A/HRC/45/CRP.11
Detentions
1179. Between 13 and 18 October 2016, FANB forces detained 35 men in Barlovento,2084
arresting people inside homes, from queues to buy food and public buses. 2085 Those arrested
were all men. They were not presented in court for an initial court appearance. Twelve were
later found dead in two different mass graves. The whereabouts of five were still unknown
at the time of writing.2086
1180. Eight of the detainees were released: four on 21 October; the release date of the other
four is unknown. Seven of the eight released men told family members that they had been
tortured.2087 One managed to escape and appeared seriously injured in the state of
Anzoátegui.2088 The Mission does not have information regarding 9 of the 35 people detained.
1181. The 12 men whose bodies were recovered had been detained between 15 and 18
October at different locations in the Acevedo municipality. According to then Interior
Minister Néstor Reverol Torres, the detentions occurred in Capaya, Yaguapa, El Café,
Cabural and Aramina towns.2089
1182. The detainees came from two seemingly unconnected groups. 2090 One was from El
Café sector, some of whom knew each other, and another group from Aragüita area.2091 Based
on an open sources review, the Mission gathered some information regarding names and
dates of detention of 17 detaintees, who were later killed or disappeared.
Table 6:
Dates of detention of disappeared and deceased victims in Barlovento
Date of detention
Name
Disappeared (X)
Deceased (XX)
13 October 2016
Yulmar Renegifo
X
Wilmer Serrano
X
Andris Bandris
X
Jefferson Suárez
X
Carlos Gabriel Marchena Silva (detained
with three other men released on 18
October)
XX
15 October 2016
2084
2085
2086
2087
2088
2089
2090
2091
Public Prosecutor’s Office, Barlovento: informe sobre víctimas y hechos ocurridos en Barlovento:
masacre a 12 personas, February 2017, p. 11, available at: https://lortegadiaz.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/12/barlovento-ultima-version4-16-05-2017.pdf. In its annual report for the year
2016, the Ombudsman reported that its delegate for the state of Miranda, in the complaint received on
21 October, received information about the alleged enforced disappearance of approximately 32
people. See also Defensoría del Pueblo, Informe anual 2016, p. 56, available at:
http://www.defensoria.gob.ve/images/informes_anuales/INFORME_ANUAL_2016_Final.pdf.
Document C4FF08 on file with the Mission.
Document C4FF08 on file with the Mission.
Document C4FF08 on file with the Mission.
This person appeared alive after a few days in another state. He was shot in the leg and had allegedly
been thrown into the Tuy River by some soldiers who believed him dead. Mission Interview C4FF09
in February 2020.
Multimedio VTV, Detenidos militares vinculados a desapariciones de personas en Barlovento, minute
0:48, 26 November 2016, video on file with the Mission.
Delsa Solórzano, En vivo con los familiares de las víctimas de la MASACRE de Barlovento,
statement of the sister of one of the victims, minute 27:40, available at:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ZkJznbXPaWJv. See also VPI TV, Exclusivo: Habla madre del joven que
sobrevivió a la masacre de Barlovento, minute 7:38, 30 November 2016, available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAQ8sknd-44. See also Caraota Digital.Net, Hablan los
familiares de la masacre de Barlovento, 2 December 2016, available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ejKkchS1NA.
Mission Interview C4FF09 in February 2020.
231
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