57
acknowledgment of responsibility concerning the facts of the instant case, to honor the
memory of Mrs. Blanca Jannette Kawas-Fernández. During such public acknowledgment,
reference must be made to the human rights violations established in this Judgment. Also,
the acknowledgment shall be made via a public ceremony to be attended by State
authorities. The State shall guarantee the participation of those next of kin of Mrs. Blanca
Jeannette Kawas-Fernández who have also been declared victims by this Court and may so
desire. The specifics of such public ceremony must be subject to prior and proper
consultation with the next of kin of Mrs. Kawas-Fernández. The State shall have a period of
one year to comply with this obligation.
203. As regards the representatives’ request that the State prepare a written document
acknowledging its international responsibility and apologizing to the next of kin of Mrs.
Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández, and to have such document published, the Court finds
that the publication of this Judgment (supra para. 199) and the public ceremony
acknowledging responsibility (supra para. 202) are sufficient for such purposes.
3) Construction of a monument and mounting of signs at the national park
204. The representatives requested the Court to order the State to “[c]reate a monument
in memoriam of Mrs. Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández and to mount signs at the National
Park named after her.” In this regard, they argued that “[the] monument’s design must be
in line with its environmental context and [created] by Mr. Jaime Kawas -the son of
Jeannette Kawas-, who is an architect[;] the Ministry of the Environment and another
equal-level official, as well as the City’s local authorities […] including top-level police
authorities […] shall take part [i]n the unveiling ceremony.” Likewise, they asked the Court
to “order the State to mount signs [at the National Park,] clearly identifying the correct
name of the park and explaining the history of such name, so that visitors may learn the
facts surrounding the creation of the Park.”
205. In this regard, the Court notes that while the instant case was being processed
before the Inter-American Commission, the State repeated that “it agreed on the
construction of the requested monument at the site indicated by the representatives and
[the victim’s next of kin] within the land […] of the Blanca Jeannette-Kawas-Fernández
National Park [and that] the funds w[ould] be provided by the State directly to such
individual or legal entity as the representatives may appoint, […] in line with the funding
estimate and design already submitted by engineer Jaime Watt-Kawas, [the son of Mrs.
Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández].” Also, the State repeated “its undertaking to mount
signs at the Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández National Park […].”231
206. The Court notes that the measures requested by the representatives seek to keep
the memory of Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández alive and prevent the future recurrence
of facts such as those of the instant case.232 Accordingly, the Court finds it appropriate to
order the State to construct a memorial monument for the victim as well as to mount signs
at the national park named after her, as requested by the representatives. The Court
stresses that such signs shall note the fact that the victim was killed defending the
environment and, in particular, such national park. The monument unveiling ceremony shall
231
Cf. Third report of the State of Honduras regarding compliance with the recommendations made in Merits
Report No. 63-06 in case No. 12.507 Ref.: Blanca Jeannette Kawas Honduras and reply regarding compliance with
the recommendations made by the petitioners’ representatives, of January 23, 2008 (record of appendixes to the
application, appendix 3, folio 1273).
232
Cf. Case of Valle-Jaramillo et al. Merits, Reparations and Costs, supra note 10, para. 229.
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