238. The Commission did not present any specific arguments on this point. The
representatives asked the Court to order the State to organize a public act to acknowledge
international responsibility for the facts of this case and to hold it within one year of notification
of the judgment. The implementation of this public ceremony and other details should be
previously and duly consulted with the next of kin of Claudina Velásquez, and senior
representatives of the Guatemalan Judiciary must take part in it.
239. The State indicated that, since it did not acknowledge its international responsibility for
the facts of the case, it did not accept that a public act was required in that regard.
240. The Court finds that the State must organize an act of public apology with regard to the
facts of this case that occurred to Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz and their subsequent
investigation. During this act, the State must refer to the human rights violations declared in
this judgment. The act must be held by means of a widely publicized public ceremony. The State
must ensure the participation of Jorge Rolando Velásquez Durán, Elsa Claudina Paiz Vidal and
Pablo Andrés Velásquez Paiz, if they so wish, and invite to the event the organizations that
represented Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz’s family members before the national and
international courts. The organization and other details of this public ceremony must be
previously and duly consulted with the said family members. The State authorities present or
taking part in this act must be senior State officials. It will be for the State to define who it
entrusts with this task. The State has one year from notification of this judgment to comply with
this obligation.
C.2.3. Request for funds to create the “Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz - Guatemala”
Foundation
241. The Commission did not present any specific arguments on this point. The
representatives asked that, as a measure of satisfaction and dignification of Claudina
Velásquez, the Court require the State to provide a sum of money to her family to allow them to
create the “Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz – Guatemala” Foundation, which would establish
support mechanism for vulnerable populations, programs for the education and training of
young students in Guatemala, and for divulgation of women’s rights, including programs using
the internet. The amount that the State was required to pay for this concept should be
determined by the Court, based on equity. The State opposed this and reiterated that it had not
incurred responsibility with regard to the life of Claudina Velásquez, so that it would not be
appropriate for the Court to establish measures of reparation “implicitly linked to this right.”
242. In view of the other measures of reparation ordered in this judgment, the Court does not
find it necessary to order this additional measure.
C.3. Guarantees of non-repetition
243. The State reiterated that it was not responsible for any of the alleged violations and,
consequently, it was not required to make reparation to the presumed victims. It noted that
most of the reparations claimed were focused on the prevention, punishment and eradication of
violence against women. In this regard, it affirmed that, in this case, it had not been proved that
the incident had been motivated by the victim’s gender, and that not all crimes against women
were due to the victims being women. It clarified that it had already taken prevention and
punishment measures with the main purpose of eradicating violence against women.
Nevertheless, it claimed that the existence of patterns of human rights violations was not
sufficient to declare a violation.
244. The Court will examine the measures requested by the Commission and the
representatives, taking into account the violations declared in the chapter of this judgment on
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