received from the petitioner, reporting the arrest, torture, and physical mistreatment of the
minor Oscar José Díaz Barrios. On June 3 the Commission received, from the petitioner, an
update on progress with the investigations being carried out into the death of Narciso Barrios.
On August 9, 2004, the Commission received additional information from the petitioner.
7. On August 19, 2004, the IACHR forwarded the relevant parts of the complaint to the State
in compliance with Article 30(2) of the IACHR’s Rules of Procedure, giving it a period of two
months in which to submit its comments.
8. On October 14, 2004, the IACHR received additional information in which the petitioner
alleged there had been procedural delays in the investigations into the death of Narciso Barrios
and claimed that there were problems in the investigation into the murder of Luis Barrios. This
communication was forwarded to the State on November 18, 2004. As of the date of this
report, the Commission has received no reply from the State in connection with the petition.
B.
Precautionary measures
1.
The petitioner reports that:
a) On March 15, 2004, the Senior Prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service in Aragua
State requested protective measures for the Barrios family.2
b) On March 18, 2004, the Ninth Court of Judicial Criminal Oversight of Aragua State
received, from the State’s Higher Prosecutor’s Office, a protective measure sought for
Mrs. Eloisa Barrios and several members of her family. Twelve days later, the court sent
the request for protective measures to the 14th Prosecutor’s Office of the Public
Prosecution Service in Aragua State, which then forwarded the request to the Higher
Prosecutor’s Office for execution.
c) On April 21, 2004, given the failure to implement the aforesaid protective measure,
the petitioner presented the Commission with a request for precautionary measures.3
9. On May 6, 2004, based on the above information, the Commission asked the State for
information about whether the protective measure requested by the Public Prosecution Service
had been implemented and what specific measures had been adopted.
10. On May 18, 2004, the State informed the Commission that Detachment No. 21 of the
National Guard had checked compliance with the aforesaid measures.4
11. Also on May 18, the petitioner informed the Commission than an officer of the National
Guard had gone to Mrs. Eloisa Barrios’s home in the early morning hours and had told her he
was the official charged with enforcing the protective measure issued by the Oversight Court.
The officer said he would come by once a day and also told Mrs. Barrios that he would be
unable to provide her with protection when he did not have permission, when it was raining, or
when his motorcycle was not in good mechanical operating order. In addition, he had been
instructed to provide only Mrs. Eloisa Barrios with protection, and not the rest of her family.
12. On June 22, 2004, the Commission asked the State to adopt precautionary measures to
protect the life and person of Eloisa Barrios and her family; it also requested that it carry out a
thorough investigation of the threats and harassment targeted at the individuals covered by
those measures.
2 State’s communication with the IACHR, May 18, 2004.
3 Complaint lodged with the Senior Prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service in the Aragua State judicial district,
April 21, 2004.
4 State’s communication with the IACHR, May 18, 2004.
2