A/HRC/45/CRP.11 resorted to only when strictly necessary in order to protect life or prevent serious injury from an imminent threat.1849 1042. The OLPs/OLHPs present a clear pattern of Government authorities claiming that deaths took place during a “confrontation” or the victims were “resisting authority”. In most of the cases, family members of the fatal victims, including women, older persons and children, were removed from the houses by the security forces, so there were few eyewitnesses of the death. However, the information suggests that security forces used lethal force against the victim when it was not strictly unavoidable to protect lives: • In all five cases investigated by the Mission, family members and other eyewitnesses last saw the victim alive under the control of various armed security officials, meaning that it would have been difficult for him to have accessed a gun and/or escaped from the officers.1850 This was the case, for example, of a teenager in the Jardines del Valle hbourhood, who was last seen alive by his family on his bed in his underwear, surrounded by police officers. • Victims received fatal shots to vital areas, sometimes at point blank range. The Mission reviewed 18 autopsy reports, related to 35 victims, in which shots were fired to the head, neck and the thorax.1851 The fatal shots would suggest that security forces did not attempt to employ non-lethal methods of control, de-escalation or restraint prior to use of lethal force. • Very few security forces died or were injured in the OLPs, which could suggest the absence of an armed confrontation. In the 140 cases reviewed by the Mission, only 12 security officers were injured (in five operations). No deaths were reported. 1043. Victims and witnesses to OLP/OLHPs repeatedly alleged that security forces had planted information or simulated confrontations.1852 Allegations of cover-ups documented in the cases investigated and reviewed by the Mission, include planting weapons or contraband, shooting walls of the house to make it look like a gunfight took place, and firing shots in the air while shouting statements to simulate the victim’s attempted escape. 1044. In light of the above, the Mission has reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals killed in the cases investigated in OLP/OLHP operations were arbitrarily deprived of their life in violation of article 6 of the ICCPR and applicable national legislation. Arrests and Detentions 1045. The prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of liberty is provided by the ICCPR 1853 and the Venezuelan Constitution.1854 The Venezuelan Criminal Code punishes arbitrary detention with a maximum penalty of three and a half years,1855 which can be increased to five years with aggravating circumstances, including threats, violence or any other forms of coercion.1856 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 206 See Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, commentary to art. 3 and Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, para. 9. These instruments, and in particular their provisions on the use of force as they relate to the right to life and physical integrity— article 3 of the Code of Conduct and principle 9 of the Basic Principles—are relied upon as authoritative by regional courts. See, for example, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, MonteroAranguren et al. (Detention Center of Catia) v. Venezuela, 5 July 2005, IACtHR Ser. C No. 150, paras. 68-69; Zambrano Vélez et al. v. Ecuador, 4 July 2007, IACtHR Ser. C. No. 166, para. 84. See also the Principles on the effective prevention and investigation of extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions (Minnesota Protocol). Case 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 detailed below. Based on the review by the Mission of 18 autopsy reports and 12 casefiles the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Barlovento case. La Cota, 13 July 2015 and 10 May 2016, OLP Santa Rosa de Agua, Maracaibo, Zulia (September 2015), OLHP in Jardines del Valle, Caracas (2017). ICCPR, art. 9. 1999 Constitution, art. 44. Criminal Code, art. 176. Criminal Code, art. 175.