Court of San Cristóbal, inasmuch as it is part of the jurisdiction where the events of the alleged crimes occurred.92 Investigation conducted by the Human Rights Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tachira and the January 16, 1999 Report issued by it 87. On May 19, 1998, the petitioners requested the Chairman of the Standing Human Rights Committee (hereinafter “the Standing Committee”) of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tachira, to intervene in the elucidation of the facts pertaining to the death of their son.93 On May 21 of that year, the Legislative Assembly of Táchira authorized the Standing Committee to open an investigation. 88. The Standing Committee conducted several visits, interviews and sent communications and requests to different agencies and military authorities.94 On January 16, 1999, the Standing Committee submitted to the legislative body of the State of Tachira a report on the results of its investigation, asserting that it had been “impossible to conduct” thoroughly because of the “overtly indolent attitude and lack of collaboration” by the military authorities, who “refused to provide the necessary information and allow access to its members at the facilities of the Rural Commandos of the National Guard in Caño Negro, where the events had taken place.95 89. The report mentions, in particular, “obstruction” and “outright refusal” by the then Minister of Defense to cooperate with the Standing Committee’s investigation96 and the “obstructionist attitude” of the Chief of the Department of military defendants of the prison facility Centro Penitenciario de Occidente, Lieutenant Coronel (Army) Valmore Núñez, who prevented the Standing Committee from interviewing National Guardsman Jean Carlos Malpica on June 23, 1998.97 These incidents were also denounced by the Standing Committee itself to the Commander of the Garrison of the State of Tachira and to the Minister of Defense, though no response was provided by either of these officials.98 92Annex 49. Decision of the Court Martial of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela of August 22, 2001. Annex K to petitioners’ submission received February 25, 2002. 93Annex 66. Request filed with the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Legislative Assembly of Táchira, Germán F. Contreras, of May 19, 1998. Annex to original petition of March 15, 2000. 94Actions taken by the Standing Committee include: 1) On-site visits to the ESGUARNAC of Cordero and interviewing its Director Coronel (NG) José Rafael Villamizar, to Regional Command Post No. 1 (CORE 1) and interviewing its Commander, Brigadier General (NG) José Rafael Rosales Mendoza; to the Office of the Fourth Office of the Prosecutor of the Ministry of Public Prosecution, Hernán Roa Contreras; to the penitentiary facilities Centro Penitenciario de Occidente (Santa Ana del Tachira Jail) and interviewing Lieutenant Coronel Valmore Núñez and Jean Carlos Malpica Calzadilla; 2) Communications addressed to the Commander of Regional Command Post No. 1, to the Director of the ESGUARNAC of Cordero; on at least three occasions, the Minister of Defense, Vice Admiral Tito Manlio Rincón Bravo, the Inspector General of the Armed Forces, General Adolfo León Campos, the Commander General of the National Guard, General Félix Aquiles Loreto, the Director of Military Justice of the Ministry of Defense, the Fourth Prosecutor of the Ministry of Public Prosecution, the Commander of the Military Garrison of the State of Tachira, General Hurtado Sucre; on at least two occasions, the Judge of the Military Court hearing the case, the Commander of Operations Theater No. 1, based in La Fría; and 3) Working meetings, evidence gathering and “diverse actions” with the parents of Johan Alexis. Annex 8. Report of the Standing Committee on Human Rights of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tachira regarding the death of Johan Alexis Ortiz Hernández, January 16, 1999. Annex to original petition of March 15, 2000. 95The report of the Standing Committee contains as annexes the communications received from the different military authorities by the Standing Committee in response to the requests made in the course of the investigation. 96According to communication No. 6122 of September 22, 1998, from the Ministry of Defense, stating that because the case was in the “preliminary investigation stage,” it could not “agree to providing the collaboration requested […] in order to not hamper in any way the proper conduct of the judicial proceeding in this case with full autonomy by the military jurisdiction.” Annex to the Report of the Standing Commission on Human Rights of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tachira regarding the death of Johan Alexis Ortiz Hernández, January 16, 1999. Finding I. Annex to original petition of March 15, 2000. 97The report notes that the interview was successfully conducted eight days later at the Command Post of the National Guard. 98Annex 67. Communication of June 25, 1998, addressed to the Ministry of Defense by the Chairman of the Standing Committee. Annex to the Report of the Standing Human Rights Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tachira on the death of Johan Alexis Ortiz Hernández, of January 16, 1999. Annex to original petition of March 15, 2000.