-74-
Every person has the right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law
and, in general, from the moment of conception. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life
130. The Court considers that, in the instant case, the body of evidence does not
contain reliable elements leading to the conclusion that the sisters, Ernestina and
Erlinda Serrano Cruz, were arbitrarily deprived of the right to life. In this regard, the
Court considers that, since it lacks jurisdiction to rule on the alleged forced
disappearance of Ernestina and Erlinda, it cannot presume, as in other cases in which
the alleged facts are based on the crime of forced disappearance, that the right to
life has been violated.
131. In this regard, as mentioned previously in this judgment (supra para. 97), it
is possible that the sisters, Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz, are alive, since the
young people found by the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda who disappeared in the 1982
“guinda de mayo,” when they were children, were found alive (supra para. 48(8)).
132. Based on the foregoing considerations, the Court will not rule on the alleged
violation of Article 4 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof,
to the detriment of Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz, because it lacks jurisdiction
to rule on possible violations that arose from facts or acts that occurred prior to June
6, 1995, or that began to be executed before that date, on which El Salvador
deposited the instrument accepting the Court’s jurisdiction with the OAS General
Secretariat, as decided by the Court in the judgment on preliminary objections
(supra para. 21).
XI
REPARATIONS
APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 63(1)
OBLIGATION TO REPAIR
133. As stated in the preceding chapters, the Court has decided that the State is
responsible for the violation of Articles 8(1) and 25 of the American Convention to
the detriment of Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz and their next of kin, and of
Article 5 thereof to the detriment of the latter, all in relation to Article 1(1) of the
Convention. This Court has established that it is a principle of international law that
any violation of an international obligation that has produced damage entails the
obligation to repair it adequately.36 In this regard, the Court has based itself on
Article 63(1) of the American Convention, which stipulates:
If the Court finds that there has been a violation of a right or freedom protected by this
Convention, the Court shall rule that the injured party be ensured the enjoyment of his right
or freedom that was violated. It shall also rule, if appropriate, that the consequences of the
measure or situation that constituted the breach of such right or freedom be remedied and
that fair compensation be paid to the injured party.
Consequently, the Court will now consider the measures needed to repair the
damage caused to Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz and their next of kin owing to
the said violations of the Convention.
36
Cf. Case of Lori Berenson Mejía, supra note 3, para. 230; Case of Carpio Nicolle et al., supra note
3, para., 85; and Case of De la Cruz Flores, supra note 8, para. 138.