- 81 -
b) Request for reactivation of the legal status of the UP and restitution
of the parliamentary seat of Senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas in favor
of the UP
239. The representatives explained that, owing to the “explicit political motivation for
the extrajudicial execution of Senator Cepeda Vargas, and its consequences for the
Patriotic Union […], the Court should order the Colombian State to restore the
Senator’s parliamentary seat, which, in turn, requires reactivating Patriotic Union’s
legal status.” Furthermore, the representatives affirmed that “to implement the
measures of reparation, the State merely has to enact a law that includes the Patriotic
Union among the political minorities, so that its seat in Congress is restituted, as a
special electoral circumscription.” Lastly, they asked that both the restitution of the
seat and the legal recognition of the UP as a minority political movement be announced
during the act of public acknowledgement of responsibility by the State.
240. The State argued that the representatives had exceeded the nature and
purpose of this litigation by over-interpreting current criteria on reparations, and that if
this measure of reparation were granted, it would violate the right to elect and to be
elected in equal conditions. Also, it considered “inconceivable that a specific collectivity
accede to legal status and exercise public power, when this does not arise from the
specific support of the electorate.” It also argued that there is no direct relationship
between the death of Senator Cepeda and the political party’s loss of legal status and,
consequently, that this reparation was inadmissible. Finally, the State affirmed that it
is not true that Senator Cepeda had occupied the last seat of the UP in the Congress of
the Republic, because a document of the Electoral Organization of the Republic of
Colombia revealed that he was a Senator for the PCC rather than for the UP.
241. Based on the above considerations, the Court finds that, in this case, it is not in
order to order the restitution of the parliamentary seat as requested. First, although
the Court has ordered similar measures in the case of officials dismissed from their
functions, there is a substantial difference in this case, because the person who
occupied the post of Senator cannot be reinstated. Furthermore, the requested
measure of reparation would benefit the UP party which, as has already been
indicated, is neither a victim nor a beneficiary in this case, so that it is not in order to
grant this request. For the same reason, it is not incumbent on the Court to rule on the
restitution of this political party’s legal status.
D.
COMPENSATION
242. The Court has developed the concept of pecuniary329 and non-pecuniary
damage330 and the assumptions under which they must be compensated. Consequently
the Court will determine the pertinence of granting pecuniary and non-pecuniary
329
This Court has established that pecuniary damage supposes “the loss of or detriment to the income of the
victims, the expenses incurred as a result of the facts, and the pecuniary consequences that bear a relationship to
the facts of the case.” Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Reparations and costs, supra note 56, para. 43;
Case of the Dos Erres Massacre v. Guatemala, supra note 57, para. 275, and Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico,
supra note 24, para. 360.
330
This Court has established that non-pecuniary damage “may include the suffering and distress caused to
the direct victims and their next of kin, the impairment of values that are highly significant to them, and other
alternations, of a non-pecuniary nature, in the living conditions of the victim or his family.” Case of the “Street
Children” (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Reparations and costs, supra note 320, para. 84; Case of the Dos
Erres Massacre v. Guatemala, supra note 57, para. 275, and Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico, supra note 24,
para. 371.
Seleccionar párrafo de destino3
Conectar a un párrafo
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Añadir a la tabla de contenidos