the series of facts or take measures aimed at confirming whether or not those links existed between the different incidents that took place within a very short lapse of time against certain members of the Barrios family.368 254. In particular, the Court notes that several of the statements provided regarding the searches, thefts and setting fire at the above-mentioned homes, indicated an incident that had occurred previously between Narciso Barrios and a police agent as a possible motive for the attack (supra paras. 201 and 203). Also, on March 1 and June 1, 2004, the lawyer of Eloisa Barrios filed a complaint concerning the death of Narciso Barrios together with a complaint concerning the search of the homes that had taken place in November 2003, and requested an investigation into why there was no record of the facts related to the search of the homes in the procedural records of the inquiry into the death of Narciso Barrios (supra para. 206). Also, Nestor Caudi Barrios and other family members advised the authorities on several occasions of the threats he had received, because he had witnessed the circumstances in which the said death took place (supra paras. 206 and 208). Therefore, the Court considers that all the possible lines of investigation that would have permitted the facts to be elucidated were not exhausted. 255. The Court notes that although protective measures were ordered in favor of Nestor Caudi Barrios (supra paras. 121 and 208), there is no record that any investigation was conducted to determine the origin of the threats denounced and to punish those allegedly responsible. 256. Consequently, the Inter-American Court concludes that the authorities did not act with due diligence in the investigation into the death of Narciso Barrios, and did not investigate the threats denounced by Nestor Caudi Barrios. Therefore, the State violated the right to judicial guarantees and to judicial protection established in Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of Nestor Caudi Barrios, and of Justina Barrios, Annarys Alexandra Barrios Rangel, Benito Antonio Barrios Rangel and Eloisa Barrios.369 4. Investigation of the detention of Rigoberto Barrios and Jorge Antonio Barrios Ortuño 257. Faced with the complaint of arbitrary detention, physical and mental violence, and the alleged torture of two minors attributed to police agents, partly on police premises, the only measures that were taken by the authorities in charge of the investigation were: an interview with Jorge Antonio Barrios Ortuño; a forensic medical examination of Rigoberto Barrios; procedures concerning a farm and a vehicle allegedly related to the facts, and a request for the logbooks of the Police Stations, which were not provided (supra paras. 213 and 215). 368 In this regard, the case file only contains a record of the criminal investigation of the Investigation Unit indicating that the inquiries into the death of Narciso Barrios and into the searches of the homes “are related,” cf. Record of criminal investigation of the Investigation Unit of February 21, 2005 (file of attachments to the answering brief, tome II, attachment 10, folio 5120). Furthermore, expert witness Magaly Vázquez testified before this Court that “we are talking about […] alleged human rights violations owing to a possible extrajudicial execution; in most cases […] there are a series of events that can lead to that execution, such as illegal arrests, or threats to personal integrity, etc. Consequently, from this perspective […] these conducts could, in my opinion, undoubtedly constitute related crimes.” 369 Cf. Complaint filed before the Senior Prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service on March 1, 2004, supra note 139, folios 3313 to 3319. 85

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