33 116. Furthermore, the Court has referred to the right of the next of kin of the alleged victims to know what happened and who was responsible for the facts. In this regard, the Court has also indicated that it can be inferred from Article 8 of the Convention that the victims of human rights violations, or their next of kin, should have wide-ranging possibilities of being heard and acting in the respective proceedings to clarify the facts and punish those responsible, and to seek due reparation.103 In this regard, the Court has indicated that, in cases of extrajudicial execution, the rights affected correspond to the deceased victim’s next of kin, who are the interested party in seeking justice and to whom the State must provide effective remedies to ensure access to justice, the investigation and eventual punishment of those responsible, if applicable, and comprehensive reparation of the consequences of the violations.104 117. Consequently, pursuant to the Court’s case law, the victims’ next of kin have the right, and the States the obligation, to ensure that what happened to the victims is investigated effectively by the State; that proceedings are filed against those presumably responsible for the unlawful acts; that, if applicable, the latter receive the pertinent punishment, and that the damage suffered by the said next of kin is repaired.105 118. The Court has also indicated that the obligation to investigate and the corresponding right of the next of kin are not only a result of the treaty-based norms of international law that are binding for the States Party, but also arise from domestic laws that indicate the obligation to investigate, ex officio, certain unlawful conducts, and the norms that allow the victims or their next of kin to report offenses or file complaints, evidence or petitions or any other measure in order to play a procedural role in the criminal investigation to establish the truth of the facts.106 119. The Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure, in force at the time of the facts, established: (i) in article 5, that “in crimes subject to public [criminal] actions, the police investigation shall be initiated: I. Ex officio; II. At the request […] of the victim or of the person empowered to represent him”;107 (ii) in article 14, that “the victim, or his legal representative, and the accused may request any measure, and the authority shall decide whether it shall be implemented”;108 and (iii) in article 27, that “any citizen may request the Summary Executions, other measures may be necessary, depending on the circumstances of the case, such as: “the families of the deceased and their legal representatives shall be informed of, and have access to, any hearing and to all information relevant to the investigation, and shall be entitled to present evidence,” and to a “report, within a reasonable period of time,” on the procedures and conclusions of the investigations, etc. Cf. United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extralegal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, Doc. E/ST/CSDHA/.12 (1991). 103 Cf. The “Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of November 19, 1999. Series C No. 63, para. 227; Case of García Prieto, supra note 59, para. 102, and Serrano Cruz Sisters v. El Salvador. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of March 1, 2005. Series C No. 120, para. 63 104 Cf. Case of Valle Jaramillo, supra note 95, para. 170, and Case of Kawas Fernández, supra note 14, para. 120. 105 Cf. Durand and Ugarte v. Peru. Merits. Judgment of August 16, 2000. Series C No. 68, para. 130; Case of Ticona Estrada et al., supra note 98, para. 81, and Case of Heliodoro Portugal, supra note 13, para. 146. 106 Cf. Case of García Prieto et al., supra note 59, para. 104; Case of Kawas Fernández, supra note 14, para. 77, and Case of Valle Jaramillo et al., supra note 95, para. 99. 107 Code of Criminal Procedure (File of attachments to the answer to the application, sole tome, attachment 11, folio 2339). Art. 5. In criminal actions, the Police Investigation shall be initiated: I. Ex officio; II. At the request of the judicial authority or of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, or at the request of the victim or whosoever represents the latter […]. 108 Code of Criminal Procedure, supra note 107, folio 2340.