123. The Committee requested “providing reparation for the consequences of the
violations established in the [Merits Report] including both pecuniary and nonpecuniary
damages.”
124. The representative requested the payment of "the sum of USD$ 4,443,048.00
[...] in the form of economic reparation, including lost wages for 17 years, labor
indemnity, compensation for damages, interest and costs." In his final written pleadings,
he requested as compensation for pecuniary damages "the payment of his lost wages,
for 17 years, [...] if possible, including interest for 17 years." In turn, in said document
he requested an indemnity of "US$ 400,000 (four hundred thousand United States
dollars), as compensation for damage to Mr. Nissen Pessolani's Life Project,” as well as
US$ 50,000 (fifty thousand United States dollars) as "compensation for moral damages
for the victim's suffering, with a strong impact on his family."
125. The State alleged both in its response and in its closing arguments, that the
compensation requested by Mr. Nissen Pessolani would imply "unjustly enriching himself
at the expense of the Paraguayan people,” and that "he would not have been able to
save that amount even if he had continued uninterruptedly in office." It also indicated
that any calculation of compensation should be made in the country's legal tender. He
argued that Mr. Nissen Pessolani "did not set forth in a reasoned and argued manner"
the calculation of his compensation. He further alleged "that the additional and
complementary remunerations [...] are temporary benefits, optional and inherent to the
position, [... and] corresponded to him only while he held the position of fiscal agent."
He also questioned that "it applies a usurious interest rate [...] totally alien to the
Paraguayan financial market and to the practice of [the Inter-American Court]." He
added that from the moment he left the Public Prosecutor's Office, Mr. Nissen Pessolani
"has dedicated himself to his professional practice and has not been unemployed,”
stating that "he has been hired throughout all these years as a lawyer and advisor to
different State agencies." Regarding consequential damages, it considered that the claim
"lacks, in general, documentary support and several items lack a direct causal nexus
with the disputed facts." In relation to non-pecuniary damage, he noted that "there is
nothing in the [Merits Report] or in the [Statement of Claims and Arguments] to assert
that Mr. Nissen Pessolani suffered any injury to his name or honor other than what
emerges from the impeachment process."
E.1. Pecuniary damage
126. In its case law, this Court has established that pecuniary damages involve the loss
or detriment to the victim’s income, the expenses incurred as a result of the facts, and
the monetary consequences that have a causal nexus with the facts of the case.141
Likewise, case law has reiterated the compensatory nature of the indemnities, whose
nature and amount depend on the damage caused. This means that they are not
supposed to enrich or impoverish the victim or his heirs.142 Regarding non-pecuniary
damage, the Court has established that it may include "both the suffering and distress
caused to the direct victims and their next of kin, and the impairment of values that are
Cf. Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of February 22, 2002.
Series C No. 91, para. 43, and Case of Cortez Espinoza v. Interloculatory Order No. 181.
141
142
Cf. Case of the "White Van" (Paniagua-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Reparations and Costs. Judgment
of May 25, 2001. Series C No. 76, para. 79, and Case of Mina Cuero v. Ecuador, supra, para. 158.
36