143. Regarding actions subsequent to the use of force, the Court has affirmed that,
pursuant to the Basic Principles on the Use of Force, if injuries occur following the use of
force, the necessary medical aid must be facilitated and rendered and relatives or close
friends notified at the earliest possible moment. 184 In addition, a report on the situation
must be prepared for administrative review and judicial control. 185 Similarly, the events
must be investigated in order to determine the level and manner of participation of each
of those who intervened, whether directly or indirectly, so that the corresponding
responsibilities may be established 186 (infra para. 242).
144. The Court has noted that, following the incident in which Igmar Landaeta lost his
life, the agents who shot him transported him to the Outpatient Clinic, taking
approximately 20 minutes, and leaving him in the emergency ward, following which they
withdrew without identifying themselves. According to the statement of the doctor who
received the body of Igmar Landaeta, there were no signs of life (supra para. 64).
145. In this regard, the Court notes that the judgment of the Third Superior Criminal of
November 11, 1997, established that:
“In the opinion of the Superior Court, this constitutes a kind of behavior that it not
in keeping with the regulations and functions of any police agent who participates in
an incident such as the one we are examining, because when an incident in which a
human being loses his life arises, any law enforcement agent should wait – either at
the scene of the incident or, in this case, at the place where the deceased was left –
for the arrival of the auxiliary unit of the courts of the Republic of Venezuela, such
as the Technical Unit of the Judicial Police, to open the investigation to determine
exactly how the events transpired.” 187
146. The Court finds that the actions of the State agents were not in keeping with the
above-mentioned principles of due diligence and humanity that must be observed
following the deployment of force. In particular, neither the autopsy report nor the death
certificate indicate the exact time and/or moment of the death of Igmar Landaeta (infra
para. 232). 188 However, if the second shot would have killed him immediately, as
indicated by expert witness Baraybar, 189 the body should not have been manipulated or
transported from the scene of the crime, because this could have drastically affected the
collection of evidence. If he had required medical aid, the State agents should have
obtained immediate trained ancillary care. If they had transported him alive, they should
have delivered him to the competent medical authorities, identified themselves,
explained what had happened, and prepared a report on the situation, supervised by an
administrative and/or judicial official, and have notified the victim’s family (supra para.
143). All this has not been substantiated in the instant case, so that the State failed to
provide assistance to Igmar Landaeta with due diligence and humanity. In addition, it did
not investigate or penalize the said actions by administrative, disciplinary or judicial
mechanisms.
184
Cf. Case of Nadege Dorzema et al., supra, para. 100, and Basic Principles on the Use of Force and
Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, supra, Principle 5 (c) and (d).
185
Cf. Case of Nadege Dorzema et al., supra, para. 100, and Basic Principles on the Use of Force and
Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, supra, Principle 6, 11 (f), and 22.
186
Cf. Case of Montero Aranguren et al. (Retén de Catia), supra, paras. 79 to 83, and Case of Nadege
Dorzema et al., supra, para. 100. Cf. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement
Officials, supra, Principles No. 6 and 22.
187
Cf. Ruling of the Third Superior Criminal Court of November 11, 1997 (annexes to the answering brief,
folio 9379).
188
Cf. Certified copy of the death certificate of Igmar Landaeta (annexes to the answering brief, folio
9188), and Police record in which agent Idelgar Farrera registered the statement of Dr. Velmar Quintero of
November 17, 1996 (annexes to the answering brief, folio 9111).
189
Cf. Testimony of expert witness José Pablo Baraybar of January 29, 2014 (merits file, folio 833).
38