13 order by the Court on November 30, 2005 (supra para. 23). The statements and the Court's assessment thereof are summarized as follows: 1. Statement submitted by the representatives: a) Plácido Medeiros de Souza, Chief of the Civil Police, State of Rio Grande do Norte In 1993, Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho contacted the witness to request assistance for his investigation into homicides allegedly committed by a group of civil police; as police chief, the witness had access to files containing information on this group's victims. He looked into the matter and verified the claims of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, finding that police investigations had not been undertaken in most of the homicide cases he cited. The witness began immediately to cooperate with the work of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho. Through investigations conducted by Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, the Office of the Public Prosecutor obtained enough information to file formal charges against certain civil police officers -- members of a group that killed people hailing from disadvantaged social classes - who worked in the office of then chief of police and current Deputy Secretary of Public Security and Social Protection of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros. This group of police officers, known as the “golden boys,” was made up of Jorge Luiz Fernandes, known as “Jorge Abafador” (Jorge the smotherer), Admílson Fernandes, Ranulfo Alves and Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros Júnior, the latter being the son of Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros. Of these people, only “Jorge Abafador” is in custody. The members of the group of “golden boys” were under suspicion for the murder of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho. When investigations began, clues pointing to the perpetrators of the homicide were ignored. Two or three weeks following the death of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, the witness, in the exercise of his duties as supervising police chief, visited the chief precinct office of the Fire Department of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (hereinafter, the “Fire Department” or “the Precinct Office”), where “Jorge Abafador” was in custody, but failed to find him. He was shown a logbook indicating that the prisoner had left the Precinct Office on October 18, 1996, two days prior to the death of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho. Other leaves were also recorded, despite the absence of any judicial warrants in this regard. Six photographs were taken of the pages containing records of the departure and return of “Jorge Abafador” to the Precinct Office before and after the death of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, but they were never added to the case file of the police investigation. When he gave his statement at trial, it was found that the photographs were missing. The presiding judge in the criminal trial for the death of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho requested that the logbook be sent for examination; at that time, according to the witness, a different book was submitted to the court, containing records other than those he had seen before. Nor did the case file of the police investigation opened on October 20, 1996 contain police sketches developed from descriptions by eyewitnesses to the murder. Witnesses to the death of Antônio Lopes, known as Carla, who conducted private investigations to shed light on circumstances surrounding the death of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, received threats and declined to offer statements to the police. The perpetrators of the murder of Antônio Lopes, like those of Gilson Nogueira de Carvalho, are in impunity. As a result of the witness's unremitting fight against crimes committed by the police, he has experienced professional harassment by Maurílio Pinto de Medeiros, who continues to hold