8
33. The judgment stated that the measure of reparation of the creation of a
Community development fund is the result of a violation by the State of several
rights enshrined in the Convention (namely the rights included in Articles 2, 21,
8, and 25 of the same). Therefore, the implementation of this Fund cannot
substitute or replace the public policy measures taken, or to be taken, by the
State to improve the situation of the Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz
and the other Hondurans who live in the area in question in the judgment. Said
public policy measures are the State’s responsibility and are necessary to improve
the quality of life of the residents of the region, as well as to avoid conflicts
between them. Therefore, these public policies can promote a peaceful
coexistence between the different ethnic groups that live in the country (see my
comments infra on the delimitation of lands as a social issue).
34. This means that the creation of the Fund is a pecuniary measure of reparation
additional to the mentioned general obligations of the State. This was expressed
in the judgment when the Court stated that the Fund must be used to carry out
works and services of a collective interest “independently of the public works put
aside in the national budget for that region.”18 Similarly, it was considered that
the Community development fund is “additional to any other present or future
benefit that may correspond to the Community of Triunfo de la Cruz in relation
to the State’s general development duties.”19
35. Therefore, the State cannot equate this measure of reparation with its general
duties in human rights matters. A similar confusion could result in a situation in
which no specific compensation would be granted to the Garífuna Community of
Triunfo de la Cruz, or the public policies addressed to improving their living
conditions could be weakened. If this were the case, the State would fail to
comply with its duty to fulfill the measures of reparation ordered in the judgment.
(ii)
The development of the Court’s case law regarding the juridical personality of
indigenous or tribal peoples and collective damage
36. The general rule when human rights of indigenous and tribal peoples are violated,
causing a collective damage, must be to grant a collective reparation and not a
compensation to individuals or its members. This understanding has also been
reflected in the development of the Court’s case law on this matter.
37. In the Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua the
Court ordered the State, as a pecuniary measure of reparation for non-pecuniary
damage, to invest a certain amount in “works or services of collective interest for
the benefit of the Community.”20 Subsequently, in the Case of the Yakye Axa
Indigenous Community v. Paraguay it ordered the creation of a “community
18
Case of Escué Zapata v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of July 4, 2007. Series C
No. 165, para. 168.
19
Para. 295 of the judgment.
20
Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua. Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of August 31, 2001. Series C No. 79, para. 167.