92
close to Petatlán and Coyuca de Catalán for technical training in forestry and
community management of natural resources, iii) to change the present name of
“Premio al Mérito Ecológico – Categoría Social” (Award on Ecological Merit – Social
Category”) to “Premio al Mérito Ecológico – Campesinos Ecologistas de Guerrero”
(Award on Ecological Merit – Guerrero Ecologist Peasants), and iv) to adopt
measures to reunite the family of Montiel Cortés.
247. In the first place, regarding these requests, the Court considers that the
issuing of the present Judgment and the reparations ordered in this chapter are
sufficient and adequate for the reparation of the violations suffered by the
victims.352 On the other hand, the Tribunal has considered that several issues
raised by the representatives were not included by the Commission in its
application; therefore, due to procedural reasons, they were not assessed in the
merits of this case. Finally, in this respect, the Court reiterates that reparations
must have a causal connection with the facts of the case and the violations
declared (supra para. 209). Therefore, the Tribunal shall not rule on the request of
reparations related to facts that, due to procedural reasons, were not addressed by
the Court in the instant Judgment.
D.
Compensatory damages
D.1
Pecuniary damage
248. The Tribunal has developed in its case law the concept of pecuniary damage
and has established that pecuniary damage involve “the loss of or detriment to the
victims’ income, the expenses incurred as a result of the facts and the monetary
consequences that have a casual nexus with the facts of the case.”353
249. The Commission asked the Court, “[n]otwithstanding any claims that the
representatives of the victims may make at the appropriate stage in the
proceedings,” ”and in exercise of its broad authority, to set an amount as
compensation for damnum emergens and lucrum cessans based on the principle of
equity.”
250. The representatives pointed out that as a direct consequence of the violations
suffered, the victims lost their croplands which they tilled together with their
relatives. According to the representatives, Mr. Cabrera García worked on
agriculture, had a house and a plot of land of two (2) hectares which he used for
sowing and whose produce was used for family consumption and sale. Although the
land was subject to a collective landownership system (the “ejido” – area of
common land), the representatives sustained that “for all practical purposes, they
belonged to [Mr. Cabrera García].” As regards Mr. Montiel Flores, the
representatives indicated that Mr. Montiel Flores worked on tilling the land whose
permit was obtained from the common land community [comunidad ejidal], an
activity that he complemented by selling clothes together with his wife on Sundays
and breeding porks for sale. These activities generated a variable income, but, in
general, it was $ 800.00 Mexican pesos monthly for selling pork and $ 2,500.00 for
selling clothes, i.e. $ 3,300.00 Mexican pesos, namely $ 39,600.00 Mexican pesos
annually, equivalent to US$ 2,995.18 American dollars. The representatives alleged
352
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico, supra note 302, para. 359; Case of Manuel Cepeda
Vargas v. Colombia, supra note 27, para. 238; and Case of Rosendo Cantú et al v. Mexico, supra note
30, para. 267.
353
Cf. Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 22,
2002. Series C No. 91, para. 43; Case of Rosendo Cantú et al v. Mexico, supra note 30, para. 270; Case
of Ibsen Cárdenas and Ibsen Peña v. Bolivia, supra note 30, para. 260.
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