19
62)27. However, the Tribunal does not have sufficient information to make such
determination. Therefore, the Court deems pertinent to request the parties to submit
detailed information in this regard (infra Operative Paragraph 2 and 3).
64.
That, likewise, according to the court file, Messr. José Marcelino Barrera Sucerquia
addressed a “Certification Record” to the State, with a copy to the Tribunal, by means of
which he indicated that in March 2008 he received, “as compensation” for the damage
suffered in El Aro, the amount of $20.000.000 (twenty million of Colombian pesos), but he
expressed that such amount does not correspond to the amount of $32.000.000 (thirty two
million of Colombian pesos) agreed on "in the record of delivery sent to him by the National
Ministry”, which he did not consider to be correct either; therefore, he requested a
clarification as to this discrepancy. In this regard, it is uncertain for the Tribunal whether the
State or the representatives have answered such queries. Furthermore, even though in the
Judgment it was determined that Messr. Barrera Sucerquia should receive US$ 14.000,00
(fourteen thousand dollars of the United States of America) as compensation, the Tribunal
repeats that there is no sufficient evidence to determine whether the beneficiary effectively
received the amount that corresponded to him; and therefore it deems pertinent to request
further information in this regard (infra Operative Paragraph 2 and 3).
65.
That, on several occassions, Mrs. Rosa María Posada George and her son, Marco
Aurelio Areiza Posada, expressed in writing to this Tribunal their concern about the amounts
the representatives delivered to them as compensations ordered in the Judgment in their
favor and in favor of the other son, José Leonel Areiza Posada. Hence, they expressed their
concern about not knowing whether the amount they received correspond to the total
compensation that the Court ordered in their favor and they indicated that they did not
understand why the legal representatives deducted certain sums from their payments.
Moreover, they pointed out that Mrs. Posada is unaware of the content of certain documents
that the representatives asked her to sign, since she is illiterate. In this regard, the
representatives informed that the doubts of Mrs. Posada deal with, first, the payments
ordered in favor of her two sons as the result of the agreement reached at the
administrative jurisdiction and second, the payments ordered by this Court in the Judgment.
Regarding the first aspect, they presented evidence that confirms that the Grupo
Interdisciplinario por los Derechos Humanos delivered to Mrs. Posada what was ordered in
favor of her two sons in the domestic proceeding and pointed out that they are not familiar
with the amount and details related to any deduction that said lawyer would have made as
fees. Regarding the second aspect, the representatives indicated that they deducted from
the amount that corresponded to said people a 30% as legal fees, as permitted by the
domestic legislation.
66.
That, in relation to what was mentioned above, the Tribunal considers that it is not
competent to solve a dispute of such a nature between private individuals, since at this
stage of the procedure to monitor compliance with the Judgment, the Inter-American Court
only has to determine whether the Colombian State complied with the terms of such
Judgment. The powers of the Court are limited to the enforcement and interpretation of the
American Convention —an instrument that exclusively deals with the rights and obligations
of the States, not individuals.28 Therefore, any dispute related to attorney fee agreement
27
28
Cf. Case of the Ituango Massacres, supra note 7, para. 358.
Cf. Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay. Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of March 29, 2006. Series C Nº 146, para. 136; and Case of Gómez-Paquiyauri Brothers v. Peru.
Monitoring Compliance with Judgment. Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of September 22, 2006;
Considering Clause 16.