farm in the La Oficina sector, bordering the Las Casitas sector, [and b]efore he reached his destination, he found the lifeless body of his brother, Roni, on the ground, with at least four wounds to his head produced by a sharp instrument.” According to officials from the Investigations Unit, “[t]he said injuries were possibly caused by an axe.” According to his next of kin, the corpse of Roni Barrios “was wearing different clothes from those he wore when he left his mother,” and his aunt’s house “revealed no signs of violence, traces of blood or damage to the outer doors”; furthermore, “there were scratches on the back of the body and bruising on the face, which allows it to be supposed that he was ill-treated and that his body was dragged to the place where it was abandoned.” On May 16, “a group from the Villa de Cura, Aragua state, branch of the Scientific, Criminal and Criminalistics Unit arrived to remove the body,” which was taken to the morgue in order to perform the required autopsy. The representatives underscored that Roni David Barrios “had witnessed the death of […] his father,” Luis Alberto Barrios, “who was also murdered in a violent manner,” as well as “the search of, and the setting fire to, his home in 2004. In addition, they indicated that “as this regrettable event reveals,” the measures ordered by the Court in the Order of February 13, 2013, “were not reactivated and, consequently, were not effective to protect the members of the Barrios family who remain in Guanayén.” 10. The State advised that, “on May 15, 2013, in Aragua state, specifically in the district known as Oficina, Paso de Cura sector, […] the body of the adolescent [Roni David Barrios Alzul] was found with injuries produced by a sharp instrument, as reported in the required autopsy performed by the forensic physicians called upon for this purpose.” In addition, it indicated that “the Public Prosecution Service appointed the sixteenth prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service of Aragua state specialized in violence suffered by children and adolescents, […] who is currently taking all the necessary investigative measures to be able to determine the identity of the perpetrators of these facts and whether they belong to the ranks of any security and public order agency of the Venezuelan State.” In addition, it alleged that “Roni David Barrios Alzul […] was inside his home and was six years old [when his father died], so that it is false that, now, his death should be considered a reprisal in order to avoid the trial of those who took part in the facts of his father’s death.” Lastly, the State underlined that Roni Barrios Alzul’s mother had renounced the measures of protection granted at the domestic level, which covered her family group, and had not attended the hearing on implementation of the said measures held on May 13, 2013. Considerations of the Court 11. The Court notes with concern that the death of Roni Barrios Alzul, who was 17 years old, constitutes the tenth murder of a member of the Barrios family, seven of which have taken place while these provisional measures have been in force and one while the preventive measures granted by the Inter-American Commission were in force: Luis Alberto Barrios, on September 20, 2004; Rigoberto Barrios, between January 19 and 20, 2005; Oscar Barrios, on November 29, 2009; Wilmer José Flores Barrios, on September 1, 2010; Juan José Barrios, on May 28, 2011, Víctor Tomás Navarro Barrios, on June 9, 2012, Jorge Antonio Barrios, on December 15, 2012, and recently Roni Barrios Alzul, on May 15, 2013.11 11 In the Judgment handed down by the Court in this case it was established that Benito Antonio Barrios and Narciso Barrios had been deprived of their life by State agents in 1998 and 2003, respectively, and this was not contested by the State. Consequently, the Court determined the State’s international responsibility for the violation of the right to life contained in Article 4(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of Benito Antonio Barrios and Narciso Barrios. Furthermore, the Court established that “[e]ven though there [wa]s still no official version of the facts, the evidence in the case file allow[ed] the Court to conclude that police officials took part in the attack that resulted in the death of Rigoberto Barrios, and that the victim underwent suffering from the moment of the attempt on his life until his death as a result of the gunshots he received and of the consequent fear of dying or suffering permanent injuries.” Therefore, the Court determined that Venezuela had violated Articles 4(1) and 5(1), in relation to Article 1(1) of the Convention, to the detriment of Rigoberto Barrios. Cf. 5