my opinion, be easily conceived in this sense, akin to “obligations to do” that are both compensatory and punitive.5 14. “Punitive damages," thus characterized (beyond the merely pecuniary meaning inadequately given to them) can be an appropriate response or reaction of the legal order against particularly serious human rights violations. Thus understood, "punitive damages" ─as I observed in my Separate Opinion on the Case of Myrna Mack-Chang (para. 52) have already been actually applied, for a long time, in the domain of international human rights protection ─which makes us recall the phrase uttered by Molière’s famous character, Monsieur Jourdain, qui parlait la prose sans le savoir...6 15. Similarly, as I explained in my Separate Opinion on the Case of the Plan de Sánchez Massacre (Reparations, 2004): “Whether the reparations ordered in the instant Judgment of the Court are called punitive damages (…) or “exemplary reparations,” or any other expression of this type, their basic purpose remains the same: they recognize the extreme gravity of the facts, punish the State responsible for the grave violations committed, acknowledge the extreme sacrifice of the victims who died and alleviate the sacrifice of the surviving victims, and establish a guarantee of non-recurrence of the harmful acts. Whatever they are called, their basic purpose is always the same, they are for the benefit of the victims (direct and indirect) and the population of the defendant State as a whole, because their purpose is to rebuild the damaged social fabric.” (para 25) 16. In its instant Judgment on the Case of Blanco Romero et al., the Inter-American Court has ordered, as one of the reparation measures, as a form of satisfaction and as a guarantee of non-recurrence of the harmful events, that the State implement a human rights education and training programme for the security forces. In the words of the Court, "(...) Taking into consideration the circumstances of the instant case, the Tribunal deems fit to reaffirm what it pointed out in the Case of the Caracazo v.Venezuela [reparations, 2002], in the sense that the State must implement, in the educational and training programmes for Armed Forces and [Dirección General Sectorial de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención (Office of the Sector Director General for Intelligence and Preventive Services)] officers, a course on the principles and rules for the protection of human rights, particularly the prohibition of forced disappearance, torture and the disproportionate use of force, taking into account the case law of the Inter-American Arangio-Ruiz, "Second Report on State Responsibility", in United Nations, Yearbook of the International Law Commission (1989)-II, part I, pp. 31-35, 40-43 y 47-54. . Thus bridging the gap between civil and criminal, specific to the regulation of responsibility under domestic law. 5 . M. Jourdain: - "(...) Il y a plus de quarante ans que je dis de la prose, sans que j'en susse rien, et je vous suis le plus obligé du monde de m'avoir appris cela". Molière, Oeuvres Complètes (Le bourgeois gentilhomme, 1670, Act II, Scene V), Paris, Éd. Seuil, 1962, p. 515. 6

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents