47
due to food, medicine, transportation, in order to provide him with the necessary elements
for survival.”
225.
The Tribunal reiterates that the representatives founded the alleged pecuniary
damages incurred by Mr. Usón Ramírez on the annexes of the writ of pleadings and
allegations titled “[r]elation of expenses caused while Mr. Vicente Uson Ramirez was
detained from May 22, 2004 to December 24, 2007.”165 In this regard, the Court considers
that the “relation of expenses” contains only estimations of expenses that are not
accompanied by valid receipts that accredit the expenses incurred by Mr. Uson Ramirez nor
allows for the determination of amounts incurred. 166 As such, the Tribunal notes that the
representatives presented along with their final allegatins a second document entitled
“[r]elation of expenses caused while Mr. Vicente Uson Ramirez was detained from May 22,
2004 to December 24, 2007.” Said document, which containes amounts larger than those
indicated in the writ of pleadings and allegations, was submitted extemporaneously, so the
Tribunal declared it inadmissible (supra paras. 31 and 33). Consequently, the Tribunal
cannot accept the evidence that was submitted for such expenses. However, it is proven
that Mr. Usón Ramírez was a retired General who had held various public positions, even as
Minister of Finance. Therefore, although there is no verification of the revenues that Mr.
Usón Ramírez did not receive due to the violations declared in this Judgment, the labor
record of Mr. Usón Ramírez allows this Court to establish with sufficient certainty that during
his time in prison, he could have been held a paying position.167 Due to the above, the Court
sets the amount of US$ 40,000.00 (forty thousand U.S. dollars) for pecuniary damages,
since it considers such amount adequate in terms of equity, as it has done in other cases.
C.2)
Non-pecuniary damages
226.
The Court has developed the concept of non-pecuniary damages in its jurisprudence
and the alleged basis to indemnify it.168
227.
The Commission alleged that “the Venezuelan State has the obligation to repair
[the] non-pecuniary damages suffered by Mr. Usón Ramírez [due to] the violations which he
was subjected.” Furthermore, it pointed out that “the existence of moral damages is a
necessary consequence of the nature of the violations against the victim who has been
restrained, discredited, accused, judgmentd, and imprisoned as a consequence of the
exercise of his freedom of expression. Likewise, although Mr. Usón Ramírez has recently
recovered his liberty, such liberty is subject to conditions, among which, the prohibition to
exercise his right to express himself. All this has personal and professional consequences for
Mr. Usón [Ramírez].”
228.
The representatives alleged that “the moral damages caused to [Mr. Usón
Ramirez], as a direct victim in this case, is estimated cautiously at one hundred thousand
U.S. dollars (US$ 100.000[,000]), or its equivalent in national currency”. The above is due
165
Cf. “Expenses related to food and medicine of Francisco V. Usón Ramírez, incurred during his time in
prison (prepared by him)” (case file of attachments of the written brief containing pleadings and motions,
attachment 8, fs. 4816 y 4927 a 4929).
166
Cf. Case of Vargas Areco, supra note 76, para. 167; Case of Valle Jaramillo et al., supra note 38, para.
244, and Case of Bayarri, supra note 43, para. 193..
167
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez, supra note 152, para. 49; Case of Anzualdo Castro, supra note 109,
para. 214, and Case of Valle Jaramillo et al., supra note 38, para. 216.
168
This Court has indicated that inpecuniary damages “can consist of the suffering and harm caused directly
to the victim and their alleged, infringing on what is of value, and all other perturbances which can not healed in a
pecuniary sense.” Case of the “Street Children” (Villagrán-Morales et al.), supra note 158, para. 84; Case of
Garibaldi, supra note 11, para. 157, and Case of Escher et al., supra note 11, para. 229.
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