84.
Therefore, the Court considers as “injured party” in this case: (i) the 107 prisoners
who died as a result of the fire in cell No. 19 in the San Pedro Sula Prison, 21 of whom were
being held in this cell in pre-trial detention, and also the case of Eddy Adalberto Amaya
Zepeda (supra para. 82) and (ii) the 83 next of kin of 18 deceased prisoners as victims in
their own right, identified in Annex C of this Judgment. Reparation will be made to these
persons with the measures ordered by the Court in this chapter.
B. Beneficiaries of the friendly settlement agreement
85.
Despite the foregoing, subsection “d” of the section of the friendly settlement
agreement entitled “Background” indicates that: the “beneficiaries: by express agreement
between the parties, include the victims and their next of kin described in the Commission’s
Report on Merits.” However, in the chapter on “[f]inancial compensation, costs and
expenses,” it indicates that the amount for pecuniary damage “will constitute the
compensation and opportunities fund for the next of kin of the [107] individuals deprived of
liberty who lost their life in the San Pedro Sula Prison.” The same criteria is applied in the
chapter on psychological and/or psychiatric treatment, which includes “the next of kin of the
[107] victims of the fire.”
86.
Based on the State’s extensive acknowledgement and the spirit and scope of the
friendly settlement agreement in favor of all the next of kin of the deceased victims, the
Court endorses this aspect of the agreement and finds it appropriate that the direct next of
kin (fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and spouses or permanent companions) of the 89
deceased inmates who were not indicated by the Commission in its Report on the Merits
(Annex D), and who may be identified following the delivery of this judgment, be provided
with reparation as beneficiaries of the measures set out in the friendly settlement
agreement.
87.
To this end, within one year of notification of this Judgment, the State must establish
an appropriate mechanism for the said direct next of kin to authenticate their relationship
with the deceased victims before the Honduran Ombudsman in accordance with domestic
law. After they have done so, these persons must be considered beneficiaries of the
reparations in the terms of this Judgment (infra paras 118, 136 and 137).
88.
To comply with this measure, the State, in coordination with the representatives,
must publish announcements on at least one radio station and one television channel, and in
one newspaper, all with national coverage, indicating that it is trying to locate the members
of the immediate family (fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, spouses or permanent
companions) of the 89 deceased victims who were not identified by the Commission, inviting
them to go to the Ombudsman's Office with reliable evidence that enables the State to
identify them and, as appropriate, consider them beneficiaries of the measures of reparation
set out in the friendly settlement agreement. The three publications must be made on
different days, and within 60 days of notification of this Judgment.
89.
The foregoing does not prevent or preclude the possibility that, once the one-year
time frame has expired, these next of kin can be considered beneficiaries of reparation by
the State, if the State so decides. Also, this does not preclude the right of those next of kin
who were not individualized by the Commission and who do not accept the terms of the
reparations established in the friendly settlement agreement to waive them and claim the
corresponding measures of reparation in their favor under domestic law.
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