B.1. The attack on the Prosegur truck 51. On December 14, 2001, at around 8:15 a.m., an organized group attacked a white Combi van, license plate 916-YEP belonging to the private security company, Prosegur, in Avenue Kantutani in La Paz. Seven people were traveling in the van: a driver, three police officers, and three bank tellers. During the robbery, as a result of a shoot-out with high-caliber weapons, three people died: the driver, a police officer and a bank teller. 52. During the attack, one of the assailants, Elacio Peña Córdova, was wounded in the left arm, while Genaro Ahuacho Luna and Patricia Gallardo Ardúz were responsible for blocking the traffic with a white truck. The action was supervised by Blas Valencia Campos, former police coronel, Norma Lupe Alarcón de Valencia, Mercedes Valencia Chuquimia, Freddy Cáceres Castro, former police officer, and Raúl Oswaldo Lulleman Antezana, who were nearby.28 B.2. The raids 53. On the same day as the robbery, the Eight Criminal Investigation Court issued resolution No. 180/2001 ordering the search, with confiscation powers, of the properties located at No. 55 Virgen de Rosario Street and No. 120 11th Street, in order to “find the perpetrators and proceed to the arrest of the suspects, seize weapons, military or police clothing, documentation related to the events, and also objects or instruments related to the said crimes.”29 The resolution was expanded on December 17, 2001, to include another six properties,30 expressly authorizing the authorities to conduct the raids during night hours, overtime hours and public holidays, based on article 118 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.31 54. In the early morning hours of December 18, 2001 – four days after the attack – numerous armed state agents raided six properties as part of the operation relating to the robbery involving the Prosegur truck.32 The raids of each of the properties are described below. According to the statements of the alleged victims, no court order was shown in any of the raids.33 B.2.1. Search of the house located at No. 2319 Las Rosas Street 28 Cf. Resolution No. 12/2003 issued by the El Alto Second Sentencing Court on May 16, 2003 (evidence file, folios 10510 to 10512). Cf. Resolution No. 180/2001 issued by the Eight Criminal Investigation Court on December 14, 2001 (evidence file, folio 1602). 29 These properties were located in: No. 75 Cívica Avenue, Nos. 2523 and 2525 Presbítero Medina Street, No. 2319 Las Rosas Street, No. 6568-B Plaza Liberal, and No. 600 Zarzuela Street. 30 31 Cf. Resolution No. 186/2001 issued by the Eight Criminal Investigation Court on December 17, 2001 (evidence file, folios 1604 and 1605). There is no information in the case file regarding how many police officers took part in the operation. According to the statement made by Eladio Cruz Añez, “between fifty and seventy police officers” took part in the search of his home (evidence file, folio 12589); in his statement, Víctor Manuel Boggiano Bruzzón indicated that “a large number of police officers” entered his home (evidence file, folio 12604); Alexis Eduardo Valencia testified that “the house was full of police officers dressed in green and others in black; there were a lot of them” (evidence file, folio 12619); Claudia Valencia testified that, during the search, “there were many police officers (countless) who went in and out of all the rooms” (evidence file, folio 12627); Patricia Gallardo indicated that “they entered my home, forcing open the door to the house, many police officers, more than 30, wearing hoods” (evidence file, folio 12719). 32 Cf. Statement by Eladio Cruz Añez, undated (evidence file, folio 12589) and Statement by Blas Valencia Campos, undated (evidence file, folio 12756). In addition, during the oral proceedings, a police officer who took part in the raids indicated: “[o]n Monday [December 18, 2001], we had already located five houses in the early morning hours; I have not seen the warrants; the prosecutor did not inform me personally about the warrants” (statement by A.S. in the oral proceedings before the El Alto Second Sentencing Court, March 11, 2003, evidence file, folio 199). 33 16