45 identified by means offorensic fingerprinting, and they are still in the niches; one of them would be that of Jesús Calixto Blanco;40 and 66.9. in August, 1991 the exhumation and identification of mortal remains was paralyzed. On January 22, 1997 the Tenth Trial Court for Criminal Matters and Safeguarding of Public Patrimony, of the Judicial Disrict of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas decided to keep the criminal investigation open until those responsible for the deaths were fully identified.41 In connection with the criminal investigations 66.10. since 1989, investigations began which sought to clarify the facts, both regarding the homicides and the irregular burials, by means of criminal investigations originated by complaints filed before the regular and military criminal courts, by next of kin of the deceased and wounded persons, by nongovernmental groups, or begun on their own initiative in some cases by the bodies in charge of the preliminary investigation;42 66.11. criminal investigations begun regarding the facts of the case were secret and the victims and their next of kin did not have access to them, because they were impeded by procedural provisions in force regarding the secret preliminary investigative stage foreseen in the abolished Code of Criminal Procedure. After entry into force of the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure on July 1, 1999, the secret preliminary investigation stage was eliminated;43 66.12. on May 28, 1999 the Attorney General of the Republic of Venezuela filed a request before the Supreme Court of Justice for this body to hear the criminal investigations that sought to clarify the facts, which had begun more than ten years before and most of which did not proceed beyond the “preliminary investigation stage”, as it was called, which caused an “evident procedural delay,” as no final judgment had been rendered in any case;44 40 Cf. El Caracazo Case, supra note 28, para. 2, subparagraph q; and official letter No. 9700-129963 of September 14, 2000 from the Head of the General Division of Forensic Medicine, Technical Corps of the Judiciary Police, addressed to the agent of the State appointed before the Court (file with evidence on the Caracazo Case, under the title “Evidentiary appendices supplied by the State of Venezuela together with the brief on Reparations. Volume II,” at the Secretariat of the Court). 41 Cf. El Caracazo Case, supra note 28, para. 2, subparagraph o. 42 Cf. El Caracazo Case, supra note 28, para. 2, subparagraph l; and September 23, 1999 order of the Political-Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (file with evidence on El Caracazo Case, under the title “Documents submitted by the Republic of Venezuela on November 10, 1999, at the public hearing on the merits of the instant case. Volume I,” at the Secretariat of the Court). 43 Cf. report by expert witness Jesús María Casal rendered in writing before the Twenty-Ninth Notary Public of Libertador Municipality of the Federal District, filed before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on April 10, 2002 by the representatives of the victims and of the next of kin (file with evidence on El Caracazo Case, under the title “evidence submitted in writing on the testimony and expert witness reports submitted by the representatives of the victims and their next of kin”, at the Secretariat of the Court). 44 Cf. September 23, 1999 order of the Political-Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (file with evidence on El Caracazo Case, under the title “Documents submitted by the