48
160. This Court restated that those individuals who have been declared victims of
violations of any of the rights enshrined in the Convention will be deemed injured parties
(supra para. 27). Consequently, based on the determinations made in the preceding
paragraphs, the Court finds that the individuals listed below must be considered “injured
parties”: Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández, Jacobo Kawas-Cury, Blanca Fernández, Jaime
Alejandro Watt-Kawas, Selsa Damaris Watt-Kawas, Jacobo Roberto Kawas-Fernández, Jorge
Jesús Kawas-Fernández and Carmen Marilena Kawas-Fernández. The aforementioned
individuals will be the beneficiaries of the reparations to be awarded by the Tribunal.
161. Mr. James Gordon Watt cannot be considered an injured party in the instant case
because he has not been declared victim of a violation of any right enshrined in the
Convention (supra para. 119).
B) Compensation
1) Pecuniary damage
162. In its judicial precedents, the Court has developed the concept of pecuniary damage
and the situations in which it must be redressed.208
163. In the instant case, the Inter-American Commission requested the Court to order the
State to “provide full reparation to the relatives of Mrs. Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández,
including […] the pecuniary […] aspect, as a result of the human rights violations suffered”.
In this sense, the Inter-American Commission requested payment of a compensation for
consequential damage and loss of earnings. The representatives also requested
compensations for such items.
164. Below, the Court will establish the compensations to be paid for this item based on
the violations recognized in the instant Judgment, taking into account the specific
circumstances of the case, the evidence submitted by the parties and their allegations.
1.i) “Consequential damage”
165. The Commission held that “the relatives of the victim made significant economic
efforts to seek justice in domestic courts and to overcome the physical, psychological and
moral trauma sustained as a result of the acts of the State of Honduras". Therefore, it
requested the Court to establish, on equitable basis, the amount of the appropriate
compensation.
166. Furthermore, the representatives requested payment of a compensation for any
expenses incurred as a result of the violations, to wit: Blanca Fernández, Jaime Alejandro
and Selsa Damaris Watt-Kawas, and Carmen Marilena Kawas-Fernández, “who were in the
United States at the time of the murder [and] were forced to travel immediately to
Honduras, incurring a series of expenses in transportation, accommodation and food[, and
that even though] the family does not have the corresponding vouchers, those expenses are
208
This Court has sustained that pecuniary damage involves a “loss of, or detriment to, the income of the
victims, the expenses incurred as a result of the events and the pecuniary consequences that may have a causeeffect link with the events in the instant case”. Cf. Case of Bámaca-Velásquez V. Guatemala. Reparations.
Judgment of February 22, 2002, para. 43; Case of Ríos et al. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and
Costs, supra note 10, para. 396; and Case of Perozo et al. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs,
supra note 10, para. 405.
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