137
XIV
REPARATIONS
(Application of Article 63(1) of the American Convention)
OBLIGATION TO MAKE REPARATIONS
242. In accordance with the considerations on the merits set forth in the previous
chapters, based on the facts in the case, the Court found abridgments of Articles
4(1), 5(1) and 5(2), 7(1) and 7(2), 8(1), 25, 19 and 22(1) of the American
Convention, all of them in combination with Article 1(1) of said treaty. The Court
has repeatedly pointed out that any violation of an international obligation that has
caused damage entails the duty to make adequate reparations.273 To this end, Article
63(1) of the American Convention establishes that:
[i]f 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.
243. Said Article reflects a customary rule that is one of the basic principles of
contemporary International Law regarding the responsibility of States. Thus, when
an unlawful act is attributable to a State, it immediately incurs international
responsibility for breaching the international rule involved, and this entails the duty
to redress and to make the consequences of the abridgment cease.274
244. Reparation of the damage caused by abridgment of an international obligation
requires, whenever possible, full reparation (restitutio in integrum), consisting of
reestablishment of the situation prior to the violation. If this is not possible, as in
the instant case, the international court must order a series of measures that, in
addition to ensuring respect for the rights abridged, will redress the consequences
caused by the infringements and order, inter alia, payment of compensation for the
damage caused.275 The obligation to make reparations, which is regulated in all
aspects (scope, nature, manner, and establishment of the beneficiaries) by
International Law, cannot be modified by the State nor can it fail to comply with it by
invoking domestic legal provisions.276
245. Reparations consist of measures that seek to make the effects of the
violations disappear. Their nature and amount depend on the pecuniary and non-
273
See Case of Acosta Calderón, supra note 7, para. 145; Case of Yatama, supra note 7, para. 230,
and Case of the Indigenous Community Yakye Axa, supra note 12, para. 179.
274
See Case of Acosta Calderón, supra note 7, para. 146; Case of Caesar. Judgment of March 11,
2005. Series C No. 123, para. 121, and Case of Huilca Tecse. Judgment of March 3, 2005. Series C No.
121, para. 87.
275
See Case of Acosta Calderón, supra note 7, para 147; Case of Caesar, supra note 274, para. 122,
and Case of Huilca Tecse, supra note 274, para. 88.
276
See Case of Acosta Calderón, supra note 7, para 147; Case of the Indigenous Community Yakye
Axa, supra note 12, para. 181, and Case of Caesar, supra note 274, para. 122.
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