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the Court takes into account the vouchers provided by the representatives, diverse
testimonies provided to the Court, and the statement of the expert witness, María
Dolores Álvarez Arzate, regarding the oral tradition of the indigenous communities.
245. The Court will not establish compensation for loss of earnings, with regard to
non-attendance to economic or work activities, since they do not have a causal
relationship with the violations declared in the judgment.
246. With regard to the non-pecuniary damage caused to the candidates, the Court
must bear in mind that being proposed as a candidate to participate in an electoral
process has particular importance and is a great honor among the members of the
indigenous and ethnic communities of the Atlantic Coast. Those who accept a
candidacy must demonstrate capacity, honesty, and commitment to the defense of the
needs of the communities, and assume the significant responsibility of representing
their interests. The witness, John Alex Delio Bans, stated that the candidates felt
discriminated against, because they could not exercise their right to be elected. The
witness, Anicia Matamoros de Marly, stated that she “felt demoralize[d and as if all
their lives [they had been excluded[, ...] and that they were being excluded again”;
the communities “almost blamed their leaders, [because they thought] that they had
made a pact.” The witness. Eklan James Molina, and the expert witness, María Dolores
Álvarez Arzate, made similar statements.
247. The Court considers these special circumstances when assessing the frustration
that the candidates felt at finding themselves unduly excluded from participating in the
elections and representing their communities. This feeling was accentuated by the fact
that the Supreme Electoral Council did not provide any justification to explain why the
candidates proposed by YATAMA could not be registered. This meant that the
communities did not understand the reasons for the exclusion of their candidates. The
latter felt powerless to give an explanation to their communities and considered that
the exclusion was the result of their condition as members of indigenous communities.
248. In view of the foregoing, the Court establishes, based on the principle of equity,
the amount of US$80,000.00 (eighty thousand United States dollars) or the equivalent
in Nicaraguan currency, as compensation for the said pecuniary and non-pecuniary
damage, to be delivered to YATAMA, which should distribute it as appropriate.
C) OTHER FORMS OF REPARATION
(MEASURES OF SATISFACTION AND GUARANTEES OF NON-REPETITION)
249.
Arguments of the Commission
It requested the Court to order the State:
(a)
To publicly acknowledge the candidates for the positions of mayors,
deputy mayors and councilors presented by the regional indigenous political
party YATAMA for the municipal elections of November 5, 2000, in the RAAN
and the RAAS, in a symbolic act, previously agreed with the victims and their
representatives;
(b)
To adopt in its domestic legislation all necessary measures to create an
effective and simple recourse to contest the resolutions of the Supreme
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