President Nicolás Maduro's stepson and wife's nephew are facing charges in New York, but if a group of Venezuelan opposition figures has their way, the embattled president himself may soon have to stand trial for "crimes against humanity."

The activists have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the socialist leader, dissident Carlos Vecchio said on Wednesday, according to AFP.

"Yesterday, we formally presented a request for the court to open a preliminary inquiry into high-ranking officials, especially Maduro, because we consider that they have committed crimes against humanity," he told reporters in Madrid. "We are faced with a case of crimes ... that involve murders, torture, illegal detentions, persecution, inhuman treatment."

The ICC is an international tribunal based in The Hague, the Netherlands, which has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Unlike the United States, Venezuela has ratified the treaty establishing the court and is thus one of its 123 state parties.

The move by Vecchio and his allies comes just weeks before Dec. 6 legislative elections, in which the coalition surrounding Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela could lose its majority in the country's National Assembly.

Vecchio serves as the coordinator of opposition party Popular Will, though the politician was forced to flee Venezuela last year, after prosecutors accused him of crimes linked to anti-government riots, including arson and criminal damage. Those accusations also led to the imprisonment of former Chacao Mayor Leopoldo López, who is also a member of the party, according to The Guardian.

The Popular Will leader, who now lives in Florida, said he and his allies approached the ICC because Venezuela's "judicial system has turned into a government tool for persecution" of the opposition. Vecchio specifically pointed to the case of former prosecutor Franklin Nieves, who recently fled Venezuela as well after admitting his own case against López had been a "sham."