-32141. In the evidence contained in the file, the Court has identified that Mr. Colindres Schonenberg
would have received approximately USD$31,314.62 as salary between July 2, 1998, and July 30,
1999.172 Regarding the other amounts requested, the Court does not have sufficient evidence to
consider that they should be considered as part of the salary, and therefore, as lost income.
142. Therefore, the Court deems it reasonable to set the amount of US$32,000.00 (thirty-two
thousand U.S. dollars) for lost income to be paid to Mr. Eduardo Benjamín Colindres Schonenberg.
E.2 Non-Pecuniary Damages
143. The representatives argued that the human rights violations caused by the State to the
detriment of Eduardo Benjamín Colindres, “damaged his public image, his honor, his self-esteem,
and his dignity [because] they entailed pressure, instability, uncertainty, frustrations,
disappointments, and anguish that have transcended time.” They added that the fact that Mr.
Colindres was accused of lacking a respectable education and of being immoral; this constituted
a grievance that he carries with him to this day. Consequently, they requested ordering that the
State pay the amount of one million U.S. Dollars for pain and suffering. Finally, the representatives
requested compensatory damages for damage to his life plan. In this regard, the representatives
argued that the disqualification from holding any public office meant for Mr. Colindres the loss of
the right to “opt for a public office, whose constitutional requirement is to possess morality,
honesty, and respectable education.” Therefore, they requested an additional payment of one
million U.S. Dollars.
144. The State it argued that the amount requested by the representatives is not “related to the
nature and seriousness of the violations attributed to the State in this case, nor to the damage
allegedly caused to Mr. Colindres.” They added that the amount of compensation for the first
dismissal of Mr. Colindres for a period similar to his second dismissal, for pain and suffering, was
set at $114,285.71. Based on the foregoing, the State asked the Court to establish, in equity, an
amount “consistent with the nature and seriousness of the violations” upon estimating its
international responsibility in this case.
145. This Court has produced case law on the subject of non-pecuniary damages, establishing
that it may include both the suffering and distress caused to the direct victims and their next of
kin, and the impairment of values that are highly significant to them, as well as other sufferings
that cannot be assessed in financial terms that it can cause to the living conditions of the victim
or their family.173
146. The Court notes that in the statement made by the victim, he made reference to the
suffering and afflictions endured as a result of the violations declared in this case. In this regard,
Mr. Colindres Schonenberg stated that after spending “25 years of [his] life […] studying and
[having declared] that he had no respectable education, […] that [he was] immoral; all of this
undoubtedly affected [his] entire family in the deepest sense because they threatened everything
that [his] life had represented.”174
The evidence provided refers to the salaries received by the judge who replaced Mr. Colindres Schonenberg.
Salary information for April 1999 was not included. The Court took as reference the salary of March and May 1999 to
include in the total sum an estimate corresponding to April 1999. Cf. Communication from the Supreme Electoral
Tribunal of December 18, 2017 (merits file, folio 170).
173
Cf. Case of the “Street Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
May 26, 2001. Series C No. 77, para. 84, and Case of Terrones Silva et al. v. Peru Preliminary Objections, Merits,
Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of September 26, 2018. Series C No. 360, para. 267.
174
Statement made by Eduardo Benjamín Colindres Schonenberg on September 27, 2018, at the public hearing
held in this case.
172