On February 21, 2014, the Inter-American Commission on Human (IACHR) rights issued a press release regarding the situation in Venezuela, stating that it is “profoundly disturbed by various complaints alleging violations of the demonstrators’ rights to peaceful protest and their rights to life and humane treatment, personal liberty, freedom of association and freedom of expression.”  The IACHR noted that it was “particularly attentive to the serious complaints of” armed individuals allegedly attacking the demonstrators, citing as an example the shooting of demonstrators in the city of Valencia on February 18, 2014.  The IACHR reminded Venezuela of its “duty to conduct investigations ex officio” and that its “judicial proceedings must be conducted diligently and in an impartial manner [with] all the guarantees of due process.”