CCPR/C/128/D/3018/2017
2.10 On 27 April 2015, the authors also filed a complaint with the Office of the
Ombudsman, in which they indicated that their father’s allegations of corruption had given
rise to disagreements between him and his boss. In that connection, the authors indicate that,
a few days before his disappearance, their father’s boss called him to tell him that the
Governor had received a call from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service informing
him that the Service had a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Mora Márquez for alleged links to a
kidnapping. The authors claim that this was a scare tactic by the boss, as no such arrest
warrant ever existed.
2.11 On 13 May 2015, the authors submitted an application for amparo to State and
Municipal Court of First Instance No. 6 of the Mérida State Criminal Court Circuit. The judge
requested information from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, the alleged
responsible party according to the authors, and from the Mérida office of the Agency for
Forensic and Criminal Investigations. Both bodies replied that they had not detained Mr.
Mora Márquez. On 18 May 2015, the judge nevertheless decided to allow the case to go
forward and ordered the Attorney General’s Office “to take all necessary steps to locate or
bring about the appearance of the injured party, and to charge and prosecute the person or
persons responsible, if applicable, in accordance with articles 26, 27, 49, 51 and 55 of the
Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and in compliance with the binding
judgments issued by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice concerning
the writ of habeas corpus”. The Court’s decision, which declared the application for amparo
admissible, was submitted in mandatory consultation with the Criminal Court of Appeals of
the Mérida State Criminal Court Circuit, which, on 10 June 2015, decided to keep the action
for amparo active until such time as Mr. Mora Márquez reappears, dead or alive.
2.12 On 18 May 2015, through a public statement published in a regional newspaper, the
Governor of the State of Mérida reported the disappearance of Mr. Mora Márquez: “I must
publicly express to the Mérida community, Mr. Mora’s family and all revolutionary comrades
my concern about the disappearance of Alcedo Mora, and through this communiqué I make
a fervent plea for his prompt appearance”.2
2.13 The authors state that, in the same week that their father disappeared, two of their
friends, brothers of Colombian nationality who had applied for asylum in the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela, also disappeared. The two brothers had been followed by a truck with
identical characteristics to the one observed near Mr. Mora Márquez’s home, from which a
number of men had got out and threatened him (see para. 2.4 above).
2.14 The authors also state that it is clear from a report submitted by the mobile telephone
company that, on 1 March 2015, Mr. Mora Márquez had several telephone conversations,
one of which was with a friend whom he told he was very tired and was walking along a path.
Messages were also sent from his mobile phone until 4 March 2015.3
2.15 Finally, the authors allege that they met with the Secretary-General of the government
of the State of Mérida, who told them “this happened to your father because he was talking
a lot of nonsense”.4
The complaint
3.1
The authors argue that the communication is admissible, as they have exhausted
domestic remedies. In particular, while they note that the investigations carried out by the
Public Prosecutor’s Office progressed at a good pace in the first few months, and that a
number of actions were taken to investigate the enforced disappearance of their father, such
as requesting information from several telephone companies on calls made and received, and
2
3
4
GE.20-07124
The public statement, which is attached to the communication, also says the following: “I stand in
solidarity with and echo the continuous calls of his relatives, friends and fellow comrades […]. In
solidarity with all his relatives and as the regional government, we make an urgent public appeal to all
persons, institutions and organizations to take part in the immediate search and to find comrade
Alcedo Mora, safe and sound. In my capacity as the highest authority of the State, I shall continue to
monitor the course of the investigations”.
The communication does not provide any further details.
The communication does not indicate the date of this meeting, nor does it provide information on any
complaints that the authors might have made about the matter or against the government of the State
of Mérida.
3