convincing explanation of what has happened to individuals in its custody and to disprove the allegations concerning its responsibility with valid probative elements. 223 184. Based on the above, the Court will examine whether, in this case, the State’s responsibility has been engaged owing to the failure to prevent, to protect and, as appropriate, to respect. To this end, first it must verify whether, at the time of the events, there was a situation of real and imminent danger to the life of a specific individual or group of individuals, which the authorities were or should have been aware of, and whether they failed to take the necessary measures within their sphere of authority that could reasonably be expected in order to prevent or to avoid that danger. 224 185. Regarding the existence of a situation of real and imminent danger, the Court takes note of a first occasion when, a month and a half before Eduardo Landaeta’s arrest, CSOP agents deprived his brother Igmar Landaeta of his life. In addition, according to statements by their mother (of November 19 and 20, 1996), a month before Igmar Landaeta’s death, the family home had been searched and the family had received threats from agents of the same CSOP who were looking for Eduardo Landaeta 225 (supra paras. 56 and 57). In this regard, María Magdalena Mejías testified before the Technical Unit of the Judicial Police that “agent CJZM were harassing Eduardo, and said that they were going to kill him, because there had been a murder in Sorocaima; that Eduardo was present, and from then on they began to harass him.” 226 186. On a second occasion, as already verified, the unlawful and arbitrary detention of Eduardo Landaeta was executed on December 29, 1996, without respecting judicial guarantees or taking into account his condition as a minor, thus increasing the danger that existed. 187. Regarding the authorities’ awareness of this situation, while Eduardo Landaeta was detained his parents informed the CSOP officials of the acts of harassment described during the first occasion, and also advised them about the dangerous situation he faced, 227 and the State has not contested this. Ignacio Landaeta referred to this danger on several occasions. 223 Cf. Case of Juan Humberto Sánchez v. Honduras, supra, para. 111, and Case of Mendoza et al. v. Argentina, supra, para. 203. 224 Cf. Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia, supra, para. 123, and Case of Luna López v. Honduras, supra, para. 123. 225 During the public hearing before the Court, Ignacio Landaeta stated: “Yes, we did receive threats; during the first week of October 1996, the house where my sons lived was searched without a court order; then, in the third week of October 1996, some agents entered through the roof of the house taking advantage of the fact that no-one was there and, at that moment, María Magdalena, the mother of my sons, arrived when they were leaving the house; she asked them what they were looking for; why they had entered the house in that way; they were looking for Eduardo and she asked why; however, they did not answer but merely told her that when they found him they were going to kill him and, if not, they would kill his brother, Igmar, or otherwise they would kill the other siblings if she wanted to report them; that was how the agents answered María.” Testimony of Ignacio Landaeta during the public hearing before the Inter-American Court on February 6, 2014. In addition, in a brief filed before the Ninth Prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service on August 27, 1997, the Justice and Peace Human Rights Committee of the state Aragua reported the threats received by Maria Magdalena Mejías concerning Eduardo José. Cf. Brief of the Justice and Peace Human Rights Committee of the state of Aragua of August 27, 1997 (annexes to the answering brief, folio 7083). In a statement of April 22, 1997, María Magdalena was asked whether agent CJZM continued to harass Eduardo and she gave more details of the way in which he had climbed onto the roof of her home, and the agents had beaten on the door and had broken windows. She also indicated that ACJG had entered the house. Cf. Testimony of María Magdalena Mejías of April 22, 1997 (annexes to the answering brief, folio 9283). 226 A newspaper article in “El Aragüeño” of January 8, 1998, gives an account of the involvement of police agents in crimes under investigation in the state of Aragua at that time; the same agents who were linked to the death of Eduardo Landaeta’s brother one month before. 227 Cf. Testimony of Ignacio Landaeta Muñoz of February 13, 2004 (annexes to the answering brief, folios 7378 and 7379), and Testimony of María Magdalena Muñoz of February 16, 2004 (annexes to the answering brief, folios 7382 and 7383). It should be noted that, in the report of the incidents, María Magdalena Mejías 48