WASHINGTON, DC, USA (AFP) — A panel of independent international experts has found “reasonable grounds” to refer Venezuela to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, the Organization of American States said yesterday.

In a report, the experts identified more than 8,292 “extrajudicial executions” since 2015, “often a result of various security forces conducting unlawful and violent home raids where false confrontations are staged to rationalise the summary executions of, commonly, young men”.

Their recommendations included opening an investigation into possible crimes against humanity and submitting their report to the International Criminal Court.

The panel “considers that there are reasonable grounds… for considering that acts to, which the civilian population of Venezuela was subjected to dating back to at least February 12, 2014, constitute crimes against humanity”, the report said.

The 400-page report also found 131 people were killed during the protests against Nicolas Maduro since 2014.

“The tactics used demonstrate a clear pattern of the intent to kill, demonstrated by the location of the death blow (vital areas of the body, in particular, shots to the head and neck), the use of modified and live munitions, and the close range in which these acts were perpetrated,” it noted.

In addition, the report said more than 12,000 Venezuelans have been arbitrarily detained since the 2013 presidential election, when Nicolas Maduro was elected as president to succeed Hugo Chavez.

Meanwhile, more than 1,300 people have been held as political prisoners since then, it found.