76
measure, the State must take all necessary steps to guarantee the effective prosecution
and, as appropriate, punishment of the facts constituting forced disappearance through the
mechanisms that exist in its domestic law.
220. In addition, the representatives asked the Court to order “the creation of a
commission on reparations for disappeared children,” with the necessary independence and
funding; different types of reparation should be foreseen, including measures of material
restitution and financial compensation. The State reported that, on May 5, 2010, by
Executive Decree No. 57, the “National Commission on Reparation for the Victims of the
Human Rights Violations that occurred in the Context of the Internal Armed Conflict” was
established in order to propose to the President of the Republic, in a duly justified report,
the establishment of a presidential program to provide reparation to the victims of serious
human rights violations, which would include the young people who have been found. In this
regard, the Court considers that the delivery of this judgment and the reparations ordered
are sufficient and adequate to remedy the violations suffered by the victims in this case.303
221. Regarding the other requests of the Commission304 and the representatives,305 the
Court observes that they were not presented at the appropriate procedural moment; in
other words, when submitting the application in this case to the Court’s consideration, and in
the pleadings and motions brief. The requests are therefore time-barred and will not be
considered.306
E.
Compensation
1.
Pecuniary damage
222. The Commission asked the Court to establish, in equity, the amount of compensation
corresponding to the pecuniary damage caused as a result of the alleged violations. The
representatives stated that, in order to find the disappeared children, the victims’ next of kin
and the Search Association incurred multiple expenses. In addition, the next of kin incurred
different expenses in order to obtain medical attention and medicines as a result of the
effect on them of the harm caused. However, since “they do not have documents to support
the expenses incurred by the families,” they asked the Court to determine, in equity, the
amounts that the State must pay to each family for indirect damage. The State asked the
Court to set an amount for the reparation of pecuniary damage in keeping with the
parameters established in case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters.
223. In its case law, the Court has developed the concept of pecuniary damage and the
hypotheses under which it must be compensated. This Court has established that pecuniary
damage assumes “the loss of or detriment to the income of the victims, the expenses
incurred as a result of the facts, and the consequences of a pecuniary nature that have a
303
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 25, para. 359; Case of Cabrera García and Montiel Flores, supra
note 272, para. 247, and Case of Vélez Loor, supra note 13, para. 294.
304
During the public hearing and in its brief with final observations, the Commission expressed the need for
the State to ensure that “symbols of honor are removed from perpetrators of serious violations in the context of the
armed conflict, including the designation of certain military ranks with the name Domingo Monterrosa.”
305
In their brief of final arguments, the representatives asked the Court to order the State “to designate a
State entity” with specialized personnel and adequate operating resources with “the authority and responsibility to
review the archives held by the Armed Forces in order to classify them and make them available to the
corresponding authorities.”
306
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 25, para. 359; Case of Gelman, supra note 16, para. 269, and
Case of Rosendo Cantú et al., supra note 137, para. 269.
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