169. Among their different requests, the representatives presented four groups of
measures of non-repetition, which they described in detail, and which are: (i) regulation and
implementation of external control measures for the federal police forces, including the
“implementation of civilian and independent mechanisms that ensure the effective control of
the legality of the performance of the police agents and of internal administrative actions”;
(ii) improvements in the investigative capacity of the system of justice of the province of
Buenos Aires in complex cases involving State officials; (iii) establishment of the Judicial
Police of the province of Buenos Aires, including the obligation to adopt “legal and material
measures that permit the creation of a criminal investigation unit that complies functions
other than those performed by the preventive police forces, and that is able to assist the
public prosecution service in these investigations,” and (iv) “legal and material measures to
develop and implement effective protection systems for witnesses and victims.” The
Commission did not refer to these issues.
170. In the Agreement, the State undertook the following: “to further the regulation and
implementation of external control mechanisms on the actions of the members of federal
law enforcement agencies”; “full […] operation of the provincial Judicial Police, including the
creation of the Monitoring Committee to ensure its effective execution in the legislature of
the province of Buenos Aires,” and “the establishment of an effective system of protection
for victims and witnesses.” In addition, the State indicated “that these measures have
already been initiated within the provincial and national Executive, respectively,” and that
“the required commitment in this area is to strengthen and develop what already exists.”
171. The Court takes note of the undertakings made by the State, which are aimed at
ensuring that the obstructions to the investigation and criminal proceedings, as well as the
threats to witnesses that have been verified in this case, do not happen again. The Court
will not monitor the implementation of these measures under the proceeding of monitoring
compliance with the Judgment.
D. Compensation
172. First, the Court notes that, in the Agreement, the representatives and the State
asked the Court to rule “on the scope of the reparations in favor of the victims, which
should include […] compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, based on the
equity principle.” The Court will take this request into account to rule on the arguments of
the parties in this regard.
D.1. Pecuniary damage
173. In its case law, the Court has developed the concept of pecuniary damage and has
established that this 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 to the facts of the case.” 275
D.1.1.
Consequential damage
174. The representatives argued that the State should reimburse the expenses incurred
by the Gutiérrez family as a result of the human rights violations committed to the
detriment of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez. In this regard, they asked the Court to order the State
275
Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Reparations and costs. Judgment of February 22, 2002. Series
C No. 91, para. 43, and Case of Luna López, supra, para. 246.
58
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