4
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A public condemnation of the practice of involuntary disappearances carried
out between 1981 and 1984;
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An expression of solidarity with the victims of that practice, including Saúl
Godínez. Public homage to those victims by naming a street, thoroughfare,
school or other public place after them;
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An exhaustive investigation of the phenomenon of involuntary disappearances
in Honduras, with special attention to the fate of each of the disappeared. The
resulting information should be made known to the family and the public;
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Prosecution and appropriate punishment of those responsible for inciting,
planning, implementing or covering up disappearances, in accord with the
laws and procedures of Honduras.
In their opinion, the cash indemnity paid to the family of Saúl Godínez Cruz should include the
following: damages, two hundred thousand lempiras; loss of earnings, two million eighty-three
thousand three hundred and eight lempiras; emotional damages, four million five hundred sixtyseven thousand lempiras; and punitive damages, two million two hundred eighty-three thousand
lempiras.
They especially request
that Enmidida Escoto de Godínez and her minor daughter, Emma Patricia Godínez
Escoto, be recognized as the beneficiaries, and that the Government of Honduras be
ordered to adopt special legislation making that determination, in order to facilitate
the payment of indemnity without the need for judicial proceedings for a declaration
of absence, presumed death or declaration of heirship. For that purpose, we formally
state on behalf of those persons that there are no other persons with a superior claim
to inherit from Saúl Godínez.
Moreover, they ask the Court to establish deadlines within which the Government should make
moral reparation, and to reserve the right to see that they are met. Regarding the monetary
reparation, they ask the Court to set "a deadline of 90 days for the execution of the judgment,
and that a lump-sum payment be made prior to that date to Enmidida Escoto de Godínez."
9.
On March 10, 1989, the Delegate of the Commission submitted a clinical report prepared
by a team of psychiatrists on the state of health of the family of Saúl Godínez Cruz.
10.
The Agent informed the Court on March 14, 1989 that, in payment of the indemnity, his
Government was willing to apply the Honduran law of the National Social Security Institute for
Teachers (Instituto Nacional de Previsión del Magisterio), which it considered the most favorable
in this case because it establishes the right to payment of fourteen thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three lempiras and fifty cents, which includes 36 monthly paycheks plus 70 per cent in
severance pay. Moreover, the Government offered as a gesture to pay an additional amount for a
total of sixty thousand lempiras "in accordance with the Law of Retirement and Pensions for
Teachers, because 'GODINEZ CRUZ' was a member of that system."
11.
On March 15, 1989, the Court held a public audience to hear the parties regarding the
indemnity to be awarded.
The following persons were present: