26
Therefore, the Court considers that the State shall pay the interests corresponding to
the bank interest on delayed payments in Colombia and for the period of time that
went by between February 27, 2007 –expiration date of the term stated in the
Judgment in which the payment should have been made- and the date on which the
State actually made the payment or informed each of the beneficiaries or, in its case,
their representatives, according to each individual case, that the payments were at
their full disposal to be withdrawn or made effective.
c)
Exchange rate used
68.
That regarding the exchange rate for dollars to Colombian pesos used for the
effects of the payments made, the State indicated it complied with that stated in
paragraph 288 of the Judgment, that is, it used as base the Representative Market
Rate (TRM) of the dollar of the day prior to December 27, 2007, date on which the
deposit was made at the Bank. Additionally, it stated that the Judgment cannot be
settled with the dollar’s value in February 2007, since the exchange rate used is that of
the day prior to payment, according to said Judgment.
69.
That the representatives stated, with regard to the exchange rate used, that the
amounts of money would have had to be deposited in United States dollars and in the
most favorable financial conditions for the beneficiaries. They state that for this it
would have had to use the value of the dollar on the day prior to the date on which the
payment became demandable and not the date on which the State deposited the
money at the bank. They considered that the moment of payment is the one in which
the people in fact have the possibility to access the compensation and stated that the
consignment of the amount of money made by the State was not communicated to
them or the beneficiaries directly or their representatives, thus they did not have the
possibilities to access said payment until Order No. 825 was communicated to them, at
the meeting of May 8, 2008. Therefore, the representatives requested that they be
paid the value of the totality of the compensations and interests on delayed payments
pursuant with the value of the dollar at the time in which the corresponding payment
became demandable, that is, on February 27, 2007.
70.
That the Commission considered it incorrect that the State froze the value of
the dollar taking into account the quote in force the day prior to said deposit.
71.
That regarding the currency used to make the payments, in the cases in which
the payment of pecuniary compensations has been ordered, the Tribunal “has
established that the State may comply with its obligations through the payment in
dollars of the United States of America or in an equal amount in the national currency,
which applies based on the exchange rate between both currencies in force in the
international market, obeying only the need to preserve the value of the amounts set
in the concept of reparation, with regard to the period of time the processing of the
case took at a national and international level, as well as the amount of time that will
go by until the payment offered is in fact made.”14 In the terms of the Judgment, the
State may make the payments in either of the two currencies mentioned, for which in
this sense the Tribunal does not consider that the State failed to comply with that
ordered.
14
Cf. Case of Perozo et al v. Venezuela. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of January 28, 2009. Series C No. 195, para. 405; and Case of Ríos et al. v. Venezuela.
Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of January 28, 2009. Series C No. 194,
para. 396.