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Claudia Girón, Iván and María Cepeda Castro following his death. For its part, the State
considered that “under the domestic legal system, compensation had been awarded
[for non-pecuniary damage] to all Manuel Cepeda’s next of kin.” Nevertheless, it
recognized that compensation had not been awarded to Senator Manuel Cepeda
Vargas for the threats suffered; therefore, it accepted that this compensation be
ordered.
249. The Court has verified that, under the administrative proceedings, the State
awarded, for the concept of “non-pecuniary damage,” compensation of 100 minimum
monthly legal salaries in force (SMLMV) to Iván and María Cepeda Castro, and also to
Olga Navia Soto, and 500 grams gold to each of the siblings of Manuel Cepeda
Vargas.335 The Court finds that the compensation ordered took into account the
suffering and hardship resulting from the death of a spouse, father and brother. The
State alleged that the compensation was paid in 2000, but did not provide any
evidence in this regard.
250. However, although the judgments of the administrative courts endeavored to
repair the damage suffered by the next of kin as a result of the death of Senator
Manuel Cepeda Vargas, they did not include compensation for the violations suffered
by the Senator himself, or other violations verified in this judgment. In addition, in this
case the Court observes that the said rulings did not determine the State’s
responsibility for the acts of State agents in the violation of the rights to life and to
personal integrity, and other rights embodied in the Convention; in other words, the
compensation established by those courts did not include these other aspects that had
already been proved in the domestic investigations and that have now been
determined in the judgment of this Court (supra paras. 114, 115 and 140). Therefore,
the Court must now also order compensation for the aspects that were not included in
the domestic judgments.
251. As the Court has indicated on other occasions,336 in cases such as this the nonpecuniary damage inflicted on the victim is evident. In this regard, the Court finds it
appropriate to order, in equity, a compensatory payment of US$80,000.00 (eighty
thousand United States dollars) for the non-pecuniary damage suffered by Senator
Manuel Cepeda Vargas. The total amount to be delivered in equal part to the victim’s
children, Iván Cepeda Castro and María Cepeda Castro.
252. In addition, in this judgment, the Court decided the manner and circumstances
in which Senator Cepeda Vargas was murdered, as well as the lack of due diligence of
the State authorities in conducting investigations into the threats he faced as well as
to clarify the facts and the responsibilities of all those involved. The victims suffered
non-pecuniary damage because their mental and moral integrity was harmed as a
result of the lack of adequate access to justice and the partial impunity that persists in
this case, as well as because of the stigmatization of the next of kin of Senator Cepeda
Vargas, which has exposed them to continuous harassment and threats during their
efforts to clarify the facts (supra paras. 187 to 192 and 194). In addition, it has been
335
Cf. Appeal ruling issued by the Third Section of the Administrative-law Chamber of the Council of State in
Investigation No. 250002326000199612680-01 (20,511) on November 20, 2008, supra note 128, folios 4495 to
4536, and judgment delivered by the Third Section of the Cundinamarca Administrative Court in case No. 96 D
12658 on September 23, 1999 (evidence file, tome XV, attachment 14 to the brief in answer to the application,
folios 6700 to 6718), respectively.
336
Cf. Case of Myrna Mack Chang v. Guatemala, supra note 308, para. 260; Case of Kawas Fernández v.
Honduras, supra note 37, para. 185, and Case of Zambrano Vélez et al. v. Ecuador, supra note 36, para. 142.
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