6. Thus, the Court merely established, in one case, the re-opening of the investigation and, in the other, the continuation and conclusion of the investigation, followed by all the subsequent procedural stages up until the possible sentencing and conviction of those responsible was obtained, without establishing an alternative or supplementary penalty, if no sanctions were imposed. To the contrary, with due respect, I understand that a compensatory sum should have been established in case it was not possible to establish the guilt of those responsible, which unfortunately will be very difficult or perhaps impossible. Moreover, since laws and judgments should not contain words or orders that are meaningless, at the very least, compensation should be established. 7. There are many reasons for the facts of this case to remain unpunished. The incidents occurred almost 18 years ago, in 1996. However, they remain at the investigation stage and, in the future, must be processed at all the levels of the courts, perhaps for decades. It is difficult to imagine when there could be a final decision. Furthermore, it is easy to foresee the limited possibility of effective punishment, due either to lack of evidence, increasingly scarce with the passage of time, or to a possible statute of limitations. 8. In my opinion, the Court should establish pecuniary compensation for the cases that, when the judicial stage has concluded, have not obtained a conviction, resulting in impunity and feelings of injustice for the victims. Although it is not possible to remedy the pain and the thirst for justice, my proposal was to establish in this and in similar cases, a sum of between US$50,000.00 and US$150,000.00 as compensation in cases where no conviction is obtained. 9. If the law should not include words that are meaningless at the risk of being a simple piece of paper, much less are innocuous decisions acceptable in the judgment delivered by a court at the risk of being merely an empty promise. Roberto F. Caldas Judge Pablo Saavedra Alessandri Secretary 2