processing their migratory status, etc.)”; c) expenses generated by their return from
exile; d) “[c]osts of medical and/or psychological treatment for different family members,
as well as the expenses incurred for the respective treatments”, and e) lost earnings,
including the income that A.A. received monthly and the “income earned monthly by the
relatives (children and grandchildren) who lost their jobs as a result of their forced
displacement.” In addition, they requested that the Court order the payment “of monetary
compensation for moral damage, calculated according to equity and based on the
psychological assessment submitted to the Inter-American Commission.”
268. The State argued that it is not responsible for providing any form of compensation
to the family of Mr. A.A., since it does not consider itself responsible for the violations
alleged in this case. It emphasized that the representatives did not provide any evidence
of the pecuniary damage suffered by the victims and that “no type of pecuniary reparation
is owed for moral damage,” since it “has conducted a serious and diligent investigation […]
to determine what happened to them.” In addition, the relatives “have never requested
psychological help from the State or indicated that they have an impediment to their
emotional recovery.”
D.2. Considerations of the Court
D.2.1. Pecuniary damages
269. First, having determined that there was no proven violation of Article 4 of the
Convention to the detriment of Mr. A.A. (supra para. 149), the Court considers that it is
not appropriate to order the State to provide reimbursement for the expenses incurred as
a consequence of his death, including funeral expenses and loss of earnings of Mr. A.A.
270. On the other hand, with respect to the pecuniary damage presumably caused by
the displacement of E.A., J.A. and K.A. from their community, and of C.A., B.A., L.A. and
N.A. outside of Guatemala, and by the return of B.A. from Mexico, the Court finds that the
representatives did not specify the nature of the expenses incurred by these events,
beyond indicating in general terms that they included “rents, schooling, legal expenses for
processing their migratory status, etc.,” as well as the loss of the monthly income earned
by the daughters and grandchildren of Mr. A.A. in their community. In this regard, the
representatives did not indicate the approximate amounts of those expenses, or who paid
for them. Nor did they specify which family members suffered a loss of income, or how
much these individuals earned at the time when they were forced to leave their places of
residence. In this regard, the Court notes that N.A., son of B.A., and J.A. and K.A.,
children of E.A., were minors at the time when they were displaced (supra para. 178). The
representatives did not argue the reasons for which the schooling costs should be included
in this item. Similarly, the Court finds that the representatives did not provide documents
that demonstrate the alleged pecuniary damage.
271. Nevertheless, the Court presumes, as it has done in previous cases, that C.A.,
B.A., E.A. and L.A., at least, incurred various expenses due to their displacement.
Therefore, it deems it pertinent to order the reimbursement of the sum of USD
$30,000.00 (thirty thousand dollars of the United States of America) for pecuniary
damages in favor of each of these individuals, with an additional sum of USD $10,000.00
(ten thousand dollars of the United States of America) for those who were displaced
outside of Guatemala. Likewise, the Court presumes that Mrs. E.A. and Mrs. B.A. incurred
additional expenses resulting from their own displacement and that of their children, which
should be reimbursed. Consequently, it orders an additional amount of USD $5,000.00
(five thousand dollars of the United States of America) for B.A., who traveled with one
child, and of USD $10,000.00 (ten thousand dollars of the United States of America) for
E.A., who traveled with two children.
272. As to the request that the victims be reimbursed for “[e]xpenses for medical
and/or psychological treatment for the different family members,” the Court notes that the
representatives did not specify who had received said treatment, or when or how often
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