while there’s still time or pay (sic) the consequences.” On the second call to his home,
another male voice warned his younger brother: “Tell your brother to stop issuing
statements or the same thing will happen to him as happened to your brother.”
On April 9, 2002, Mr. Luís Uzcátegui left work and at the entrance of his home he noticed
the presence of 5 FSPF officials. Consequently, he decided not to enter his home and
passed by. Later, he received a call from his secretary, who told him: “Luís, the landlady
of the residence where you live called to warn you that they are waiting for you, that
they are looking for you, and not to arrest you, but to kill you.” The officials searched Mr.
Uzcátegui’s room, without any court order, in search of an alleged weapon.
On April 13, 2002, FSPF officials in civilian clothes searched Mr. Uzcátegui’s family home,
without a court order, in search of Mr. Luís Uzcátegui. They also damaged property.
On September 6, 2002, as he was leaving a local store, Mr. Luís Uzcátegui was
intercepted by 2 uniformed FSPF officials who were in a patrol car. After requesting Mr.
Luís Uzcátegui for identification, they told him they were going to detain him. Mr.
Uzcátegui pulled out a copy of the Constitution he carried in his pocket and showed them
he could not be detained without a court order. Consequently, one of the officials yanked
the Constitution from him and threw it on the ground, proceeding to handcuff him and
put him in the patrol car. Afterwards, Mr. Uzcátegui was abandoned in an unpopulated
sector where they slapped him and said: “If you open your mouth, you already know
what will happen to you.”
On June 2, 2003, Mr. Luís Uzcátegui received an anonymous note written with letters cut
out from newspapers, with the following text: “You’re a dead man Uzcátegui we have
warned you stop denouncing the commander, you have the sign of death on your
forehead.”
On March 14, 2003, four threatening phone calls were received at the home of Mr. Luís
Uzcátegui’s family. 2
On February 29, 2004, Mr. Luís Uzcátegui was illegally detained by alleged officials from
the Department of Intelligence Security and Prevention (DISIP), who irregularly entered
his home at two in the morning. The aggressors, who were heavily armed and had their
faces concealed by ski masks, warned him “to turn himself in.” Mr. Uzcátegui, in order to
keep them from harming his sister, “turned himself in” and subsequently was beaten and
threatened with expressions like: “You’re not going to save yourself from this” and “Let’s
kill this bastard right now.” On said occasion, he was transferred in a vehicle to an
unknown place where he was tortured, threatened with death, and remained detained for
17 days. These facts were described by the regional newspaper “Nuevo Día” on March
26, 2004.
Afterwards, due to the lack of protection by the State, Mr. Luís Uzcátegui decided to
move to Anzoátegui State where his father resides, with the purpose of trying to start a
new life in this region. Consequently, Mr. Uzcátegui had to quit his job and his studies in
Falcón State.
26. With respect to the investigations carried out domestically on these facts, the petitioners
indicated that on December 2, 2002, a “summary investigation” was initiated before the First
Prosecutorial Unit of the Public Ministry of Falcón State (hereinafter “the First Prosecutorial
Unit”), throughout which Mr. Luís Uzcátegui has continued to report the threats, aggression,
and harassment against him.
2 According to the description, the contents of the calls included: “Tell him we’re going to kill him for attacking the
government, that we’re going to find where he hid himself […]. Talk with your relative, the obstacle Luís Uzcátegui.
Tell him to get out of our way or pay the consequences. If he keeps denouncing the Falcón police, we’re going to get
him where it hurts the most […]. Now that you don’t want to give me the location of your relative give him (sic) this
message: We’re going to find where he’s hid himself and we’re going to kill him. His days are numbered […]. I’m going
to give you a message to get to him: Tell him his days are numbered, that no one will be able to save him from the
hell that awaits him.”
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