homes of Maritza Barrios, Juan Barrios, and Orismar Carolina Alzul García and
ensure and effectively implement the conditions necessary for the members of the
Barrios family who have been forced to move to another regions of the country to
return to their homes.
A) Regarding the death of Mr. Juan Jose Barrios and the general situation of
the other beneficiaries
6.
On May 30, 2011, the Commission informed that it received information
according to which on May 28, 2011, Mr. Juan Jose Barrios, a beneficiary of these
measures, was murdered. According to what was reported by the Commission, said
person “was intercepted by two men dressed in black who shot him several times.
Mr. Juan Barrios took several steps and fell in a pond", where his brothers did not
find any vital signs when they found him on Sunday May 29, at 10 a.m.
As
evidence of its arguments, the Commission attached two press releases. It also
alleged that Mr. Juan Barrios “was not only a beneficiary of the protective
measures that the Venezuelan State has not complied with, but he was also
considered a victim of several violations of the American Convention in the Merits
Report No. 11/10”.
7.
In this respect, in its report of June 10, 2011, the State mentioned that "the
[G]overnment Attorney’s Office […] of the Public Prosecutor’s Office […] of the
State of Aragua, under the charge of Guillermo Jose Raven Freites, ordered the
launch of a criminal investigation upon hearing […] that on May 29, 2011, the dead
body of Juan Jose Barrios was found; said office also ordered the conduct of
proceedings in order to shed light on the criminal act and establish the
corresponding criminal responsibility” and determined that “the case was at the
preliminary stage”. In that same report, Venezuela “undertook to take all actions in
order to inform this Court on the progress made in the proceedings and the results
thereof, and that it w[ould] forward an [u]pdated report of the case".
8.
In its brief of June 20, 2011, the representatives noted that, apart from the
fact that the Public Prosecutor’s Office launched the investigations related to the
recent death of Mr. Juan Barrios, the family does not have additional information.
They argued that “since it was a violent death, it is up to the State to conduct an
ex officio investigation into those facts, regardless of the proceedings of the
aggrieved next-of-kin”. Moreover, they deemed that Venezuela “must promptly
inform the Court on the proceedings resulting from this investigation".
9.
In addition, the representatives stated that “the Scientific Investigations
Department is still working on the case of the extra-legal execution of Wilmer
Flores […] and no significant progress was made; therefore, Mr. Luis Aguilera, on
many occasions, has called the attention of the Prosecutor's Office [...] in order to
prevent this case from being filed”. The representatives also noted that "as usual in
the Venezuelan State, each time the bodies of the Inter-American system hand
down an opinion on the case [...] the governmental actions are resumed, as in the
example of the National Guard and the usual occasional visits to the residence of
Mrs. Eloisa Barrios". To this end, the representatives indicated that “the patrolling
rounds were resumed on June 13 when two officials of that military body appeared,
approximately at ten in the morning, at the residence of Mrs. Eloisa Barrios; later
on, on June 17 they came to visit her".
10.
The representatives indicated that “given the manner in which [the
measures] are implemented, the plain measures adopted to guarantee the life and
rights of each one of the members of the Barrios family are still ineffective" and
they recalled that "it is important for the State to understand that the beneficiaries
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