members of the CSOP, who executed Narciso, Luis Alberto, and Rigoberto Barrios with total
impunity.18
30. In addition, they stated that notwithstanding the executions of four members of the Barrios
family and the complaints filed, acts of threats, intimidation, and harassment were extended to
target other family members.19 Among these acts, they alleged that Jorge Antonio (15),
Benito’s son, and Rigoberto (15) were illegally arrested by two police officers on March 3,
2004, and later found on the road to the Guárico River. They alleged the police forced
Rigoberto to kneel and fired several shots near his left ear, first with a pistol and then with a
submachine gun, and that they kicked him several times in the chest, legs, and face, leaving
him unconscious. They stated that Jorge Antonio, whom the police had handcuffed, was
obliged to witness the acts, was kicked, and was told that Rigoberto was dead. They alleged
the boys were taken to the Barbacoa police station, and there Rigoberto was kicked and
punched by seven police officers.20 They indicated that three of these officers then tortured
the minors, beating them on the arms and back with a metal tube and cutting Rigoberto’s
scalp with a knife. They alleged that the boys were released at 6:00 a.m. the next day, and
that during their detention they were held incommunicado and their parents were not told of
their arrest.21
31. They alleged that the minor Néstor Caudi Barrios was threatened during the hearing held
on April 21, 2004, in the framework of a judicial investigation into the execution of Narciso
Barrios, and on December 6, 2004, by two police who told him that “all his family members
had been killed.” They added that Néstor Caudi Barrios was arrested illegally and held
incommunicado for one day in a cell of the Guanayen police station.22
32. They indicated that on June 19, 2004, Barrios family members were intercepted by a patrol
of two police officers who forced Gustavo Ravelo, husband of Luisa del Carmen Barrios, and his
father, Jesús Ravelo, to lie face down on the ground and kicked them in the face, legs, and
ribs. They stated that when Luisa del Carmen asked the police to stop the beating, reminding
them that the men were beneficiaries of provisional measures, the police insulted her and fired
near her, threatening to lock her up so police could beat her in jail.23 The petitioners indicated
that the family members were all taken to the Barbacoa police station and released about 2:00
a.m. the next day, except for Oscar and Jorge Antonio Barrios, who continued to be detained
until June 21, 2004.24
33. They stated that these acts of threats and harassment forced most of the family to leave
the village of Guanayen for fear of suffering irreparable damage to their life and physical
integrity, despite being beneficiaries of provisional measures ordered by the Inter-American
Court.25 In this regard they stated that Justina Barrios, the matriarch of the family, was forced
to leave Guanayen in December 2003, following the extrajudicial execution of Narciso. In
addition, Pablo Julián Solórzano Barrios and Elvira Barrios and her family26 had to leave in
18 Petitioners’ communication received on September 19, 2007, p. 5.
19 They said that threats have continued against: Roni, Ronier, Arianna Nazareth, Oriana Zabaret, Wilmer José,
Genesys Andreina, Victor Tomás, Geilin Alexandra, Elvira, Darelvis, Elvis Sarais, Cirilo Robert, Lorena, Eloisa, Inés,
Beatríz, Oscar, Jorge, Caudi and Juan Barrios, Víctor and Beatriz Cabrera Barrios, Luimari and Luiseidy Guzmán
Barrios, Yelitza Lugo Pelaez, Carolina García, Pablo Solórzano and Orismar Carolina Alzul García. Petitioners’
communication received on September 19, 2007, p. 7.
20 They said that these officers included Inspector Wilmer Bravo. Petitioners’ communication received on September
19, 2007, p. 7.
21 Petitioners’ communication received on September 19, 2007, pp. 7 and 8.
22 Petitioners’ communication received on September 19, 2007, p. 7.
23 Petitioners’ communication received on September 19, 2007, p. 8.
24 They said that before Jesús Ravelo left the police station, Officer Oswaldo Blanco threatened that if he saw him
again in the town “he would beat him until he remembered the day he was born.” Petitioners’ communication received
on September 19, 2007, p. 8.
25 Petitioners’ communication received on September 19, 2007, p. 7.
26 Elvira Barrios is the mother of Darelvis Carolina, Oscar, Elvis Sarai (14), Cirilo Antonio (10), and Lorena del Valle
Barrios (2). Elvira Barrios returned to Guanayen in June 2005, after she could not find work.
6