59
that any violation of an international obligation that has produced harm entails the obligation 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.225
221. The reparation of the harm caused by the violation of an international obligation requires,
whenever possible, full restitution (restitutio in integrum), which consists of the re-establishment of
the situation prior to the commission of the violation. If this is not feasible, the Court will determine
measures to guarantee the rights that have been violated and to redress the consequences of those
violations.226 Accordingly, the Court has considered the need to grant different measures of
reparation in order to fully redress the harm caused; thus, in addition to pecuniary compensation,
the Court will order measures of restitution, rehabilitation and satisfaction, and guarantees of nonrepetition, which have special relevance owing to the nature of the damage caused.227
222. The Court has 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 repair the resulting harm.
Therefore, the Court must observe such concurrence in order to adjudge and declare according to
law.228
223. Considering the violations of the American Convention declared in the foregoing chapters, and
in light of the criteria established in its case law regarding the nature and scope of the obligation to
make reparation,229 the Court will analyze the claims presented by the Commission and the
representatives, as well as the arguments of the State, with a view to ordering measures aimed at
making reparation for those violations.
A. Injured Party
224. Under the terms of Article 63(1) of the Convention, the Court considers as injured party anyone
who has been declared a victim of the violation of any right recognized therein. Therefore, this Court
considers as “Injured Party” Mr. Oscar Rubén Muelle Flores who, as victim of the violations declared
in this Judgment will be considered as the beneficiary of the reparations ordered by the Court.
B. Restoration of Mr. Muelle Flores’ pension: compliance with the final judgments of
the domestic courts
B.1. Arguments of the Commission and of the parties
225. The Commission asked the Court to order the State to comply, as soon as possible, with the
judgments of the Supreme Court of Justice, of February 2, 1993, and of the Constitutional Court, of
December 10, 1999, and to immediately take the necessary steps to pay Mr. Muelle Flores’ pension
under the terms recognized by the courts, that is to say, those of Decree Law N° 20530.
or freedom protected by this Convention, the Court shall rule that the injured party be ensured the enjoyment of his right or
freedom that was violated. It shall also rule, if appropriate, that the consequences of the measure or situation that constituted
the breach of such right or freedom be remedied and that fair compensation be paid to the injured party.”
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and costs. Judgment of July 21, 1989. Series C No. 7, para.
25, and Case of Villaseñor Velarde et al. v. Guatemala. Merits, reparations and costs. Series C No. 374, para. 147.
226
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and costs, supra, paras. 25 and 26, and Case of Órdenes
Guerra Et al. v. Chile. Merits, reparations and costs. Series C No. 372, para. 78.
227
Cf. Case of Cantoral Benavides v. Peru. Reparations and costs. Judgment of December 3, 2001. Series C No. 88, paras.
79 to 81, and Case of Órdenes Guerra et al. v. Chile, supra, para. 105.
228
Cf. Case of Ticona Estrada v. Bolivia. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 27, 2008. Series C No.
191, para. 110, and Case of Órdenes Guerra et al. v. Chile, supra, para. 115.
229
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Reparations and costs, supra, paras. 25 to 27, and Case of Villaseñor
Velarde et al. v. Guatemala, supra, para. 148.
225