-80accepting the Court’s jurisdiction with the OAS General Secretariat.
152. The Court considers that, in the instant case, compensation for pecuniary
damage must include the expenditure for medicines and psychological care that
Ernestina and Erlinda’s next of kin required as a result of the suffering caused by the
separation of the family, and the uncertainty, frustration, anguish and impotence
given the failure of the judicial authorities to investigate diligently what happened to
Ernestina and Erlinda and determine their whereabouts within a reasonable time. In
addition, it should include the expenses incurred by Ernestina and Erlinda’s next of
kin in order to discover their whereabouts. In this regard, the Court notes that some
of those expenses were assumed by the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda, representatives of
the victims and their next of kin, and that these expenses were generated as a result
of the violations declared in this judgment. The Court considers that the State must
compensate those expenses, because they have a direct causal link to the violations
in this case, and do not relate to expenditure incurred in order to obtain access to
justice (infra paras. 206 and 207), but to expenses incurred in the search for
Ernestina and Erlinda, and also to pay for the medicines and care needed to treat the
damage to the physical and psychological health of the victims’ next of kin. Although,
no vouchers were submitted with regard to these expenses, based on the expert
reports of Ana Deutsch and Laínez Villaherrera and the testimonies of two of
Ernestina and Erlinda’ siblings and of Father Juan Cortina, the Court establishes, in
fairness, the amount of US$555.00 (five hundred and fifty-five United States dollars)
or the equivalent in Salvadoran currency, for the said expenses incurred by the next
of kin, some of which were assumed by Pro-Búsqueda. This amount shall be
delivered to Suyapa Serrano Cruz, Erlinda and Ernestina’s sister, who shall reimburse
the corresponding amount to the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda.
C)
NON-PECUNIARY DAMAGE
Arguments of the Commission
153.
The Commission stated that:
a)
The children’s next of kin, particularly their mother and “the sister”
made a great effort to find them and to ensure that those responsible for their
capture and subsequent disappearance were criminally punished, with all the
emotional stress that this signified;
b)
“The impunity that prevails in this case has caused the next of kin a
tangible feelings of insecurity. As a result of the violations, the family of the
victims has also suffered non-pecuniary damage that the Salvadoran State is
obliged to repair”; and
c)
It is necessary to take “into consideration the situation of Ernestina
and Erlinda Serrano Cruz, that of their next of kin, María Victoria Cruz Franco,
Suyapa Serrano Cruz and José Fernando Serrano Cruz” and determine, in
fairness, an amount corresponding to the non-pecuniary damage suffered by
each of them.
Arguments of the representatives of the victims and their next of kin
154.
The representatives stated that: