20
h)
The following persons should be considered as beneficiaries of the
compensation paid for moral damages:
h.i)
Luis Alberto Cantoral Benavides, victim;
h.ii)
Gladys Benavides López, mother;
h.iii)
Luis Fernando Cantoral Benavides, brother;
h.iv)
Isaac Alonso Cantoral Benavides, brother; and
h.v)
José Antonio Cantoral Benavides, brother, and
i)
At age 20, Luis Alberto, at the time a biology student at the
Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, watched in frustration and anguish as
every personal and professional opportunity he had was ruined and his life
plan was destroyed. The claim seeking reparation for the loss of options
caused by that wrongful act is admissible. Any rebuilding of the victim’s life
plan hinges on his professional education, which the State must ensure
without requiring that Luis Alberto return to Peru for his education, as he is
unable to do so in his current mental state.
Consequently, they are
requesting the same figure they requested as compensation for moral
damages, which is US$80,000.00 (eighty thousand dollars of United States of
America), to compensate Luis Alberto for the loss of his life plan. Given the
victim’s youth and potential, that figure would be sufficient to enable him to
study and live in Brazil. The amount was not arrived at on the basis of an
equity-informed assessment; instead, it was based on a more objective
criterion, arrived at by calculating a series of specific expenses related to the
victim’s academic relocation and his psychological rehabilitation. The figure
used to make the calculation was an approximate estimate of what is needed
to live in Brazil (US$700.00 –seven hundred dollars of United States of
America- or US$800.00 –eight hundred dollars of United States of Americaper month), plus the cost of his studies (US$400.00 –four hundred dollars of
United States of America- per month), and social security (US$200 –two
hundred dollars of United States of America- per month). When multiplied by
12 months, the total is US$15,600.00 (fifteen thousand six hundred dollars of
United States of America). This figure, when multiplied by five years, is
approximately US$80,000.00 (eighty thousand dollars of United States of
America).
The Commission’s arguments
55.
The Commission pointed out that:
a)
All members of the Cantoral Benavides family were adversely affected
and suffered directly from Luis Alberto’s absence, because of his arbitrary
detention and the conditions of his incarceration. They also experienced the
humiliating treatment every time they visited the victim in prison; some
members of the family were also unlawfully persecuted by the Peruvian
State;