law in the region. Consequently, the Inter-American Court finds that the practice of reviewing
of compliance with the Convention is the correct tool to monitor domestic interpretation and
ensure that it meets international standards, specifically the principles established in this
Judgment. This exercise will not be overseen by the Court.
G. Pecuniary compensation
295. The Commission asked that the State duly redress the human rights violations declared
in the Report on the Merits, including both pecuniary and non-pecuniary reparations.
296. The State argued that the amounts provided under the special
suitable, sufficient, and comprehensive reparation." It noted that
procedures “are available to the [Larrabeiti Yáñez] siblings today, they
they will continue to be once the Court […] issues a ruling, so that
reparation […] they are due […], as long as they agree to receive it.”
laws constitute "just,
these administrative
were in the past, and
they may obtain the
G.1. Pecuniary damages
297. The representative asked for the payment of USD 800,000.00 (eight hundred thousand
dollars of the United States of America) to be ordered for the forced disappearance of the
Julien Grisonas couple “as compensatory reparation for the damage caused jointly to the two
petitioners consisting of the loss of the lives of both parents.” As for the so-called “spoils of
war”, it requested the sum of USD 180,000.00 (one hundred eighty thousand dollars of the
United States of America).
298. It explained that reparation for loss of future earnings must be calculated in
consideration of: (a) the ages of Julien Cáceres and Ms. Grisonas Andrijauskaite, who were 33
and 31 years old, respectively; (b) life expectancy estimated at 75 years, and (c) their
educational and cultural status, their occupations, and their intellectual and labor capacity. On
this basis, it asked that the State be ordered to pay both applicants USD 705,600.00 (seven
hundred five thousand six hundred dollars of the United States of America) with respect to the
father and USD 739,200.00 (seven hundred thirty nine thousand two hundred dollars of the
United States of America) with respect to the mother.
299. It noted that Anatole and Victoria had incurred various expenses “in the search […] for
their parents,” as well as “to obtain justice and learn the truth of what happened,” over the
course of 25 years. It asked the Court to order, in equity, “an overall amount for each
applicant." It added that these efforts had prevented them from “devoting all the time required
[…] to their own jobs and other activities,” for which it is “reasonable […] that the […]
applicants’ loss of future earnings be taken into consideration,” which it estimated at
USD 120,000.00 (one hundred and twenty thousand dollars of the United States of America)
for each victim.
300. The Court has developed its jurisprudence on the concept of pecuniary damages and
has established that it presupposes the loss or the detriment of income of the victims, the
expenses made because of the events and the consequences of a pecuniary nature that have
a causal nexus with the facts of the case. 313 Likewise, the jurisprudence has reiterated the
clearly compensatory nature of the redress, whose nature and amount depend on the damage
caused, for which reason they are not supposed to enrich or impoverish the victims or their
heirs. 314
Cf. Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 22, 2002. Series
C No. 91, par. 43, and Case of Garzón Guzmán et al. v. Ecuador, supra, par. 130.
314
Cf. Case of the “White Van” (Paniagua Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of May
25, 2001. Series C No. 76, para. 79, and Case of Ríos Avalos et al. v. Paraguay, supra par. 205.
313
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