A/HRC/45/CRP.11
that they had been treated well, before being transferred from El Café to the Alfarería Bell
military base, “as a backup in case something happened”.2120
1194. The FANB later told relatives that once the detainees’ criminal records had been
confirmed, they were to be released from El Café command base. The FANB claimed that
the men had been intercepted by members of a rival criminal gang and had been killed. 2121
Military records collected by the Public Prosecutor’s Office during the technical inspection
at El Café military base falsely indicated that the detainees were released between the 16 and
17 October 2016.2122
1195. On 18 October 2016, the Interior Minister reported that the operation had successfully
dismantled a gang (led by “El Anthony”) engaged in kidnapping and extortion.2123 He also
said that armed forces had taken control of a private home that had been used for kidnapping
operations.2124 The Minister said that five people had been killed in Barlovento.2125
Discovery of Mass Graves
1196. On 27 October 2016, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Miranda received a complaint
filed by a detainee’s mother regarding the disappearance of 12 people in El Café. 2126 The
Sixty-Second Prosecutor’s Office was assigned to the case. It carried out several inspections,
including at the base in El Café (1 and 11 November);2127 Fort Guaicamacuare (4
November);2128 the CONAS command in Caucagua and at the Higuerote airport (16 to 22
November).2129 It also seized two official vehicles at the El Café base. 2130 The Public
Prosecutor’s Office requested that the FANB hand over certified copies of the names of
detainees and a list of military personnel deployed to the area. 2131
1197. During investigations, the Public Prosecutor’s Office identified a witness who
provided consistent information on the location of the victims’ graves. On 25 November
2016, two bodies, of Kendri Javier González Utrera and Carlos Gabriel Marchena Silva, were
found in a grave in La Maturera sector of Brión municipality, in an old sandpit on the edge
of the national road that leads from Caucagua to Higuerote.2132
1198. On 26 November 2016, ten bodies were found in a mass grave in a wooded area in
the Guatopo National Park, Aragüita sector, near the Montaña road that connects Caucagua
and Aragüita.2133
2120
2121
2122
2123
2124
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129
2130
2131
2132
2133
Document C4FF07 on file with the Mission.
Mission Interview C4FF09 in May 2020.
Document C4FF09 on file with the Mission.
YouTube Video, Multimedio VTV, Miranda: inmueble usado para secuestro será puesto de
commando, minute 0:47, 18 October 2016, video on file with the Mission; Así tenían a los
secuestrados en Barlovento, según Néstor Reverol (Fotos+Video), 20 October 2016, article on file
with the Mission.
Ibid., minute 0:10.
Ibid., minute 1:04.
Venevisión News, Entrevista Venevisión: Luisa Ortega Díaz, Fiscal General de la República, 30
November 2016, minute 2:44, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm3NWIJULQM.
Public Prosecutor’s Office, Barlovento: informe sobre víctimas y hechos ocurridos en Barlovento:
masacre a 12 personas, February 2017, p. 12, available at: https://lortegadiaz.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/12/barlovento-ultima-version4-16-05-2017.pdf
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Document C4FF09 on file with the Mission.
RunRun.es, Cronología | Los Muertos de Barlovento, 27 November 2016, available at:
https://runrun.es/investigacion/288543/cronologia-los-muertos-de-barlovento-o-como-una-olptermino-en-masacre/.
Public Prosecutor’s Office, Barlovento: informe sobre víctimas y hechos ocurridos en Barlovento:
masacre a 12 personas, February 2017, p. 12, available at: https://lortegadiaz.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/12/barlovento-ultima-version4-16-05-2017.pdf. RunRun.es, Cronología | Los
Muertos de Barlovento, 27 November 2016, available at:
https://runrun.es/investigacion/288543/cronologia-los-muertos-de-barlovento-o-como-una-olptermino-en-masacre/.
235
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