38
IX
REPARATIONS
(Application of Article 63(1) of the American Convention) 109
131. It is a principle of International Law that any violation of an international obligation that has
caused damage gives rise to a duty to adequately redress said violation110. Such obligation to
redress is governed by International Law in all its aspects111. The Court has based its decisions in
this regard on Article 63(1) of the American Convention.
132. Within the framework of the acknowledgement of responsibility made by the State (supra
paras. 8-31), in accordance with the aforementioned considerations on the merits and the
violations of the Convention held in the previous chapters, and in light of the criteria established in
the Court’s jurisprudence regarding the nature and scope of the obligation to redress112, the Court
will proceed to analyze the arguments presented by the Commission and the representatives with
respect to reparations, so as to order the relevant measures to redress the damages.
A)
INJURED PARTY
133. The Court will now proceed to determine who should be considered as “injured party” under
Article 63(1) of the American Convention and therefore as beneficiaries of the reparations set by
the Court.
134. First of all, the Court considers Mr. Wilmer Zambrano Vélez, Mr. Segundo Olmedo Caicedo
Cobeña and Mr. José Miguel Caicedo Cobeña as “injured party”, due to their status as victims of the
violation established in the present Judgment (supra paras. 110), and therefore as beneficiaries of
the reparations ordered by the Court for both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, if applicable.
135. Moreover, the Court considers the family members of Mr. Wilmer Zambrano Vélez, Mr.
Segundo Olmedo Caicedo Cobeña and Mr. José Miguel Caicedo Cobeña as “injured party”, whom
were found to be victims of the violation of the rights enshrined in Article 8 and Article 25 of the
American Convention, in conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof (supra paras. 130). The family
members of the victims are to be considered as beneficiaries of the reparations ordered by the
Court for non-pecuniary damage. The following persons are considered as “injured party”:
109
Article 63(1) sets forth that :
If the Court finds that there has been a violation of a right or freedom protected by this Convention, the Court shall
rule that the injured party be ensured the enjoyment of his right or freedom that was violated. It shall also rule, if
appropriate, that the consequences of the measure or situation that constituted the breach of such right or freedom
be remedied and that fair compensation be paid to the injured party.
Cf. Case of Velásquez-Rodríguez. Reparations (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights). Judgment
of July 21, 1989. Series C No. 7, para. 25. See also Case of Bueno Alves, supra note 8, para. 128, and Case of the Rochela
Massacre, supra note 7, para. 226.
110
Cf. Case of Aloeboetoe et al. Reparations (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights). Judgment of
September 10, 1993. Series C No. 15, para. 44; Case of La Cantuta, supra note 7, para. 200, and Case of Dismissed
Congressional Employees (Aguado Alfaro et al.). Judgment of November 24, 2006, para. 142.
111
Cf. Case of Velásquez-Rodríguez. Reparations, supra note 110, paras. 25 and 26; Case of Garrido and Baigorria,
supra note 37, para. 43, and Case of the “White Van” (Paniagua-Morales et al.). Reparations, supra note 14, paras, 76-79.
See also Case of La Cantuta, supra note 7, paras. 200-203; Case of the Miguel Castro-Castro Prison, supra note 14, paras.
414-416.
112