75
this Tribunal in the present, the State many not demand the return of the difference from
the victims.245
251. After analyzing the information submitted by the parties, the facts in the case and its
own jurisprudence246, the Court notes that even though no receipts have been produced, it
must be presumed that the relatives of the twelve deceased victims incurred various
expenses in connection with their deaths. Furthermore, the Court notes that none of the
victims' relatives received any compensation for the expenses incurred after and as a
consequence of the deaths of their loved ones. Consequently, the Court deems it proper to
award on equitable grounds the amount of US$2,000.00 (two thousand United States
Dollars or its equivalent in Colombian currency) as Compensation for material damages to
each of the twelve deceased victims. This amount must be delivered to the family members
of the twelve deceased victims in the following mutually exclusive order: spouse or
companion, and if there is none, it must be delivered to the parents, and in the absence of
parents, to the children, and in the absence of children, the siblings of the victims. The
State must make such payments within one year, counting from the date of service of the
present Judgment upon the State.
252. At the same time, the Court sets out in equity, the quantity of U.S. $2,500.00 (two
thousand and five hundred United States Dollars or its equivalent in Colombian currency) to
the surviving victim Arturo Salgado Garzón for medical expenses that he incurred to attend
to the injuries suffered during the massacre.
B.2)
Non-Pecuniary Damage
253. The Court must now determine the compensation for non-pecuniary damage
pursuant to the Court’s jurisprudence.247
254. In this regard, the representatives of the victims and their relatives stated that they
“are not claiming additional compensation for moral damage on behalf of the victims'
relatives who have been awarded compensation in the domestic courts, as [they] consider
such awards to be generally adequate in line with the guidelines established in the InterAmerican system". Notwithstanding the foregoing, they stated that “[the] only exception
concerns […] the permanent companions of Luis Orlando Hernández Muñoz […] and Samuel
Vargas Páez [i.e. Ms. Paola Martínez Ortiz and Ms. Blanca Herrera Suárez, respectively,] to
whom the Council of State granted only 80% of the amount they would have received had
they been formally married to the victims.” As a result, the representatives requested an
additional non-pecuniary damages award for them.
255. The representatives requested "compensation for non-pecuniary damages for the
twelve deceased victims of the massacre, the surviving victim Arturo Salgado, and the next
of kin of the victims who neither received any compensation for this type of damage in the
contentious administrative courts nor were mentioned in section IV of the partial agreement
on reparations”.
245
Cf. Case of the Ituango Massacres, supra note 15, para. 376.
246
Cf. Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, supra note 8, para. 428; Case of Servellón García et al., supra
note 19, para. 177; and Case of Ximenes Lopes, supra note 24, para. 226.
247
Cf. Case of La Cantuta, supra note 8, para. 216; Case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison, supra note 8,
para. 430; and Case of Vargas Areco, supra note 8, para. 149.
Seleccionar párrafo de destino3
Conectar a un párrafo
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Añadir a la tabla de contenidos