members of the family remain. In addition, it emphasized that this context has caused them to live “in a permanent state of distress, fear and anxiety in the face of the possibility that […] they may be the next target of violence”; and this has had effects on their usual daily activities and their general life project, because many members of the family have spent the last few years seeking protection and justice, and others have even had to make personal and family decisions to protect their own safety and that of their children. 297. The representatives stated that “the suffering of the [Barrios] family is immeasurable,” because the violation of the right to integrity of the next of kin was perpetrated not only in relation to the effects on the members of the family as a whole but, in some cases, they have been victimized twice, “by having suffered direct effects, in addition to the pain that the loss of a family member may have caused them.” 298. Regarding the right to personal integrity of the next of kin of the victims who lost their life, the representatives indicated that the impact caused by the deaths, the manner and the violence of the executions, and the impunity in the investigations “have severely affected all the next of kin, but especially the mothers, [wives] and sisters of the victims who were executed,” who had to assume new roles and identities within the family group, or decided to separate from it, experiencing pain and mental scars of all kinds. In addition, they added that, as a result of the executions, “the absence of the father figure and the brutal way in which the Barrios siblings were murdered caused great suffering to [their] children,” who have experienced problems in their daily and academic life. Consequently, the representatives asked the Court to declare the violation of Article 5 of the Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, regarding all the “immediate family (mothers, fathers, children and companions)” of the victims who were executed “owing to the loss of a loved one in the conditions of extreme violence that characterize this case.” 299. In connection with the violation of the personal integrity of the Barrios family as a whole, the representatives indicated that this is due to: the actions they have taken in their search for justice and to combat impunity, without obtaining any response from the State authorities; the threats, harassment and intimidation used against them to prevent them from continuing their search for justice, and the “permanent anxiety and insecurity” in which the members have lived. This has caused many of them to leave the village where they lived and to move to other places “to protect their lives and integrity, completely rupturing the harmony and stability of the family.” This has been “the most difficult aspect to overcome, [because] it forced [two generations] to change their life project, to move away from their land, to abandon their work […] and their schools.” All the foregoing “entails the international responsibility of the State […], which gives rise to an evident violation of Article 5 of the Convention” to the detriment of all the members of the Barrios family. 300. The State did not present arguments on the violation of the right to personal integrity of the next of kin of the victims or on the effects on the Barrios family as to whole. However, on several occasions, Venezuela referred to the pending legal cases involving the Barrios family in which, it acknowledged, “there have been judicial delays,” and to compliance with the measures of protection ordered by the State and the Inter-American Court for some of the members of the family. At the public hearing, the State asserted that “it is clear […] that the Barrios family has suffered greatly because of what happened.” B. Considerations of the Court 94