A/HRC/45/CRP.11 Criminal Investigation 654. The Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into Mr. Albán’s death on 8 October 2018, the day he died.1295 On 4 January 2019, the provisional prosecutor of the 59 th Prosecutor´s office with National competence, presented an accusation against two SEBIN officers,1296 who were charged with breach of custodial obligations.1297 The Mission understands that this crime usually applies in detainee escape cases. 655. The Thirty-First Tribunal of the Criminal Judicial Circuit for Caracas Metropolitan Area did not allow Mr. Albán’s attorneys to participate in the proceedings against SEBIN officers, despite requests to join as parties to the case.1298 On 2 September 2019, the prosecution presented charges for violation of custody.1299 The Mission has been unable to establish which verdict was reached in the case. There is no information about further investigations into other potential crimes committed against Mr. Albán, despite complaints filed by this legal team.1300 656. Between December 2018 and July 2019, Mr. Albán’s lawyers made over 30 official requests to different authorities requesting access to the investigation into Mr. Albán’s death.1301 The requests had not been answered at the time of writing. 657. The legal team filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for unlawful deprivation of liberty; enforced disappearance; concealment of enforced disappearance; torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; aggravated homicide (extrajudicial execution); concealment of all the above-mentioned crimes; and conspiracy to commit a crime on 4 December 2018.1302 They requested exhumation to ensure that an autopsy compliant with the Minnesota Protocol and Istanbul Protocols could be conducted and requested the Public Prosecutor’s recusal from the case.1303 658. On 6 February 2019, Mr. Alban’s legal team filed a complaint with the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsperson, requesting that it investigate the Attorney General’s failure to investigate the death. The legal team again requested exhumation and transfer of the body to the United States where the family resides.1304 Mr. Albán’s widow later made the same request before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.1305 Case File Review 659. The Mission formally requested access to the investigation report into Mr. Albán’s death, the case file on his arrest from the Venezuelan Government on 2 June 2020, as well as 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 Accusation presented by the provisional prosecutor of the Fifty-Ninth Public Prosecutor’s Office with National Jurisdiction before Judge Thirty-One of the First Instance Court of Control of the Criminal Judicial District of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, file No. MP-245888-2018, on 4 January 2019, on file with the Mission. File No. 31C-S-1302-18, on file with the Mission. Accusation presented by the provisional prosecutor of the Fifty-Ninth Public Prosecutor's Office with National Jurisdiction before Judge Thirty-One of the First Instance in Control of the Criminal Judicial District of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, file No. MP-245888-2018, 4 January 2019, on file with the Mission. Complaint submitted to the Inspectorate of Courts, 27 November 2018, on file with the Mission. Criminal Code art. 267. Complaints filed with the Fifty-Ninth Prosecutor’s Office; Complaint filed with the Inspectorate of Courts, both dated 27 December 2018, on file with the Mission. The 30 requests are on file with the Mission. Formal complaint filed on behalf of Mrs. Meudy Osio De Albán, before the Public Prosecutor´s Office on 4 December 2018, on file with Mission. Ibid. See also press statements by lawyer Ramon Alfredo Aguilar Camero, December 4, 2018, available at: https://twitter.com/pr1merojusticia/status/1069995061943902208?s=12 https://twitter.com/tvvnoticias/status/1069969121708830720?s=12, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc2LONBAWFM Exhumation request presented to the Public Prosecutor's Office, on file with the Mission. YouTube Video, El Pistazo, Viuda de Albán solicitó a la CIDH que “trasladen el cuerpo para darle cristiana sepultura”, 5 December 2018, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEAQPLV_pO8 143