294.
The State argued that “to guarantee that persons deprived of liberty have optimal
conditions so that they can carry out their activities without limitations due to their physical
impairments, the Women´s Orientation Center has “mechanisms or procedures to ensure that
disabled women detained at the Women’s Orientation Center -COF- Fraijanes, have access to
adequate conditions for serving their sentences.” 370 The State considered that the reparation
measures under discussion “already [exist] in [its] legal and political framework” as a result
of the obligations assumed in compliance with international provisions; and that “all persons
with a physical disability are treated according to their needs and in compliance with
international standards.” Furthermore, it indicated that it has implemented a new public policy
entitled “the National Policy of Prison Reform 2014-2024.”
295.
The Court notes that the State recognizes its international obligations to adopt
pertinent measures and provide reasonable accommodation to ensure adequate conditions
and full accessibility to persons with disabilities who are currently deprived of their liberty or
who will be admitted to the Women´s Orientation Center in future, and to other prisons. On
the understanding that the State will observe the standards mentioned in this judgment, and
considering that the Commission and the representatives have not provided clear, specific and
up-to-date information to determine the current needs of persons with disabilities detained at
the Women’s Orientation Center, or in other prisons, the Court considers that it is not
appropriate to order the measures of reparation requested in this regard.
D.
Compensation
296.
The Commission asked the Court to order the State “to provide comprehensive
reparation for the human rights violations declared in the report [on merits] both in the
material and the moral aspects.”
297.
The representatives argued that the State must pay fair compensation to the
next-of-kin for the death of Mrs. Chinchilla Sandoval and reimburse them for the expenses
incurred in their actions before the authorities in relation to this proceeding.
298.
In its answer, the State argued that it “is not responsible for any of the violations
alleged” and, “consequently, the State of Guatemala should not have to compensate the
presumed victims.” Likewise, in its final arguments the State indicated that “within the
framework of Guatemala’s legislation, if the petitioners suspected any supposed negligence or
lack of medical attention, they had the right to take legal action for the harm and damage
caused.”
299.
The Court has considered that comprehensive and adequate reparation cannot be
limited to the payment of compensation to victims or their next of kin;371 depending on the
case, measures of rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition are also
necessary. Nevertheless, this Court reiterates that, where national mechanisms exist to define
Based on an official letter dated June 24, 2014, from the General Directorate of the Prison System, of the
Ministry of the Interior, the State added that such persons “are examined by the doctor assigned to that detention
center when they require such assistance; also, a request is made to the jurisdictional body to order the National
Institute of Forensic Sciences of Guatemala to send a specialist of that Institute to the prison to evaluate the inmates,
so that they can receive specialized care at the national hospitals. In addition, the inmates with mental disabilities
are referred as outpatients to the "Federico Mora" National Mental Health Hospital, in Zone 18, for ambulatory
treatment and, if necessary, they are interned in that hospital during a crisis, for as long as the psychiatrists consider
appropriate.”
370
Cf. Case of the “Mapiripán Massacre” v. Colombia, supra, para. 219; Case of the Ituango Massacres v.
Colombia, supra, para. 339; Case of the Pueblo Bello Massacre v. Colombia, supra, para. 206, and Case of García
Ibarra et al. v. Ecuador, supra, para. 186.
371
91