Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights* of November 17, 2009 Provisional Measures regarding Venezuela Matter of Guerrero-Larez HAVING SEEN: 1. The brief of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, (hereinafter, “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) of November 13, 2009, and its appendixes, through which the Commission submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Inter-American Court”, “the Court”, or “the Tribunal”) a request of provisional measures, according to the Articles 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the American Convention”, or “the Convention”) and 26 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”), with the purpose of making the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (hereinafter “the State” or “Venezuela”) protect the life and personal integrity of Francisco Dionel Guerrero Larez (hereinafter also “Mr. Guerrero Larez.”) 2. The alleged facts upon which the request for provisional measures relies was presented by the Commission, as follows: a) Mr. Guerrero Larez was deprived of liberty serving a sentence in the Venezuelan General Prison (Penitenciaría General de Venezuela, hereinafter also “PGV”), and since September 7, 2009, his relatives have not been able to communicate with him. Since that date, the father and wife of Mr. Guerrero Larez have tried without success to contact him, without receiving any information from the prison authorities regarding his situation and location. Among the requests issued by the family members and the representatives of Mr. Guerrero Larez, the following events have been found: i) on September 8, 2009, his father, Mr. Guerrero Sánchez, went to the Regional Command No. 2, Division No. 28, Second Company, San Juan de los Morros, with the intent to denounce that he received “a phone call in which it was indicated that his son had been murdered in the [PGV];” ii) on September 9, 2009, the wife of Mr. Guerrero Larez, Mrs. Hernández Colmenarez, went to the same Command to denounce that he had been missing since September 7, 2009, in the PGV; and “she declared that she received information concerning his murder within the Prison,” and “published a press notice requesting information from the authorities;” iii) on September 10, 2009, the Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo) carried out an act in which evidence was left that showed that acts targeted to find the possible beneficiary in the PGV had been carried out, without any results; iv) on September 23, 2009, the family members informed the Venezuelan Prison Observatory of the disappearance of the possible beneficiary and gave notice of the different versions and stories that they have received; such organization, on the days October 2, 5, and 13, 2009, sent a communication to the Prosecutor General of * Judges Cecilia Medina Quiroga and Leonardo A. Franco informed the Court that, for reason of force majeure, they will not be able to participate in the deliberation and signing of the present Order.