59
US$120.000,00, one hundred and twenty thousand United States dollars); in other words,
between three sisters and one nephew of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo, who, according to the
body of evidence in the instant case, lived in the same house as he did.149
205. The Court finds that using cohabitation with the alleged victim as a presumed
criterion and the amounts granted are compatible with the requirements of reasonableness
indicated above (supra para. 203). Therefore, the Court will abstain from establishing
further compensation for pecuniary damage for Luzmilla Valle Jaramillo, María Magdalena
Valle Jaramillo, María Nelly Valle Jaramillo and Luis Fernando Montoya Valle.
206. The Court also notes that, in the said Settlement Agreement, the State granted
compensation for “non-pecuniary damage” amounting to “100 SMLMV”150 (approximately
US$20,000.00, twenty thousand United States dollars) to Jesús María Valle Jaramillo and
“50 SMLMV” (approximately US$11,000.00, eleven thousand United States dollars) to each
of the following next of kin of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo: María Nelly Valle Jaramillo, María
Leticia Valle Jaramillo, Ligia Amparo Valle Jaramillo, Luzmila Valle Jaramillo, Blanca Inés
Valle Jaramillo, Marina Valle Jaramillo, María Magdalena Valle Jaramillo, Romelia Valle
Jaramillo, Octavio de Jesús Valle Jaramillo and Luis Fernando Montoya Valle. In addition to
the amount derived from the compensation for non-pecuniary damage for the death of
Jesús María Valle Jaramillo, María Nelly Valle Jaramillo received a further amount for “moral
damage, owing to the violation of her fundamental rights,” equal to 50 SMLMV
(approximately US$11,000.00, eleven thousand United States dollars).151
207. Although the State granted María Nelly Valle Jaramillo the sum of approximately
US$11,000.00 (eleven thousand United States dollars) for the non-pecuniary damage she
suffered owing to the violation of her rights (supra para. 206), the Court finds it pertinent to
order, based on the equity principle, an additional payment of US$30,000.00 (thirty
thousand United States dollars) in her favor for non-pecuniary damage, taking into account
her particular situation, because she was obliged to witness the violent death of her brother,
Jesús María Valle Jaramillo (supra paras. 70 and 107). This amount is additional to the sum
ordered at the domestic level in the action under administrative law (supra para. 206). The
State must make the payment of this additional amount directly to the beneficiary, within
one year of the notification of this judgment.
208. Thus, taking into consideration that the Colombian State established compensation
for ten siblings and one nephew of Jesús María Valle Jaramillo that complies with the
requirements of reasonableness, this Court concludes that, with the exception of the
provisions in the preceding paragraph concerning María Nelly Valle Jaramillo, the amounts
provided by the State for non-pecuniary damage meet the standards of the Inter-American
Court in terms of compensatory reparation. The Court will therefore abstain from
149
Cf. Statement made by the witness, Darío Arcila Arenas, who indicated that “Jesús María was unmarried,
he had no children and he lived with his sister Nelly, her husband and their son, Luis Fernando Montoya Valle;
another sister, Luzmila, was responsible for the housework with their sister Magdalena. […] I witnessed his
affectionate and respectful relationship with his sisters and his nephews and nieces. I was aware, for example, that
he mentored his nephew Luis Fernando – Nelly’s son – as if he had been his own son.” Statement made by the
witness, Darío Arcila Arenas, supra note 85 (folio 2238). Moreover, according to the testimony of Juan Guillermo
Valle Noreña, "Jesús lived in his own house with several of [his sisters]: Magdalena, Nelly who was his secretary
and lived on what he paid her, her husband and their son, Luis Fernando, who also lived there and Luzmila who
had never studied or worked and lived for Jesús. He paid all the household expenses.” Statement made by the
witness, Juan Guillermo Valle Noreña, supra note 83.
150
The Agreement did not stipulate the payment of a fixed sum of Colombian pesos, but ordered the
payment in terms of “Monthly Legal Minimum Wages in Force” (“SMLMV”).
151
Settlement Agreement of April 26, 2007, approved on September 28, 2007, supra note 146.
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