Case History: Eloísa Barrios
Since 1998 nine members of the Barrios family have been murdered and several others have been detained and subjected to illegal and arbitrary searches of their homes, suffered threats against their lives and personal integrity, and been forced to move from their place of residence.
Eloísa Barrios has been vocal in speaking out about the Venezuelan State's failure to effectively protect her family from extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations. She has also actively promoted the committees of victims and families of victims in Aragua, and in particular has mobilised mothers of those extrajudicially killed by the state police and accompanied them through the process of filing complaints, the court process and speaking out in social media.
Front Line Defenders is extremely concerned for the safety of human rights defender Ms Eloísa Barrios and her family following the killing, on 15 December 2012, of the ninth member of her family since 1998. Eloísa Barrios has previously submitted petitions to the Inter-American Commission (IACHR) and Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), on 16 March 2004 and 30 December 2005, requesting protection measures for the family as a result of persecution, allegedly by members of the Police of Aragua State.
Eloísa Barrios has been vocal in speaking out about the Venezuelan State's failure to effectively protect her family from extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations and has reported an increase in the threats made against her and her family after she denounced the killings before the Inter-American system. She has been threatened by state police officials, assigned to the department of La Segundera in the municipality of Sucre, Aragua State, in retaliation for the constant complaints to the 20th Prosecutor's Office of the Public Ministry in Aragua concerning her son's detention on three occasions and ill-treatment in custody. In January 2012 the human rights defender moved from her home as a result of the intimidation.
Since 1998 nine members of the Barrios family have been murdered and several others have been detained and subjected to illegal and arbitrary searches of their homes, suffered threats against their lives and personal integrity, and been forced to move from their place of residence.
On 15 December 2012 Jorge Antonio Barrios and his cousin, son of Eloísa Barrios, Víctor Daniel Cabrera Barrios left the home of one of their aunts to run an errand. As they travelled by motorcycle an unknown assailant approached them and shot Jorge Antonio Barrios in the back before immediately fleeing the scene. The victim, who lived 200 kilometres from his aunt's home and was not known to have any personal conflict with anyone in the area, was killed instantly. Local witnesses reported that they had never seen the assailant before. Jorge Antonio Barrios was the eldest son of Benito Antonio Barrios, who on 28 August 1998 was the first member of the Barrios family to be killed. Members of the family have been subjected to continuous harassment and intimidation since 2004 when they filed the first complaint before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding the extra-judicial killing of Benito Antonio Barrios. Jorge Antonio Barrios had witnessed his father being tortured by police officers, from the Guanayen Station in Aragua, before being taken alive from their home, and he was a key witness in identifying the perpetrators. He was also a witness in the killing of his uncle Narciso Barrios on 11 December 2003.
Since Benito Antonio Barrios' killing in 1998, eight other members of the family have been killed: Narciso, Luis Alberto, Rigoberto, Oscar, Wilmer José, Juan José, Víctor Tomas and now Jorge Antonio. Another family member, Néstor Caudi, received death threats allegedly from police officers after witnessing the killing of Narciso Barrios, and subsequently suffered permanent injuries as a result of being shot on 2 January 2011. Seven members of the family have been killed despite the IACHR granting protection measures in 2004, and the same year the IACtHR issued five resolutions on protection measures for the family, none of which have been fulfilled by the Venezuelan State.
The IACHR and the IACtHR have followed the case through all available mechanisms after concluding that Venezuela has violated the rights to life, physical integrity and freedom of several members of the Barrios family, including some minors, however the State has failed to comply with the recommendations of either institution and the Barrios family continue to be at risk.
Eloísa Barrios has accompanied other families of victims of extrajudicial killings to file complaints as many cases are not reported out of fear of further threats and intimidation by police officials in Aragua.
Front Line Defenders is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Eloísa Barrios, her family, and other human rights defenders working to challenge the cycle of impunity and to promote and protect human rights in Venezuela, in particular those documenting police and military involvement in human rights violations.
