116. Notwithstanding the foregoing and mindful that the Commission’s considerations are related to the investigation into the facts of the present case, the Court will examine these in light of due process in the aforesaid investigation, in section VI-2 of this Chapter of this Judgment. B. Alleged attribution of State responsibility based on the duty to prevent violations 117. In this case, the argument put forward by the representatives regarding the alleged infringement of the duty to prevent violations is based on the combination of certain elements which, in their view, have been proven in this case, and which would amount to a “structural risk.” One of these elements is the existence of a pattern of systematic violence against human rights defenders. (supra para. 104). 118. In this regard, the representatives referred to the Inter-American Commission’s 2003 Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela, the precautionary measures ordered by the Commission in favor of Colombian refugees in Venezuela, entitled: Manuel de Jesús Pinilla Camacho et al., Newsletters 104 and 116 of PROVEA, and the Annual Report of PROVEA of November 22, 2002. These documents contain a general overview of the situation of refugees and describe the killing of at least three refugees protected by precautionary measures on the one hand, and, on the other, report on the appearance of hired killers with the ensuing increase in murders of “campesino leaders” during the period covered by the report (October 2001- September 2002), mentioning the attacks and killings carried out against them. In addition, they mentioned the 2003 Report of the Ombudsman of Venezuela, which describes the situation of campesino leaders.62 119. The Commission likewise referred to its Report of October 24, 2003 on the human rights situation in Venezuela, which mentioned reports that human rights defenders had suffered different types of attacks and intimidation.63 It also referred to the Report on Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela of December 30, 2009, which stated that "Venezuelan human rights organizations have noted with concern that murders and executions of human rights defenders have been recorded for the first time in Venezuela's democratic history. The Vicariate of Human Rights of Caracas has documented six cases of 62 Ombudsman of Venezuela. Annual Report 2003: Human Rights in Venezuela. Caracas, 2004. In said report the Ombudsman of Venezuela expresses the view that a “pattern [of] attacks [exists] directed at agrarian leaders, political activists and human rights defenders”, but clarifies that “[d]espite the fact that during 2003 the murders of two human rights activists were particularly noteworthy, the sector most affected by this practice continued to be the campesinos” (File of attachments to the brief of pleadings and motions, Volume II, Annex 85, page 2197). 63 IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela. Chapter II. B. Situation of human rights defenders. OAS/Ser.L/V/II.118. Doc 4 rev. 1. October 24, 2003 (File of attachments to the Merits Report, Annex 10, pages 133-142). As to the nature of these attacks against human rights, it noted that these had developed from different perspectives. According to this report “some defenders have been victims of smear campaigns by people who hold public office.” It noted that acts of harassment against defenders “sometimes escalate into physical attacks on defenders", and that there were various “mechanisms of intimidation” such as “threats and visits by unidentified persons near the premises where the defenders do their work.” In a case against an NGO, it said that such threats had occurred "[c]uriously [...] after her work with refugees." Specifically, it said that they had reported the following cases: the murder of Jorge Nieves, human rights activist, which occurred on April 26, 2003 in Guaseadito, Apure; an attack on Estrella Castellanos, leader of the Civil Association of Women for Freedom, who was abducted on September 30, of the same year and later abandoned; the death of the leader Luis Alberto Alcalá, media and propaganda coordinator of the Civil Defenders Association of the New Republic, on September 25, 2002; and, as previously mentioned, the case of peasant leader, Douglas Armando García and his neighbor, Carlos Parra. The Report also mentioned the death of Joe Castillo. 29