A/HRC/45/33 interviewees reported that security officers had made them sign documents saying that their rights had been respected and that they had not been mistreated during detention. 144. Some people arrested during demonstrations, particularly those identified as leaders, were transferred to facilities of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service. They were detained there for long periods, during which they were subjected to various forms of torture and ill-treatment. 3. Killings in the context of protests 145. The mission has reasonable grounds to believe that in cases investigated, international and national standards on the use of force were not respected, causing arbitrary deprivation of life. Security forces used lethal force against the victim when it was not strictly unavoidable to protect lives. Security forces also used less-lethal weapons in a lethal manner, which resulted in the deaths of the demonstrators. 146. The mission investigated 36 cases of killings in the context of protests (32 men and 4 women) on the basis of information collected from direct sources and published by government sources and NGOs. The Public Prosecutor’s Office reported 43 deaths in the context of protests in 201430 and 124 deaths between April and July 2017.31 According to NGOs, between 4132 and 6133 people were killed in protests in January and February 2019. 147. Different security forces were responsible for the killings, most often the Bolivarian National Guard, followed by the National Bolivarian Police, local police, other members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service. The mission examined seven cases in which colectivos were responsible for using lethal weapons that killed demonstrators. In each case investigated, State security forces failed to intervene. 148. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken some steps to investigate killings, particularly prior to the change of the Attorney General in 2017. However, of 165 cases of killings that occurred in the context of protests in 2014, 2017 and 2019, only five have resulted in convictions and sentencing (four in 2014 and one in 2017). 149. Alianza de Familiares y Víctimas 2017 (Alfavic), an organization formed by the parents and relatives of 14 victims of protest killings, reports having faced barriers when attempting to clarify the circumstances surrounding the deaths. 34 Those barriers include public prosecutors not sharing case files with private lawyers, the high turnover of public prosecutors assigned to cases and the Bolivarian National Guard’s refusal to provide information relevant to the investigations. 150. The right to life under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights imposes positive obligations upon the State to investigate and prosecute all allegations of arbitrary deprivation of life, whether committed by State agents or private individuals, including allegations of excessive use of force.35 V. Responsibilities 151. The mission has reasonable grounds to believe that the acts and conduct described in the present report amount to arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial executions; torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sexual and genderbased violence; enforced disappearances (often short-term); and arbitrary detentions, in violation of the national law and international obligations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. 30 31 32 33 34 35 Office of the Attorney General, Informe Anual 2014 a la Asamblea Nacional. Public Prosecutor’s Office, Balance de Víctimas Fallecidas y Lesionadas Durante Manifestaciones en Abril-Junio de 2017 (on file with the mission). www.derechos.org.ve/informe-anual/informe-anual-enero-diciembre-2019 (in Spanish). www.observatoriodeconflictos.org.ve/oc/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/INFORMEANUALOVCS2019-1.pdf (in Spanish). Alfavic, “Note to journalists/press, 10 December 2019” (document on file with the mission). Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, paras. 27–29. 17