direct responsibility. Consequently, the Commission concluded that the State was responsible for the violation of the obligation to respect and ensure the right to life recognized in Article 4 of the Convention in relation to the obligations established in Articles 19 and 1(1) of this instrument. 151. In relation to the right to humane treatment, the Commission indicated that, based on the autopsy report, it had been demonstrated that, in addition to the internal injuries caused by the bullets, Eduardo Landaeta’s body had other injuries that suggested, prima facie, that the victim had been subjected to torture or other cruel treatment. This possibility entailed a duty of the State to open an investigation ex officio into the possible acts. In addition, the situation of unlawful and arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Eduardo Landaeta, without judicial control, added to the death of his brother, which had taken place “one month” earlier at the hands of agents of the same police corps, the threats he had received previously, and his condition as a child, constituted cruel and inhuman treatment that affected his mental and moral integrity. Hence, the Commission determined that the State failed to respect and ensure the rights recognized in Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the Convention to the detriment of Eduardo Landaeta, in relation to Articles 19 and 1(1) of the same instrument. 152. The representatives agreed with the violations alleged by the Commission. In particular, they specified that the detention of Eduardo Landaeta was unlawful and arbitrary because there had been no arrest warrant issued by a competent judge ordering, with a reasoned justification, the arrest of the minor, and it had not been proved that he was in flagrante delicto; rather, the arrest was merely based on suspicious activities and he was deprived of liberty for the purposes of an “inquiry.” In addition, there was no reasoning given with evidence against him to justify it. The representatives also asserted that the police agents who detained Eduardo Landaeta and took him to the Police Station did not advise his father or mother immediately. They added that Eduardo Landaeta was subjected to severe psychological torture at the time he was transferred by the team of police agents, because he could anticipate his probable fate. Given the lack of evidence to the contrary, it may presumed that the injuries indicated in the autopsy report, such as the detachment of the skin of the right buttock and on both elbows, with the appearance of burns, marks on both wrists and the bruising on the lower lip, were caused by the police agents responsible for his custody. Lastly, the representatives indicated that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the death of Eduardo Landaeta was the consequence of an extrajudicial execution committed by agents of the State. 153. The State referred to the statements corroborating the version of the execution of Eduardo Landaeta by armed and hooded individuals who intercepted the police vehicle. It indicated that the Public Prosecution Service had instituted criminal proceedings against the three police agents in whose custody Eduardo Landaeta was being transferred for the offense of aggravated intentional homicide, in the second degree, and misuse of a weapon. These proceedings ended in an acquittal, which was appealed and, as a result, the Appellate Court had ordered a new oral trial (supra paras. 115 and 116). B. Considerations of the Court 154. The Court noted that, on December 29, 1996, at around 5.10 p.m., Eduardo José Landaeta Mejías, a minor of 17 years of age, was detained by agents of the Public Order and Security Corps (CSOP) of the state of Aragua, and taken to the Police Station of the district of San Carlos, in connection with a supposed inquiry by the Mariño Police Department and, subsequently, to the Central Command Station. Thus, he was detained by police authorities for more than 38 hours and, during a transfer to the CTPJ Mariño Police Department in the custody of police agents, he was deprived of his life. 40