“he was convicted and the trial was still open, without knowing when it would end.”
When he lost his job, Mr. Mohamed said that “he was desperate” since he did not have
the financial means to support his family. He also affirmed that the dismissal involved
“being left without social benefits and medical care,” and, therefore, he was unable to
access or even afford psychological treatment. Mr. Mohamed stated that the situation in
which he found himself made him lose the “will to live” and he “was often on the verge
of suicide.” He said that in his state of desperation, his health deteriorated, “both
mentally and physically,” which resulted in the onset of diabetes, high blood pressure
and heart problems. Mr. Mohamed stated, inter alia, that being unable to drive, and
being “the sole support for [his] family”, led him to seek other sources of income and
work as a vendor of “churros […] plants, socks and t-shirts.”
171. Bearing in mind Mr. Mohamed’s comments in his statement, and particularly the
fact that he worked as a bus driver,136 this Court finds that the failure to guarantee him
a means to challenge the criminal conviction and the execution of the sentence of
disqualification from driving caused a serious detriment to his financial situation and to
his access to the social security system, as well as great distress and suffering.
172. For the foregoing reasons, the Court deems it appropriate to order compensation
in favor of Mr. Oscar Alberto Mohamed that includes both pecuniary and non-pecuniary
damages, for which it determines in equity the sum of US$ 50,000 (fifty thousand dollars
of the United States of America). The State shall pay this amount directly to the
beneficiary within one year as of notification of this judgment.
173. The Court notes that the representatives considered as “direct costs arising from
the violation suffered” by Mr. Mohamed, the fact that he had to ask for loans from his
neighbors, buy medicines at his own expense and even that his mother had to assume
financial responsibility for the family for a time. These allegations were not proven to the
Court. However, this Court finds that such expenses arose from the situation already
examined by the Court regarding the loss of earnings, which was taken into account in
setting the amount of compensation that includes both pecuniary and non-pecuniary
damages. Therefore, it is not appropriate to grant him another compensation for the
same situation.
F) Costs and expenses
174. As the Court has indicated on previous occasions, costs and expenses are included
within the concept of reparations as established in Article 63(1) of the American
Convention.137
175. The representatives asked the Court to order Argentina “to reimburse the costs
and expenses incurred by the alleged victims and their representatives as a result of the
present case.”
136
The body of evidence shows that, at the time of the facts, Mr. Mohamed earned a salary of 500.75
Argentine pesos as a bus driver (supra para. 61), information not disputed by the State. The Court finds that
the calculation made by the representatives in requesting the compensation is based on thirteen salaries per
year plus “annual interest of 5%” and an exchange rate of one Argentine peso being equivalent to one dollar of
the United States of America. This Court does not have sufficient evidentiary elements to confirm whether the
criteria used by the representatives to calculate Mr. Mohamed’s lost earnings are appropriate and takes note
that the representatives make the calculation for a period of twenty years. The Court will take into account Mr.
Mohamed’s lost earnings for the period during which he was disqualified, which was eight years according to
the terms of the conviction.
137
Cf. Case of Garrido and Baigorria v. Argentina. Reparations and Costs, para. 79, and Case of Nadege
Dorzema et al. v. Dominican Republic. Merits, Reparations and Costs, para. 290.
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