6
development fund as compensation for the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage suffered by the
members of the Community. In this sense, this Fund is additional to any other present or future
benefit that may correspond to the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz in relation to the State’s general
development duties.13
23. Additionally, taking into consideration: “i) dispossession of their territory; ii) the
damages caused to it, and iii) that indigenous people have the right to
conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of
their territories and natural resources,” the Court established that “the Fund must
be destined, pursuant to the agreements reached with the Community of Triunfo
de la Cruz, to: i) developing projects oriented towards increasing agricultural or
any other productivity in the Community; ii) improve the Community’s
infrastructure according to its present and future needs; iii) restore the
deforested areas, and iv) others considered appropriate in benefit of the
Community of Triunfo de la Cruz.”14
24. Furthermore, the judgment indicates that the State shall destine a specific
amount for investment “in benefit of the territory titled to the Community of
Triunfo de la Cruz” and that the parties must “forward to the Court a yearly report
during the execution period detailing the projects in which it will invest the
amount destined to the Fund.”15
25. Now, the reason behind this measure of reparation ordered by the Court is that
it reflects the understanding that the main or first adequate reparation to make
good a damage suffered by indigenous or tribal peoples collectively, is a collective
reparation.
26. In this sense, it is important to point out some of the characteristics of collective
reparation, for example that: i) it must be considered as independent from the
reparation for the damages that may have been suffered by the members of the
Community as individuals; ii) its objective is the reparation of damages that,
based on the characteristics of indigenous and tribal peoples themselves
(especially their relationship with traditional lands), are collective and require
specific measures of reparation; iii) they seek to protect and be implemented
according to the Community’s customs and cultural identity; iv) they have a
purpose related to the strengthening of the Community’s social and economic
situation, and v) the Community effectively participates, through its legitimate
representatives, in the decisions made regarding the implementation of the
collective reparation granted.
27. The acknowledgment that indigenous or tribal peoples, as such, can be entitled
to a right to reparation is enshrined, inter alia, in Article 28(1) of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People that states that:
“[i]ndigenous peoples have the right to redress, by means that can include
restitution or, when this is not possible, just, fair, and equitable compensation.”
Moreover, its Article 40 states that “[i]ndigenous peoples have the right to […]
effective remedies for all infringements of their individual and collective rights”
and that “[s]uch a decision shall give due consideration to the customs, traditions,
13
14
15
Para. 295 of the judgment.
Para. 296 of the judgment.
Paras. 298 to 299 of the judgment.