and the need to avoid irreparable damage. 10 Therefore the Court does not consider it appropriate
to lift the provisional measures granted in favor of Yelitza Lugo Pelaes and Orismar Carolina Alzul.
17. Based on the foregoing and bearing in mind that, according to the information provided, the
measures of protection granted at the domestic level in favor of said beneficiaries ceased on
March 2012 (supra Considering para. 7), the Court requires that the State adopt the measures
necessary to protect their life and personal integrity, and to conduct a comprehensive assessment
of the current risks facing both beneficiaries. Also, the Court requires the State to submit, within
the period established in the operative part of this Order, detailed and complete information on
the implementation of provisional measures in favor of the aforementioned beneficiaries, as well
as the results of the risk assessments conducted on both of them. Likewise, the Court deems it
appropriate that the representatives, in their respective observations, convey to this Court, in a
clear and specific manner, the wishes of Yelitza Lugo Pelaes and Orismar Carolina Alzul to
continue to be protected by these provisional measures.
B) Regarding the request to lift the provisional measures ordered in favor of Nestor Caudi
Barrios and Víctor Daniel Cabrera Barrios
18. The State requested the lifting of the measures issued in favor of Nestor Caudi Barrios, given
that “it [was] clear that the non-compliance with the measures of protection[,] consisting of guard
patrols [,] was due to the fact that this beneficiary left the jurisdiction without notice, and is
currently in [the State of] Miranda.” In this regard, according to the records provided by the
State, during the hearing held on March 7, 2012 it was decided to urge the representative to
inform Nestor Caudi Barrios that “the Measure of Protection agreed by that Court is useless since
he is living outside this jurisdiction.” The State also requested the lifting of the provisional
measures ordered in favor of Edison Alexander Barrios and Víctor Daniel Cabrera Barrios, because
“the measure[s] are nullified due to the imprisonment [of the first]” and the “status of being
accused by the Attorney General’s Office [of the second]”. According to the latest information
provided by the State, on October 8, 2012 the trial against Víctor Daniel Cabrera Barrios was
opened, but then had to be postponed.
19. In relation to Nestor Caudi Barrios, the representatives indicated that “the Orders of the
Court require the State as a whole to provide protection to the beneficiaries of the measures and
are not limited to a specific geographic area as was determined by the domestic court [, and
therefore the Court] should dismiss the request to lift [the measures].” They added that “the
prosecutor’s office, as an organ with national jurisdiction [should have] arranged for measures of
protection in different judicial districts from 2004”. The representatives also referred to the
request to lift the measures supposedly ordered in favor of Edison Alexander Barrios and alleged
that the process followed against him was “yet another sign of the authorities’ intention to create
a police record for members of the Barrios family, something that has been used previously to
justify the executions of some of its members.” Finally, in relation to Víctor Daniel Cabrera
Barrios, the representatives alleged that his procedural situation “is not a valid justification for
lifting the provisional measures” and referred to alleged irregularities in the processing and trial of
this beneficiary. Furthermore, they reported that he was detained at the Aragua Penitentiary from
December 2011 until February 2012, when he was granted an alternative measure to
imprisonment.
20.
In addition to its general considerations concerning the State’s requests to lift the measures
(supra Considering para. 11), the Commission indicated that a “situation of detention […] cannot
10
Cf. Matter of Liliana Ortega et al. Provisional Measures regarding Venezuela. Order of the Court of March 1, 2005,
Considering para. 11, and Case of Gutiérrez Soler. Provisional Measures regarding Colombia. Order of the Court of October
23, 2012, Considering para. 15.
7