85
equivalent to US $46,871.81 (forty-six thousand, eight hundred and seventy-one dollars
of the United States of America and eighty-one cents). Nevertheless, because they
cannot show the Court receipts that accredit this amount, they asked the Court to
determine, in equity, the amount for loss of earnings.
274. The Court observes that the representatives did not present any documentation
or evidence to authenticate the alleged emerging damage or the lost of income suffered
by Mrs. Rosendo Cantú. Notwithstanding, the Court notes that Mrs. Rosendo Cantú
stopped working in the harvest because she feared acts of violence and because of her
search for justice in the case. As a consequence, it is foreseeable that the effects of the
rape caused her to be inactive for some time. For the abovementioned, the Court
decides to fix, in equity, the amount of US US$5.500,00 (five thousand and five hundred
dollars of the United States of America) or its equivalent in Mexican pesos, for the loss of
income of Mrs. Rosendo Cantú. This amount should be given to Mrs. Rosendo Cantú in
the time period fixed by the Court for this purpose (infra para. 287).
ii) Non-pecuniary damage
275. The Court has developed in its jurisprudence the concept of non-pecuniary
damage and the assumptions under which it must be compensated. The Court has
established that non-pecuniary damage “may include the suffering and distress caused
to the direct victims and their next of kin, the impairment of values that are highly
significant to them, and other alternations, of a non-pecuniary nature, in the living
conditions of the victim or his family.”294
276. The Commission asked the Court to establish in equity the amount of the
compensation for non-pecuniary damage, based on the nature of the case and the
gravity of the damage suffered by the victims and their next of kin.
277.
The representatives indicated that the rape of Mrs. Rosendo Cantú resulted in
numerous devastating effects on her life. To which they mentioned the permanent state
of pain, sadness, guilt, and anxiety of the victim, caused by the rape itself and because
of the stigmatization and abandonment of her husband as well as of her community, as
well as the defenselessness and despair felt due to the lack of justice. Moreover, the
stigmatization has caused her feelings of defenselessness and total vulnerability, which
caused her to live traumatic moments and provoked her uproot from the community.
Similarly, the lack of sensibility with which she was treated by officials who attended to
her, the impunity, and the fact that the case went before the military forum have
heightened her feelings of impotence, anguish, and sadness. Likewise, the
representatives expressed that the girl Yenys Bernardino Rosendo, has also been
subjected to serious harm as a result of what happened. Given the aforementioned,
they requested that the State of Mexico order compensation for the harm caused to
Mrs. Rosendo Cantú and her daughter and that economic reparation be determined in
equity.
278. International jurisprudence has repeatedly established that the Judgment may
constitute per se a form of reparation.295 However, considering the circumstances of the
case sub judice, the sufferings that the violations committed caused the victims, as well
as the alterations in their living conditions, and the other consequences of an immaterial
294
The “Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Reparations and costs. Judgment of May
26, 2001. Series C No. 77, para. 84; Case of Chitay Nech et al., supra note 25, para. 273, and Case of Manuel
Cepeda Vargas, supra note 25, para. 242.
295
Cf. Case of Neira Alegría et al. v. Perú. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 19, 1996.
Series C No. 29, para. 56; Case of Chitay Nech et al., supra note 25, para. 275, and Case of Manuel Cepeda
Vargas, supra note 25, Operative Paragraph 7.
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