training for judicial and prosecution officials on the incompatibility between the Amnesty Law
and the American Convention and the lack of legal effects on the investigation and punishment
of those responsible for the human rights violations during the armed conflict. Regarding this
request, the Court observes that it was not submitted at the correct procedural moment that is,
in the brief submitting the case to the Court; consequently, it is time-barred and will not be
considered.529
D.
Compensation
1)
Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage
379. The Commission requested adequate reparation for both the pecuniary and nonpecuniary aspects of the human rights violations.
380. The representatives asked the Court to order the State to compensate the damage
caused to the victims of the massacres of El Mozote and nearby places and their next of kin,
based on the violations to their rights committed after June 6, 1995. In this regard, they asked
the Court establish in equity the amount corresponding to each beneficiary for the damage
caused; namely: (a) owing to “the lack of investigation of the facts due to the application of the
Amnesty Law and the situation of impunity of the grave acts that occurred during the
massacres.” This reparation must be provided to both the surviving victims and the next of kin
of the victims murdered in the massacres; (b) owing to “the scale of the massacre, as well as
the knowledge that those responsible continue free and are even the object of tributes[, which]
ha[d] resulted in suffering for the next of kin that survived, even when their relationship is not
that close,” and (c) owing to “the suffering caused due to the situation of displacement in which
[the surviving victims] were forced to live for years, as well as the loss of their basic
possessions, such as their homes and their means of subsistence, which they were never able to
recover.”
381.
The State did not refer to these measures of reparation.
382. In its case law, the Court has developed the concept of pecuniary damage and the
situations in which it must be compensated. The Court has established that pecuniary damage
supposes the loss of or detriment to the income of the victims, the expenses incurred as a result
of the facts, and the consequences of a pecuniary nature that have a causal nexus with the facts
of the case.530 For its part, international case law has repeatedly established that the judgment
may constitute per se a form of reparation.531 Furthermore, in its case law, the Court has
developed the concept of non-pecuniary damage and has established that “it may include both
the suffering and affliction caused to the direct victim and his next of kin, the harm to values
that are very significant to the individual, as well as the alterations, of a non-pecuniary nature,
in the living conditions of the victim or his family.”532 In the instant case, the representatives did
not argue a specific concept in relation to the alleged pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and
did not present evidence that proves the estimated costs of the said damage.
383. The Court does not have any evidence to prove the loss of earnings and the
consequential losses suffered by the victims in this case. However, the Court considers it logical
that, in cases such as this one, gathering evidence to prove this type of material loss and
submitting it to the Court is a complex task. In addition, it is evident that the human rights
529
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico, para. 359, and Case of Contreras et al. v. El Salvador, para. 221.
530
Cf. Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Reparations and costs. Judgment of February 22, 2002. Series C
No. 91, para. 43, and Case of González Medina and family members v. Dominican Republic, para. 310.
531
Cf. Case of El Amparo v. Venezuela. Reparations and costs, para. 35, and Case of Furlan and family v.
Argentina, para. 319.
532
Case of the “Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Reparations and costs. Judgment of May
26, 2001. Series C No. 77, para. 84, and Case of the Río Negro Massacres v. Guatemala, para. 307.
117
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