47
serious nature of [the] violations committed against him, in order to grant him
an adequate reparation and discourages similar violations in the future; and
c)
The Commission did not present any arguments regarding the reparation
for pecuniary damage.
ARGUMENTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
156.
The representatives requested that:
a)
in what refers to pecuniary damages, the fact that Mr. Acosta Calderón
was a farmer, the unified minimum wages of Ecuador, and that the domestic
law establishes “fourteen salaries per each year” be taken into consideration.
Also, “since contact has not been established with Mr. […] Acosta Calderón
[and] his income was before his arrest has not been established [,] it is
estimated that the Court must fairly determine them [at an amount] no less
than $11,248.80;”
b)
regarding lost earnings, they must be fairly determined by the Court,
“but in no case should it be less than US$ 15,000.00;”
c)
regarding non-pecuniary damages, the Court must consider the values
determined in the case of Suárez Rosero, determining an amount that can in no
case be inferior to US$ 20,000;
d)
the State must compensate “the moral damage[,] to Mr. Acosta
Calderón’s next of kin, that is[,] his partner, his four children, and his mother.
For the determination of said compensation, we consider […] that the values
already established by the Court in the case of Suárez Rosero should be used.
Consequently, [the State must pay] a compensation [in] favor of Mr. Acosta
Calderón’s partner in the amount of US$ 20,000.00 as reparation for the moral
damage caused. Likewise, [the State must pay] a compensation in the amount
of US$ 10,000.00 [in] favor of each of [Mr.] Acosta Calderon’s four children for
the moral damage caused. Finally, [the State must pay] an indemnity [in] favor
of [Mr.] Acosta Calderón’s mother in the amount of US$ 10,000.00 as
reparation for the moral damage caused. Based on the aforementioned, [the
State will pay] a total amount of US$102,748.80 (one hundred two thousand
seven hundred and forty eight [dollars with eighty cents]), to be paid in United
States dollars, since this is the legal currency used in Ecuador, [in] favor or Mr.
[…] Acosta Calderón and his closest family members;” and
e)
[i]f the whereabouts of Mr. Acosta Calderón are not determined, we
request that the State create a trust in one of the entities authorized for such
activities and its administration, with the values established as compensations.
If the whereabouts are not determined after ten years, [the Court must
appoint] an organization or entity with no profit motive, which may not be the
Ecumenical Commission of Human Rights, so they may use these amounts in
the defense of the rights of detainees.”
CONSIDERATIONS OF THE COURT
157. Pecuniary damage assumes the loss or detriment of the victim’s income, the
expenses incurred in virtue of the facts, and the pecuniary consequences that have a