142.
In the friendly settlement agreement, the State agreed to the following:
The State notes that on December 20, 2016, it approved the Protocol for the Prevention
and Care of Persons with Decompression Sickness.
Thus, in compliance with the aforementioned recommendation, within six months from
the signing of this agreement, the State undertakes to receive and consider the opinion
of experts in the field, including specialized international organizations and agencies,
in order to adapt said Protocol. If necessary, based on the recommendations received,
it shall make the pertinent modifications to the Protocol to ensure that the highest
standards of current medical science are taken into account.
Once the corresponding modifications have been made, it undertakes to disseminate
the Protocol widely among the medical community, fishing companies and other actors
involved in its application, with a view to ensuring its effective implementation.
143. In this regard, the Court emphasizes that, given that in this case there were different
factors of discrimination that increased the devastating effect on the human dignity of the
victims (supra para. 107), particularly those who suffered diving accidents and acquired
disabilities, it is necessary that the State, when developing policies aimed at strengthening
health care, take into account the social model of disability. This model refers to the fact that
the causes of disability are social and not individual, and respond to the limitations of society
to provide adequate services for the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The Court recalls
that the social model for addressing disability is not defined exclusively by the presence of a
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment, but is interrelated with the barriers and
limitations that exist socially, and that prevent persons from exercising their rights
effectively. 157
C.4. Awareness and sensitization campaign
144.
In the friendly settlement agreement, the State agreed to the following:
Within six months of signing this agreement, the State shall design and implement, in
conjunction with the victims and their representatives, an information campaign with
the aim of sensitizing and raising awareness in Honduran society about the situation
of the Miskito divers and their rights that have been historically violated. The campaign
will highlight the importance of protecting the rights of indigenous people and persons
with disabilities, and will discuss the specific obligations of the State in this regard.
The campaign will have nationwide coverage, but special emphasis will be placed on
the Mosquitia region and surrounding areas. It will be conducted both in Spanish and
Miskito, and will utilize the most effective means, through broadcasts on Televisión
Nacional de Honduras and Radio Nacional de Honduras. It will be based on the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on Indigenous
and Tribal Peoples (Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization) and the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It will also include, at
least, the dissemination of these international instruments as well as the Law on Equity
and Integral Development for Persons with Disabilities, in the official version and in
the popular versions, both in Miskito and Spanish, on an official web page of the
Honduran State.
Cf. Case of Guachalá Chimbo et al. v. Ecuador. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of March 26, 2021.
Series C No. 423, para. 85.
157
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