490. First of all, APRODEH has been accompanying the family members of Eduardo Nicolás
Cruz Sánchez, Herma Luz Meléndez Cueva and Víctor Salomón Peceros Pedraza in the
investigation and processing of the domestic and international litigation of the instant case
since 2001 and until the present, but the representatives submitted vouchers only for the costs
of transportation, room and board and per diem to attend the Court’s hearing on this case in
San Jose, Costa Rica. The vouchers sent for CEJIL pertain to expenditures for processing the
international case, including transportation, room and board and per diem, as well as the costs
of sending affidavits.
491. The Court finds, regarding the vouchers submitted by the representatives, that: (a)
some of the payment vouchers cite an item of expenditure that does not clearly and specifically
pertain to the instant case, and (b) some of the payment receipts are so illegible as not to
clearly indicate the amount of money being proven or the item of expenditure. These particular
amounts have been deducted equitably from the Court’s calculations. The representatives also
submitted payment vouchers on the exercise of reconstruction of the facts, which were taken
into account for inclusion in the calculation because they apply to disbursements for litigation
of this case beyond those covered by the State. The Court also finds it reasonable to presume
that there were other outlays over the course of the approximately 14 years that APRODEH
was working.
492. Therefore, the Court judges that it can correctly order a reasonable sum, USD 10,000
(ten thousand United States dollars) to the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH),
Human Rights Association, in reimbursement of costs and expenses for the work done in
domestic and international litigation of the case. The Court will also set a reasonable amount
of USD 20,000 (twenty thousand United States dollars) for the Center for Justice and
International Law (CEJIL) as reimbursement of costs and expenses in its work for international
litigation of the case. These amounts must be disbursed directly to each representative
organization. The Court may also order the State to further reimburse the victims or their
representatives for reasonable expenses incurred during the procedural stage of monitoring
compliance with this judgment.
F.
Reimbursement of expenditures to the Legal Assistance Fund
493. The General Assembly of the Organization of American States created the Legal
Assistance Fund of the Inter-American Human Rights System in 2008, with the stated purpose
“to facilitate access to the inter-American human rights system by persons who currently lack
the resources needed to bring their cases before the system”.517 The fund was used in the
instant case to grant financial aid to cover travel and lodging expenses needed for expert
witnesses Federico Andreu Guzmán and Luis Bernardo Fondebrider to appear before the Court
and give their expert statements in the public hearing at the seat of the Court in the city of
San Jose, Costa Rica, and the costs of formalizing and sending two affidavits by declarants
proposed by the representatives (supra para. 7). However, on January 3, 2014, the
representatives informed the Court that expert witness Luis Bernardo Fondebrider would be
unable to travel to the seat of the Court to render his requested expert testimony due to
medical issues, and the Court ordered that this expert testimony be taken over electronic
audiovisual media during the scheduled hearing on the instant case (supra footnote 10).
AG/RES. 2426 (XXXVIII-O/08), resolution adopted by the Thirty-eighth Regular Session of the OAS General
Assembly in the fourth plenary session held on June 3, 2008, Establishment of the Legal Assistance Fund of the InterAmerican Human Rights System”, operative paragraph 2(a), and CP/RES. 963 (1728/09), Resolution adopted on
November 11, 2009, by the Permanent Council of the OAS, Rules of Procedure for the Operation of the Legal
Assistance Fund of the Inter-American Human Rights System”, article 1.1.
517
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