7
related to the facts which gave rise to these provisional measures would correspond to
the analysis of the merits of the case by the Inter-American Commission (supra Having
Seen paragraph No. 2).
*
*
*
15.
That regarding Mr. Leonel Rivero-Rodríguez and his family, the representatives
have informed on the pursuits, the threats made over the telephone and the murder of
two of their former bodyguards, among other facts.
16.
That at the public hearing the State argued on the situation of this beneficiary,
and it affirmed the following: i) with regard to the death of two of his former
bodyguards: they are events without any causal relationship whatsoever with the
measures ordered in favor of Mr. Rivero Rodríguez, as one of them took place while his
bodyguard was off duty and the other occurred nine months after that person had
ceased to act as an escort for the beneficiary; ii) with regard to the threats made over
the telephone: they were made by two minors; iii) with regard to the running over: it
took place within the dwelling unit where Mr. Rivero-Rodríguez used to live; it was the
responsibility of one of his neighbors, about whom the authorities determined as having
consumed alcohol and it was a car accident in which there were no serious injuries; iv)
with regard to the pursuit that allegedly took place in 2006: it was not denounced by
the beneficiary; and v) with regard to the alleged entry and search and damage to
property: the investigations started in 2000, that is, a year before the ordering of
provisional measures in his favor, thus being evident that they have no relation
whatsoever with the case under proceedings before the Inter-American Court. The
State further pointed out that the beneficiary moved and that he did not report so to
the authorities, residing for almost a year in an unknown domicile, thus making it
impossible to exercise the measures ordered in his favor, and that in any case his
safety does not seem to have been affected during that period.
17.
That at the public hearing, the representatives and Mr. Rivero-Rodríguez
presented their observations to the allegations of the State and, among other
arguments, they referred to: i) the lack of investigation of the facts: a) with regard to
the argument by the State in the sense that the anonymous calls were made by
children, the representatives read part of a forensic opinion which sets forth that the
possibility that the voice belongs to a minor is rather low; and b) with regard to the
investigation of other telephone calls, they read an extract of a decision in which it was
stated that certain investigation measures shall be adopted and once they are carried
out, “the State shall repeat the proposal for non-exercise of the criminal action”, that
is, the criterion for not exercising the criminal action was taken in advance, without
waiting for the result of said measures. Additionally, they referred to the other facts
mentioned by the State, expressing the following: ii) regarding the pursuit, they
affirmed that it was denounced; that the Public Prosecutor’s Office served notice upon
the Republic’s Attorney General and the latter failed to investigate the facts; iii)
regarding the murder of his two bodyguards: in one case, it occurred hours before
beginning to work, and in the other, it was the case of the bodyguard who elaborated
the report on the pursuit suffered by the beneficiary; and iv) regarding the change of