27 48. It is convenient that we highlight the provision set forth in Article 2(15) of the Rules of Procedure40 that the term “next of kin of the victim” must be broadly understood. Said concept encompasses all persons tied by close kinship, including the parents, children and siblings who might have a right to compensation, insofar as they fulfill the requirements established by the case law of this Court. In this regard, the Court must assume that disappearance or death of a person as a consequence of disappearance causes non-pecuniary damage to the closest members of the family, especially to those who were in close emotional contact with the victim. 49. To distribute the reparations that the Court may order in favor of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen and Carlos Augusto Molina Palma, the Court has taken into account the close emotional ties and affection among the members of the Molina Theissen family, as requested by the representatives of the victim and his next of kin. 50. Marco Antonio Molina Theissen was a 14 year old boy, who had no commonlaw spouse or descendants, for which reason the compensation due to him, pursuant to the terms of the instant Judgment, must be given in equal parts to the parents of the victim, Emma Theissen Álvarez Vda. de Molina and Carlos Augusto Molina Palma. 51. Since the victim’s father died, the compensation due to him must be distributed in equal parts among his surviving next of kin, that is: his spouse Emma Theissen Álvarez Vda. de Molina and his daughters Ana Lucrecia Molina Theissen, María Eugenia Molina Theissen and Emma Guadalupe Molina Theissen, in accordance with their requests (supra para. 45(b)). B) PECUNIARY DAMAGES Arguments of the Commission 52. With respect to pecuniary damages, the Commission stated that: a) with respect to “lost earnings,” it is necessary to take into account the income that Marco Antonio Molina Theissen’s family could have obtained if he had not been deprived of his life. At the time of his disappearance, the victim was a 14 year old youth, in a country where life expectancy is 56, and he was in third year of secondary school; in two years he would have graduated from high school and would have begun a career in engineering; b) with respect to “consequential damages,” it is necessary to take into account the expenses incurred by the victim’s next of kin as a direct consequence of the facts. Said expenses were in connection with the steps taken to establish the whereabouts of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen, including going to police stations, courts, detention centers, publishing ads in local newspapers, stationery, and photocopies. The State must also compensate the victim’s next of kin for the expenses incurred to receive psychological treatment, to leave the country, and to establish themselves in exile; and 40 Pursuant to Article 2(15) of the Rules of Procedure, the term “next of kin” means “the immediate family, that is, the direct ascendants and descendants, siblings, spouses or permanent companions, or those determined by the Court, if applicable.”