10 b. Non governmental organizations 53. For more than a decade, the organizations of civil society in Venezuela have also denounced the existence of this problem. 54. For example, PROVEA, in its 1999 Annual Report stated: "With regard to the patterns of violations of the right to life present in the actions of the police and security services, executions were again the pattern under which the largest number of victims were reported, with a total of 59 cases. [...] The definition of execution includes the executions where the state agent shoots with the purpose of causing the immediate death of the victim, which is a de facto application of the death penalty. In these cases it is usual - as has already been mentioned - that the official version of events speak of a confrontation and the extensive criminal records of the victims. In the vast majority of cases, the family 13 members deny such confrontations afterwards". 55. In its more recent reports, PROVEA indicated that extrajudicial executions make up the highest number of violations of the right to life in Venezuela. Again, in the 2007-2008 Annual Report, it noted that of the 247 victims of a violation of the right to life, 196 (84.85%) were due to extrajudicial 14 executions. In the 2009 Annual Report it also indicated that the pattern of "executions" makes up more 15 than half of all known deaths as violations of the right to life (135 deaths out of 205, 65.85% in total). 56. Regarding the incidence of this context in the state of Aragua, in its 1997 Annual Report PROVEA indicated that the State of Aragua has been singled out as the state with the highest number of extrajudicial executions committed in Venezuela, with more than 20 complaints in that year. 57. Additionally, the Commission of Human Rights, Justice and Peace of Aragua in its report Balance of the Situation of Human Rights in the State of Aragua between June 1996 and March 2003, indicates that alleging "citizen insecurity", preventative plans have been made aimed at the detection, detention and retention of citizens suspected of criminal behavior. After this they were more thoroughly 16 looked for with the purpose of a killing or a forced disappearance. 58. Specifically, this report indicates that, initially, citizens already identified by subjective characteristics are looked for: "commonly it is aimed at low income groups [...] they detain those allegedly involved without implementing the relevant measures demanded by the officer's function, and they shoot directly at the individuals allegedly caught in flagrante committing a crime. Or, on being detained, they are treated brutally, with blows [...] and in many cases shot at close range in the presence of witnesses. They are taken to the police unit wounded, after which they then turn up murdered in some abandoned 17 area or admitted to a hospital or medical centre with no signs of life." B. The brothers Landaeta Mejías, their family, and complaints of threats 18 59. Igmar Alexander Landaeta Mejías was born on November 26, 1977. The young man, 19 who was 18 years old when he died, worked as a laborer for the company Inversiones S y L C.A. His 13 PROVEA. Available at: http://www.derechos.org.ve/publicaciones/infanual/1996_97/derecho_vida.htm. 14 PROVEA. Available at: http://www.derechos.org.ve/proveaweb/wp-content/uploads/132-vida1.pdf 15 PROVEA. Available at: http://www.derechos.org.ve/proveaweb/wp-content/uploads/20-vida.pdf 16 Balance of the Situation of Human Rights in the State of Aragua between July 1996 and March 2003, prepared by the Commission of Human Rights, Justice and Peace of the State of Aragua 17 Balance of the Situation of Human Rights in the State of Aragua between July 1996 and March 2003, prepared by the Commission of Human Rights, Justice and Peace of the State of Aragua. 18 Appendix 1. Identity card of Igmar Alexander Landaeta Mejías (Appendix 2 to the petitioners’ brief of August 14, 2009).