the basis of the principle of equity and taking into account the expenses declared by the
parties, provided the amounts are reasonable. 119
132. The Court has held that “the claims of the victims or their representatives in relation
to costs and expenses, and the evidence supporting them, must be presented to the Court at
the first procedural opportunity granted them, namely, in the brief containing pleadings and
motions, without prejudice to those claims being updated subsequently, to include new costs
and expenses incurred as a result of the proceedings before this Court.” 120 The Court also
recalls that it is not enough to merely remit probative documents; rather the parties must
develop the reasoning linking the evidence to the fact under consideration and, in the case of
alleged financial outlays, the items of expenditure and their justification must be described
clearly. 121
133. The Court notes, however, that the representatives have not submitted evidence of
costs and expenses incurred by the victims, and the arguments presented on this subject are
insufficient to provide full justification of the amounts requested. It further cautions that the
representatives had made reference to the “victims” when they explained the expenditures,
but the breakdown of the total amount did not indicate who had incurred each expenditure,
except for the items “legal representation,” “documentation,” and “postal costs.” It notes,
finally, that the payment of the bond at the time of the June, 1984 detention was also covered
in the amount requested. The Court understands that these procedures necessarily required
monetary outlays, and it will therefore set the amounts in equity; the sum will not, however,
include the cost of the bond, which was already ordered (supra paras. 121 and 127). The
Court will accordingly set the costs and expenses as follows:
a) USD 285.00 (two hundred eighty-five United States dollars) for each of the following:
Otilia Flores Ortiz, Lorena Deras Flores, Herminio Deras Flores, Eustaquia García
Alvarado, Domingo Deras Henríquez , Alba Luz Deras García, Irma Isabel Deras García,
Consuelo Deras García, Luis Rolando Deras García, Héctor García, Marlen García
Pineda, José Herminio García, Sandra Ivón Hernández Deras, Marlon Javier García
Barahona, Julio Cesar Chavarría Banegas, Elba Flores Ortiz, and Cristóbal Rufino
Hernández Pérez, in expenses for “legal representation,” “documentation” and “postal
costs;”
b) USD 540.00 (five hundred forty United States dollars) for each of the following: Otilia
Flores Ortiz, Irma Isabel Deras García, Luis Rolando Deras García, and Alba Luz Deras
García, in view of specific outlays they made that, according to the representatives,
were all in the same amount;
c) USD 2,850.00 (two thousand eight hundred fifty United States dollars) for Irma Deras
García for expenditures incurred by her daughter, Patricia Chavarría Deras, for the
public hearing before this Court;
119
Cf. Case of Garrido and Baigorria v. Argentina. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 27, 1998. Series
C No. 39, para. 82, and Case of Guevara Díaz v. Costa Rica, supra, para. 112.
120
Cf. Case of Garrido y Baigorria v. Argentina, supra, para. 79, and Case of Movilla Galarcio et al. v. Colombia,
supra, para. 252.
121
Cf. Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and
Costs. Judgment of November 21, 2007. Series C No. 170, para. 277, and Case of Movilla Galarcio et al. v. Colombia,
supra, para. 252.