Court established that, although for certain criminal offenses the law required the concurrence
of specific intent as a legal component, which normally occurred with comments made
maliciously or knowingly, there were already jurisprudential criteria by which this intent to
injure was understood as the malice of the crime, consisting simply in knowing that the
expression proffered or the action executed was dishonorable, discrediting or demeaning. For
the above reasons, the Supreme Court agreed with the judgment of the Guarantee Court in
the sense that Mr. Baraona was aware of the dishonorable nature of his statements, and that
these could not be considered sufficiently serious and reasonable. Consequently, the Supreme
Court denied the appeal for annulment (supra para. 63).
152. Consequently, the Court considers that, in the absence of an adequate assessment of
the scope of the right to freedom of expression, the appeal for annulment cannot be deemed
to have been an effective remedy in the case under study. Therefore, the State is responsible
for the violation of Article 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of the
same instrument, to the detriment of Carlos Baraona Bray.
153. The Court further notes that, despite the fact that the sentence was suspended and
that the Judiciary later dismissed the criminal case against Mr. Baraona on August 1, 2005
and filed it on August 10 of the same year, without imposing any sanction, Mr. Baraona was
the victim of the imposition of a sentence that remained in force until the date of the dismissal.
IX
REPARATIONS
154. Based on the provisions of Article 63(1) of the American Convention, the Court has
held that any violation of an international obligation that has caused harm entails the duty to
make adequate reparation, and that this provision reflects a customary norm that constitutes
one of the fundamental principles of contemporary international law on State responsibility.175
155. Reparation for the harm caused by the breach of an international obligation requires,
whenever possible, full restitution (restitutio in integrum), which consists of reestablishing
the situation prior to the violation.176 If this is not feasible, as occurs in the majority of cases
of human rights violations, the Court may order measures to protect the rights that have been
violated and repair the harm caused.177 Accordingly, the Court has considered the need to
provide different types of reparation in order to fully redress the damage; thus, in addition to
pecuniary compensation, other measures such as satisfaction, restitution, rehabilitation, and
guarantees of non-repetition have special relevance owing to the severity of the harm
caused.178
156. The Court has also established that reparations must have a causal nexus with the facts
of the case, the violations declared, the damage proven, and the measures requested to
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and costs. Judgment of July 21, 1989. Series C
No. 7, para. 25, and Case of Leguizamón Zaván v. Paraguay, supra, para. 91.
176
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and costs, supra, para. 26, and Case of Aroca
Palma et al. v. Ecuador. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 8, 2022, para.
121.
177
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and costs, supra, para. 26, and Case of Aroca
Palma et al. v. Ecuador, supra, para. 121.
178
Cf. Case of the Dos Erres Massacre v. Guatemala, Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment
of November 24, 2009. Series C No. 211, para. 226, and Case of Aroca Palma et al. v. Ecuador, supra, para. 121.
175
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