55
30,000 balboas, equivalent to US$ 30,000 (thirty thousand dollars of the United
States of America.)
189. This Court has repeatedly held that a judgment declaring the existence of a
violation constitutes, in and of itself, a form of reparation.156 Nevertheless, in view of
the circumstances of the instant case, of the pain and suffering that the violations
caused the victim and of the non-pecuniary damages inflicted on him, the Court
deems it pertinent to order that fair compensation, to be set on equitable grounds,
be paid for non-pecuniary damages.
190. For the purposes of setting the compensation for non-pecuniary damages, the
Court considers that the private life of Mr. Tristán Donoso was invaded and that he
was discredited as a professional, firstly before two important audiences: the
authorities of the Colegio Nacional de Abogados [National Bar Association] and the
Catholic Church, to which he provided legal counsel; and then before society, due to
the criminal conviction entered against him.157
191. In view of the foregoing, the Court deems it pertinent to order that
compensation be paid to the victim for non-pecuniary damages in the amount of US$
15,000.00 (fifteen thousand dollars of the United States of America). The State shall
pay this amount directly to the beneficiary within one year as from the date notice of
the instant Judgment be served.
C)
Satisfaction measures and guarantees of non-repetition
192. Under this heading, the Court will order non-monetary satisfaction measures
aimed at redressing non-pecuniary damages, and will also order measures of public
scope or impact.158
a) Setting aside the conviction and its consequences
193. The Inter-American Commission requested that the judgment entered on April
1, 2005 by the Segundo Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Panamá [Panamá High
Court of Justice Number Two], which convicted the victim of the crime of defamation
to the detriment of the former Procurador General de la Nación [National Attorney
General], be set aside in full.
194. Like the Commission, the representatives requested that the judgment
entered on April 1, 2005 by the Segundo Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Panamá
[Panamá High Court of Justice Number Two] be set aside, that any ancillary civil
compensation Mr. Tristán Donoso may have been ordered to pay be declared
ineffective and that his name be struck from all criminal background records.
156
Cf. Case of Neira-Alegría et al. v. Peru. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 19, 1996.
Series C No. 29, para. 57; Case of Ticona-Estrada et al., supra note 6, para. 130, and Case of ValleJaramillo et al., supra note 6, para. 224.
157
Cf. Testimony of Ms. Aimée Urrutia-Delgado rendered before a public official whose acts
command full faith and credit, supra note 16, folio 522.
158
Cf. Case of Villagrán-Morales et al. (“Street Children”). Reparations and Costs, supra note 155,
para. 84; Case of Ticona-Estrada et al., supra note 6, para. 142, and Case of Valle-Jaramillo et al., supra
note 6, para. 227.