refused public filing of the Application or any public version, and warned that the Registry may be directed not to accept further related filings.
Victim status record — VPRS acknowledgement of Robert Carmona-Borjas’s victim status and Arcadia Foundation’s representative role. Indispensable to the contradiction between recognised victim status and the later denial of standing.
Protection, evidence-preservation and later Venezuela I filings
September 2025 — Annex A-VE — Public List — Helicoide (SEBIN), Caracas. Public roster of identified detainees held at SEBIN–El Helicoide, Caracas, with individual fact-sheets and cooperation-channel measures connected to protection, witness security and evidence preservation.
September 2025 — Annex B-VE — Public List — Disappeared / Whereabouts Unknown. Public roster of persons reported as disappeared or of unknown whereabouts in Venezuela, with individual fact-sheets and cooperation-channel measures connected to protection, witness security and evidence preservation.
27 October 2025 — Emergency application for protective and evidence-preservation measures. Arcadia public version of the emergency application submitted in the Venezuela I Situation, seeking protective measures, Victims and Witnesses Unit activation, non-interference with confidential legal and medical access, and preservation of custody records and metadata for named victims, witnesses, human-rights defenders, detainees, disappeared persons and immediate family members. The Court later declined to authorise the filing as a public submission, making the Arcadia public version indispensable to the documentary record.
23 December 2025 — ICC-02/18-150 — Decision dismissing in limine a request from Arcadia Foundation. Pre-Trial Chamber decision concerning authorisation to file submissions, relevant to the manuscript’s analysis of procedural access, standing and the Court’s treatment of protective and preservation concerns.
14 January 2026 — ICC-02/18-152 — Decision dismissing in limine a request for authorisation to file submissions from Arcadia Foundation. Later Pre-Trial Chamber decision concerning authorisation to file submissions, relevant to the book’s treatment of standing, procedural access, protective measures and the Court’s refusal to entertain victim-triggered applications at the threshold.
Core legal instruments
Core texts — ICC Resource Library — core legal texts. Central ICC gateway for the Statute, Rules, Elements, Regulations and codes.
Rome Statute — Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court — consolidated English text. Primary statutory frame for jurisdiction, admissibility, victims’ participation, prosecutorial duties, disqualification and excusal.
Rules — Rules of Procedure and Evidence — 2024 English text. Rules governing procedure, victims, disqualification and excusal, including Rules 34 and 35.
Regulations — Regulations of the Court. Court regulations relevant to routing, filings and institutional procedure.
Registry — Regulations of the Registry — 2024 English text. Registry rules relevant to administrative processing, record-handling and public filings.
OTP — Regulations of the Office of the Prosecutor. Regulations governing prosecutorial organisation and conduct.
OTP Code — Code of Conduct for the Office of the Prosecutor. Conflict-of-interest and professional conduct standards within the OTP.
Counsel Code — ICC Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel. Professional duties relevant to counsel-side conflict analysis.
Treaty interpretation — Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Relevant to multilingual treaty interpretation, including Article 33.
Comparative Venezuelan law — Venezuelan Code of Criminal Procedure — OAS copy. Comparative reference for victim-triggered recusal protections under Article 88.
Human-rights and institutional-collapse record for Venezuela
OHCHR / UN FFM — Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela — OHCHR index. Gateway to the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s reports and detailed conclusions.
8 September 2025 — UN Fact-Finding Mission — Detailed conclusions, A/HRC/60/CRP.4. Detailed findings on post-election repression, detention, torture and related abuses.
10 September 2025 — UN Fact-Finding Mission — Report A/HRC/60/61. Report covering the period after the 2024 presidential election and the wider human-rights situation.
27 December 2024 — IACHR — Venezuela: Serious human rights violations in connection with the elections. Inter-American report on post-election abuses and democratic rupture.
30 April 2025 — Human Rights Watch — Punished for Seeking Change. Detailed report on killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention after Venezuela’s 2024 election.
2025 — Human Rights Watch — Venezuela country page. Ongoing public record on Venezuela’s human-rights crisis.
2026 — Human Rights Watch — World Report 2026: Venezuela. Current contextual report on repression after the 2024 election.
2025 — Amnesty International — Venezuela country report. Country-level human-rights record, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and impunity.
15 July 2025 — Amnesty International — Enforced disappearances amount to crimes against humanity. Report and analysis on enforced disappearances in Venezuela.
May 2025 — OAS Panel — From Detention to Torture and Disappearance: The Consolidation of State Terror in Venezuela. Panel report documenting Venezuela’s most recent phase of repression.
2024 — International Commission of Jurists — No Will for Justice in Venezuela. Report on the Public Prosecutor’s Office and impunity in Venezuela.
2024 — Raoul Wallenberg Centre — Venezuela Impunity Gap Report. Accountability and impunity analysis relevant to complementarity and domestic capacity.
Comparative record used in the double-measure analysis
30 October 2023 — Statement of ICC Prosecutor from Cairo/Rafah on the Situation in the State of Palestine and Israel. Contextual public record of regional engagement before the December 2023 visit.
3 December 2023 — ICC Prosecutor concludes first visit to Israel and the State of Palestine. The public record of the Israel/Ramallah visit used comparatively against Venezuela’s deeper complementarity architecture.
20 May 2024 — Statement of ICC Prosecutor on applications for arrest warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine. Official public statement announcing arrest-warrant applications.
5 July 2024 — Reuters — ICC prosecutor opted for warrants over visit to Gaza. Press record concerning the cancelled late-May mission and the timing of warrant applications.
Situation page — ICC Situation in the State of Palestine. Official ICC situation page for the comparative track.
Authorial, institutional and historical context
2009 — Más allá de la génesis del 11 de abril — author page. Earlier book relevant to the author’s public record and the April 2002 background.
Author — Robert Carmona-Borjas — books page. Authorial bibliography and public background.
Arcadia — Arcadia Foundation. Institutional home of Arcadia Foundation.
Book page — Even Silence Has a Witness — Arcadia Foundation page. Canonical page for the book and its documentary public record.
Editorial Integrity Note
This public record library separates documents from interpretation. The fact that a record is linked here means that it forms part of the public documentary environment relevant to the book. It does not mean that the external source adopts the book’s conclusions, nor that the book’s interpretation depends on every external source in the same way.
Some records linked from Arcadia are public versions of applicant-side filings or annexes that the Court did not place, or did not leave, in full public form on the ICC public docket. They are included here not as substitutes for official ICC records, but as preserved documentary materials necessary for readers to test the sequence described in the book.
Where possible, the links direct readers to official ICC court-record pages rather than only to file-server PDFs. Direct PDF links are retained where the ICC archive provides a public document without a stable court-record landing page, or where the record is a transcript, related record, legal text or external report.
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