IV. ON COMPENSATORY INDEMNIFICATION
FOR NONPECUNIARY DAMAGE IN THE INSTANT CASE
18.
I agree that the judgment is, per se, a form of reparation, as the Court has held since 1989. 38
I further believe, however, that in the instant case, it is not enough, and an amount should have
been awarded in equity for the nonpecuniary damage inflicted on family members for the violations
that were adjudged and declared in the judgment. The Court’s customary rationale has been that
damage caused by a human rights violation reaches beyond the direct victim and also touches family
members because of the close tie they share.
19.
It should be understood that, even though the Court’s usual model for comprehensive
reparation includes a broad spectrum of measures of reparation, there are certain forms of violation
that, by their very nature, preclude restitutio in integrum; it thus becomes essential to award
compensation as a way to offset the damage caused by the arbitrary taking of life.
20.
I would particularly like to emphasize in this case the seriousness of the acts for which the
State was found internationally responsible: the extrajudicial execution of a person who was out of
combat and who, the last time he was seen alive, was in State custody. 39 Furthermore, serious
irregularities were confirmed in the handling of the scene and the removal of the bodies, as well as
shortcomings in the performance of the first autopsies. 40
21.
In the case of Meléndez Cueva and Peceros Pedraza, moreover, the bodies had not yet been
positively identified when the burials were ordered. Nor were the families notified before they were
buried.41 The Court also recognized the damage inflicted on Edgar Odón Cruz Acuña because of his
brother’s death, which had personal repercussions and triggered feelings of fear and helplessness,
as was stated and confirmed in the judgment.42
22.
The Court also found that the judicial process before the Peruvian courts did not take place
within a reasonable period, and the State cannot demonstrate that it has taken measures necessary
to locate one of the accused who is currently a fugitive; as such, the whole truth about the events
surrounding the extrajudicial execution of Eduardo Nicolás Cruz Sánchez is still not known, according
to the judgment,43 and also in view of the findings by the Supreme Court of Peru, to the effect that
“there are still certain details about the facts, associated with victim Cruz Sánchez, that can and
must be clarified through a more intense line of investigation.” 44
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of December 3, 2001. Series C No. 88; Case of García Asto and Ramírez Rojas v. Peru.
Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 25, 2005. Series C No. 137; Case of J. v. Peru.
Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 27, 2013. Series C No. 275, and Case of Espinoza
Gonzáles v. Peru, supra.
38
I/A Court HR. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and Costs, supra, para. 36.
39
Paras. 316 to 319 of the judgment.
40
Para. 431 of the judgment.
41
Paras. 172 and 371 of the judgment.
42
Para. 450 of the judgment.
Para. 429 of the judgment. This case is somewhat unlike other cases in which the Court has found that the right to
know the truth is “subsumed” in the right of victims or their family members to have the competent bodies of the State clarify
violations and attach the pertinent responsibilities; in the instant case, the Court did not subsume the rights in this way, but
instead found that there was no need to give a specific ruling on violation of the right to know the truth, given the violations
already declared and the particular details of the case (para. 430 of the judgment).
43
44
Para. 429 of the judgment.
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