In
the case of Neira Alegría case et al.,
the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights, composed of the following judges:
Héctor Fix-Zamudio, President
Hernán Salgado Pesantes, Vice-President
Alejandro Montiel Argüello, Judge
Alirio Abreu Burelli, Judge
Antônio A. Cançado Trindade, Judge
Jorge E. Orihuela I., Judge ad hoc;
also present:
Manuel E. Ventura-Robles, Secretary, and
Víctor Ml. Rodríguez-Rescia, Interim Deputy Secretary
in
application of Articles 44(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights in force for matters submitted for its consideration
prior to July 31, 1991 (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”) in relation
to Article 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the
Convention” or the “American Convention”), and pursuant to the Court's judgment
of January 19, 1995, enters the following judgment on reparations in the instant
case brought by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter
“the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) against the Republic
of Peru (hereinafter “Peru”, “the State” or “the Government”).
I
1.
The instant case was brought to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
(hereinafter “the Court” or the “Inter-American Court”) by the Inter-American
Commission by application of October 10, 1990, which was accompanied by Report
No. 43/90 of May 14, 1990. It originated in a petition (No. 10.078) lodged
with the Secretariat of the Commission on August 31, 1987, against Peru.
2.
In its application the Commission asserted that the Government had
violated the following articles of the American Convention: 1 (Obligation
to Respect Rights), 2 (Domestic Legal Effects), 4 (Right to Life), 7 (Right
to Personal Liberty), 8 (Judicial guarantees), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection),
and requested the Court to “adjudicate
this case in accordance with the terms of the Convention, and to fix the responsibility
for the violation described herein, and that it award just compensation to
the next of kin of the victim(s).” In its last brief, the Commission added Articles
5 and 27 and deleted Article 2.
3.
According to the application, on June 18, 1986, Víctor Neira Alegría,
Edgar Zenteno Escobar and William Zenteno Escobar were being detained at the
correctional facility of San Juan Bautista known as “El Frontón”, charged
with the crime of terrorism. The Commission
adds that, as a consequence of a riot at that correctional facility on the
date indicated, the Government, by Supreme Decree No. 6‑86 JUS, delegated
the control of the prisons to the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and that,
as a result of this decision, the San Juan Bautista correctional facility
was included in the so-called “Restricted Military Zones.”
The Commission further claims that those persons have been missing
since the date on which the Armed Forces put down the riots and that their
relatives have not seen or heard of them since.
4.
On June 27, 1991, the Government presented its counter-memorial, in
which it refuted and contested all the facts described to the Court by the
Commission, on the ground that they did not reflect “the
actual situation as verified by the reality of the events that occurred at
the 'El Frontón' correctional island on the occasion of the armed riot and
taking of hostages under the leadership of more than one hundred” inmates
charged with terrorism. The Government requested that the Commission be sanctioned
for submitting the case to the Court.
5.
On January 19, 1995, the Court delivered a judgment on the merits of
the case, the operative part of which:
1.
Declares that Peru has violated the right to life recognized in Article
4(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation to Article 1(1)
thereof, to the detriment of Víctor Neira-Alegría, Edgar Zenteno-Escobar and
William Zenteno-Escobar.
2.
Declares that Peru has, to the detriment of the three persons cited,
violated the right of habeas corpus
established in Article 7(6), in relation to the prohibition established in
Article 27(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights
3.
Decides that Peru is obliged to pay fair compensation to the next of
kin of the victims on the occasion of these proceedings and to reimburse the
expenditures that they have incurred in their petitions before the national
authorities.
4.
Decides that the form and extent of the compensation and the reimbursement
of the expenditures shall be determined by Peru and the Commission, by mutual
agreement, within a term of six months as of the date of notification of this
judgment.
5.
Reserves the power to review and approve the agreement and, should
there be no agreement, to determine the extent of the compensation and expenditures,
to which effect the Court does not close this case (Neira
Alegría et al. Case, Judgment of January 19, 1995.
Series C No. 20, Operative part).
II
6.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Convention, the Court is competent to
decide the amount of compensation and expenditures in the instant case, inasmuch
as Peru ratified the Convention on July 28, 1978 and recognized the contentious
jurisdiction of the Court on January 21, 1981.
III
7.
On April 12, 1995 the Commission informed the Court no negotiation
had been possible with the Government, and, in its brief of July 21, 1995,
requested the Court to initiate the proceeding for the reparations phase. Consequently, and in accordance with operative
paragraph 5 of the Court's judgment of January 19, 1995, it is for the Court
to determine the extent of the compensation and expenditures.
8.
By order of August 1, 1995, the President of the Court decided to institute
the proceeding on reparations and expenditures, and granted the Commission
until September 30, 1995 to produce and submit the evidence in its possession
with regard to reparations and expenditures in the instant case. The Court also granted the State until December
7, 1995 to submit its comments on the Commission's brief. Those comments were received on that date.
9.
On September 30, 1995, the Commission submitted its brief on reparations
and expenditures, in which it asserted that the priority was to provide a
conceptual definition of the parties entitled to compensation and establish
the identity of the injured persons. It
also requested the Court to indicate the scope of the compensatory indemnity,
the reimbursement of expenditures, and the respective amounts. The Commission cited the Aloeboetoe et al. Case in which the Court established
that “national jurisprudence generally
accepts that the right to apply for compensation for the death of a person
passes to the survivors affected by that death,” going on to declare that
the parties entitled to receive compensation were the victims' closest relatives
or family (Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations
(Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights), Judgment of September
10, 1993. Series C No. 15 para. 54).
10.
In regard to the injured persons entitled to be compensated for the
damage inflicted on the three victims by the Peruvian State, the Commission
submits the following list: of Víctor
Neira Alegría's family: his wife, Mrs.
Aquilina M. Tapia de Neira, who is responsible for three minor children, and
Irene Alegría, a sister of the victim, who lodged the appeal of habeas corpus; of William Zenteno Escobar's
family: his companion, Mrs. Norma Yupanqui
Montero, and his daughters Erika Claudia Zenteno, Edith Valia Zenteno and
Milagros Yoisy Rodríguez, the victim's daughter by Mrs. Julia Rodríguez Zenteno;
of Edgar Zenteno Escobar's family: in accordance with Peruvian legislation,
since he was a bachelor and without dependents: his father, Mr. Corcenio Zenteno Flores, his
mother, Mrs. Aurea Escobar de Zenteno, and his brothers, Jack and Franz Zenteno
Escobar.
11.
The Commission considers that in determining the amount of the compensation
and its distribution, a balance must be struck, taking into account the victim's
age, life expectancy, actual and potential income, and the number of his dependents
and heirs.
12.
According to the Commission, the Costs and Expenses [daño
emergente] include the expenditures incurred by the victims' relatives
and the survivors as a direct consequence of the events. This heading includes
expenditures incurred in their legal and administrative representations in
Peru, medical expenses, photocopies, telephone calls and other expenses relating
to legal assistance. The Commission
estimates the overall expenditures incurred by the victims' next of kin at
US$6,300, an amount which it deems “a
reasonable assessment of the expenditures incurred by the victims' families
on their numerous trips to Lima, and their many representations to the Peruvian
State in connection with the instant case.” The Commission requests that this estimate be divided equally among
the three families; that is, US$2,100 to each of them.
13.
The Commission maintains that “loss of earnings” includes any “income that the dependent relatives would have received from the victim
during the latter's lifetime.” “Loss
of earnings” was determined by the minimum wage at the time the events occurred
-June 1986 - and includes “general wage
increases during the period (2% per annum), taking into account life expectancy
in Peru (sixty-seven years).” The
amount requested by the Commission for each family is estimated in dollars,
“a currency with stable purchasing power, it
being understood that it may be paid in Peruvian Soles at the rate of exchange
in effect on the date of payment.”
14.
Under the “loss of earnings” heading, the Commission specifically requests
the following amounts:
For
the relatives of William Zenteno Escobar:
US$172,958.35
to be distributed among the following family members at the discretion of
the Court: Norma Yupanqui Montero,
spouse; Erika Claudia Zenteno, daughter: Edith Valia Zenteno, daughter, and
Milagros Yoisy Rodríguez, daughter of William Zenteno Escobar by Mrs. Julia
Rodríguez Zenteno.
For
the next of kin of Edgar Zenteno Escobar:
US$148,036.16
to be distributed among the following family members at the discretion of
the Court: Corcenio Zenteno Flores,
father; Aurea Escobar de Zenteno, mother, and Jack and Franz Zenteno Escobar,
brothers.
15.
In view of the Commission's unavailing efforts to determine the whereabouts
of Mrs. Aquilina M. Tapia de Neira and her three children, it requested the
Court to arrange for the amounts allocated to those persons to be deposited
in a bank account, in the name of Mrs. Neira Alegría, in a currency with stable
purchasing power, and requested that the Peruvian Government publicize the
ruling and the next of kin's entitlement
to the indemnity to be determined by the Court, through regular announcements
in widely-circulated newspapers and on nationwide broadcasting stations.
The Commission added that the indemnification could only be effected
on the presentation of proof of kinship by the victim's relatives.
16.
The Commission considers the suffering inflicted on the relatives of
the victims as a result of their deaths to be moral damages, which are evident
in the “violent and brutal manner in which the three
persons were killed by agents of the Peruvian State.” With regard to the adverse psychological consequences
that the disappearance of persons can have on their next of kin, the Commission
maintains that the minor child, Erika Claudia Zenteno Yupanqui, daughter of
William Zenteno Escobar, has been the most seriously affected by her father's
death and is receiving medical and psychological treatment in Lima.
The Commission estimates the moral damages, based on the judgments
on compensation rendered by the Court in the Velásquez Rodríguez and Godínez
Cruz cases, at US$125,000 for each of the three families, to be distributed
equitably according to the number of family members.
17.
The Commission states that these indemnities must be paid directly
to the beneficiary relatives. For the
indemnities to the minor children, it proposes the establishment of a trust
fund, “the basic value of which would
consist of a sum proportional to the estimated projected income of the victim,
after deducting what would have been the victim's own living expenses. The foregoing would be determined by applying
the current or present value method.” The minor children would receive the remainder of the indemnity to
which they are entitled when they come of age or marry. The Commission requests that the adult beneficiaries
“be paid the total amount, adjusted
to the date on which the judgment is delivered.”
18.
The Government submitted its comments on the Commission's brief on
reparations on December 7, 1995, with assurances of its readiness to abide
by the Court's ruling. It proposed
that the indemnity should be determined on the basis of the correlation between
the acts and the proven damages inflicted.
Accordingly, for purposes of determining Costs and Expenses [daño emergente], they would have to be duly substantiated by documentary
proof of actual expenditures. Such
proof does not exist in the instant case, since the Commission has produced
none.
19.
Regarding the persons entitled to compensation, the Government maintains
that, in matters of succession, Peruvian law establishes that a person's heirs
are his or her descendants and spouse in that order and, in their default,
the parents and other ascendants; consequently, there is no reason in the
instant case to compensate the sister of the late Víctor Neira Alegría, it
being only his spouse and children who are entitled to such compensation.
20.
On the subject of “loss of earnings”, the Government states that the
criteria laid down by the Commission are not acceptable, based as they are
on inaccurate data, such as the average life-span of Peruvians, the assumption
that time would have been devoted to work, and the minimum living wage, none
of which has been substantiated. The
Government further adduces “the probability
that if the victims had lived, they would have been sentenced to years of
imprisonment for the crime of terrorism and would therefore not have been
in a position to work during that time.”
21.
As far as moral damages are concerned, the Government claims that this
is not a case of forced disappearance; it is a case of persons who were charged
with a crime and unfortunately lost their lives when an organized revolt was
being crushed. The decision could not,
therefore, be defended on the basis of the cases cited as precedents. It could be maintained in the instant case that
“the next of kin had already suffered
moral damages, but that the damages had been inflicted on them by the victims
themselves when they unlawfully took part in acts connected with terrorism,
which was the reason for their arrest and untimely deaths.” The Government deems the amount of US$125,000
assessed for the moral damages caused to the next of kin of each of the victims
to be exorbitant. It considers that this amount, like the others sought by
the Commission, “does not accord with
[their] actual economic situation.”
22.
On March 25, 1996, the Inter-American Commission presented a brief
containing a calculation of the possible age of Víctor Neira Alegría in order
to determine the amount under the “loss of earnings” heading, and those for
the “loss of earnings” of Mr. William Zenteno Escobar and Mr. Edgar Zenteno
Escobar, both of which were different to those presented in the brief of September
30, 1995. The amounts sought were as
follows: US$173,058.35 for the next
of kin of William Zenteno Escobar, US$148,136.17 for the next of kin of Mr
Edgar Zenteno Escobar, and US$166,541.53 for the next of kin of Mr. Víctor
Neira Alegría. The Commission estimated
Mr. Neira Alegría's age at 31 for its calculation of his “loss of earnings.”
23.
On January 26, 1996, the Court held a public hearing attended by,
for
the Republic of Peru:
Jorge Hawie Soret, Agent
Julio Vega Eráusquin, Assistant;
for
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:
Oscar Luján Fappiano, Delegate
Domingo E. Acevedo, Attorney
Juan E. Méndez, Assistant.
24.
At the public hearing on reparations the Government produced the following
documentary evidence: a document issued
by the National Prisons Institute, stating the date on which Mr. Víctor Neira
Alegría, Mr. Edgar Zenteno Escobar and Mr. William Zenteno Escobar entered
the “El Frontón” correctional institution; legal material on the offenses
of “ridicule and insolence”; documents of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru,
documentation from the Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion on the calculation
of “loss of earnings.” The Government
also supplied copies of some judgments handed down in Peru in connection with
State responsibility stemming from the commission of criminal acts.
25.
The delegate of the Inter-American Commission, for his part, submitted
an article from a Peruvian daily newspaper on the compensation of the relatives
of the victims of the “La Cantuta massacre.”
26.
In connection with costs and expenses [daño
emergente], the Government also produced a letter of January 23, 1996
to the Government's agent from Monsignor Juan Luis Martín Bisson, Bishop and
President of the Episcopal Social Welfare Commission [Comisión Episcopal de Acción Social], stating that the Episcopal Commission's
professional services in the Neira Alegría et al. case had been provided free of charge.
27.
On that subject, the Commission claimed at the public hearing that
the Episcopal Social Welfare Commission was one of the Peruvian nongovernmental
human rights organizations that had originally participated in the case, but
that legal services “were subsequently
provided by organizations such as CEAPAZ and FEDEPAZ.”
28.
On March 27, 1996, the Commission submitted to the Court a brief containing
information on the case supplied by the victims' representatives. The information concerned the calculation of
“loss of earnings” for Víctor Neira Alegría and indicated that the whereabouts
of his next of kin were unknown.
29.
On April 29, 1996, the Secretariat of the Court wrote formally to the
Inter-American Commission requesting the presentation of certain documents
containing information on: the list of beneficiaries of Costs and Expenses
[daño emergente], “loss of earnings” and
moral damages, for the purpose of determining the proper compensation amounts
at the appropriate stage of the process. On
May 31, 1996, in response to a request from the Court, the Commission presented
a communication containing additional information. Attached to that communication were the birth
certificates of some relatives of the victims but, as far as the other information
sought by the Court was concerned, the Commission took the view that “the
Honorable Court should contact the Peruvian Government directly in order to
obtain the necessary documents inasmuch as ... [it is the Government]
that has direct and unrestricted access
to the departments that can supply that information.”
30.
In that communication the Commission declared that at the public hearing
held on January 26, 1996, the Peruvian State recognized the following facts
and information: the life expectancy of the victims and their actual and potential
income; the number of dependents and successors; the Costs and Expenses [daño emergente], and the fact that the
minor child, Erika Claudia Zenteno Yupanqui, daughter of William Zenteno Escobar,
is the person most seriously affected by her father's death and is receiving
medical and psychological treatment. As
regards Víctor Neira Alegría, the Commission maintained that the Government
had not challenged the expenditures incurred by the victim's sister in lodging
the appeal of habeas corpus on behalf
of Mr. Neira. Lastly, the Commission's
communication contained a list of the victims' representatives during the
proceedings before the domestic judicial authorities and information on their
fees, based on the Table of Fees prepared by the Bar Association (Colegio de Abogados) of Peru.
31.
On May 22, 1996, the Government presented a brief containing evidence
relating to Mr. Neira Alegría's age.
32.
On June 4, 1996, the Government submitted a brief containing certain
details about the case and produced legal documents, as well as a minimum
living wage table with calculations of the “loss of earnings” by the victims'
next of kin. On July 23, 1996, in response to the Secretariat's
request of July 1, 1996, the Government submitted a brief in which it maintained
that, in order to conduct a search for the Civil Register certificates, “it
is essential to know the places and dates of birth and/or registration.”
33.
On July 8, 1996, the Asociación
Pro-Derechos Humanos [Pro-Human Rights Association] (APRODEH) presented
the Secretariat with a brief containing information on the Costs and Expenses
[daño emergente], “loss of earnings” and
moral damages in respect of Milagros Yoisy Zenteno Rodríguez, one of the minor
daughters of Mr. William Zenteno Escobar.
34.
In order to come to an informed decision on the amounts of the indemnities,
in keeping with the necessary technical considerations, the Court deemed it
advisable to avail itself of the professional services of an actuarial expert. To that end, Mr. Eduardo Zumbado J., an
actuarial consultant in San José, Costa Rica, was engaged. The Secretariat of the Court received his reports
on August 5 and 9 and September 18, 1996. Mr. Zumbado had been instructed by the Court to use the figure of
US$125 as the victims' probable monthly income, for the reasons stated in
paragraph 50 of this judgment.
V
35.
In the operative part of the judgment of January 19, 1995, the Court
decided that “Peru is obliged to pay fair compensation to
the next of kin of the victims on the occasion of these proceedings and to
reimburse the expenditures that they have incurred in their petitions before
the national authorities.” However,
the parties disagree on the amount of the compensation and expenditures. The Court will rule on that controversy in the
present judgment.
36.
The provision applicable to reparations is Article 63(1) of the American
Convention, which reads as follows:
1.
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.
The provisions of this article contain one of the fundamental principles of international law, as has been recognized in case law (Factory at Chorzów, Jurisdiction, Judgment No. 8, 1927, P.C.I.J., Series A, No. 9, page 21, and Factory at Chorzów, Merits, Judgment No. 13, 1928, P.C.I.J., Series A, No. 17, page 29; Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1949, page 184). It has been applied thus by this Court (Velásquez Rodríguez Case, Compensatory Damages (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights), Judgment of July 21, 1989. Series C No. 7, para. 25; Godínez Cruz Case, Compensatory Damages (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights), Judgment of July 21, 1989, Series C No. 8, para. 23; Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights), Judgment of September 10, 1993, Series C No. 15, para. 43, and El Amparo Case. Reparations (Art. 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights), Judgment of September 14, 1996, Series C No. 28, para. 14).
37.
By virtue of the above, the obligation to make reparation is governed
by international law in all of its aspects, such as its scope, characteristics,
beneficiaries, etc., and may not be subject to modification or suspension
by the respondent State through invocation of provisions of its own domestic
law (Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra
9, para. 44, and El Amparo Case,
Reparations, supra 36, para. 15).
38.
Inasmuch as the rule of “restitutio
in integrum” cannot be applied in a case in which the right to life has
been violated, alternative forms of reparation, such as pecuniary compensation,
must of necessity be sought for the victims' next of kin and dependents. Such compensation primarily covers actual damages
suffered and, as this Court has declared on a previous occasion, comprises
both material and moral damages (see
Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra 9, paras. 47 and 49, and El Amparo Case, Reparations, supra 36,
para. 15).
VI
39.
The Commission requested, as reparation for material damages, the
reimbursement of any expenditures the victims' relatives may have incurred
in their recourse to the domestic courts, including the numerous journeys
they were obliged to make to Lima and their many representations to the Peruvian
authorities, and requested US$2,100 for each family.
The Government, for its part, claimed that the professional services
of the attorneys of the Episcopal Social Welfare Commission, an organ of the
Peruvian Episcopal Conference, had been provided free of charge.
40.
At the public hearing the Commission called for compensation for the
costs incurred by the relatives in instituting the proceedings before the
Commission and the Court. The Commission
considers that “such costs, which have
hitherto never been recognized in the jurisprudence of this Court, should
be recognized ... on a fundamental principle of justice.”
41.
With regard to costs, this Court has already declared, in paragraph
87 of its judgment on the merits of January 19, 1995, that “the Commission cannot demand that expenses incurred as a result of its
own internal work structure be reimbursed through the assessment of costs. The operation of the human rights organs of
the inter-American system is funded by the Member States by means of their
annual contributions.” (Aloeboetoe et al. Case. Reparations, supra 9,
para. 114, and El Amparo Case. Reparations,
supra 36, para. 63).
42.
Although no documentary evidence of the actual expenditures has been
submitted, the Court deems it fair to award an indemnity in the amount of
US$2,000 to each of the victims' families as compensation for the expenditures
incurred in the various representations they made in the country.
VII
43.
In order to arrive at a suitable amount for the material damages suffered
by the victims, the Commission contends that the fair basis for “loss of earnings”
in the instant case is the income that the dependent relatives could have
received from the victim during the remainder of his life. On that basis, the Commission submits for the consideration of the
Court (supra 14 and 22) precise figures for compensation to the
next of kin of each of the three victims in the case.
44.
The Government has not submitted any precise figures, but contests
those submitted by the Commission on the ground of inaccuracy of the data
on which they are based; for example: the average life expectancy, an assumption
concerning the victim's employment during that time; and a minimum wage, all
of which, it claims, is unsubstantiated and unreasonable.
The Government adds that another possible argument is the likelihood
that, had the victims lived, they would have been sentenced to years of imprisonment
for the crime of terrorism and would therefore have been unable to work during
that time (supra 20).
45.
The Court rejects this last argument of the Government, on the ground
that the victims were not convicted and sentenced, and that the general legal
principle of the right to be presumed innocent must apply (Art. 8(2) of the
American Convention).
46.
In determining the amount of compensation, the Commission has simply
calculated the annual income that the victims would have earned, taking into
account their ages at the time of their deaths and the years remaining until
they reached the age of normal life expectancy in Peru.
This would be equivalent to advance payment of future income. In the opinion of the Court, this reasoning
is fallacious, because the purpose of the calculation at the time of death
must be to determine what amount, invested at normal interest rates, would
produce the amount of the monthly income the victim would have received during
his probable lifetime in that country, at the end of which time it would be
extinguished. A part of the monthly
income would therefore be interest and the remainder drawdown of capital. In other words, the present value of an income
from their monthly earnings for the rest of their probable lifetime is, perforce,
less than the simple sum of their earnings.
The
sum thus obtained corresponds to the compensation at the time of death.
However, since that compensation is to be paid many years later, the
interest that would have accrued during that time must be added to that sum
for purposes of calculating the proper compensation.
47.
The Commission also assumes an increase of two percent per annum in
the minimum living wage, an assumption which has not been substantiated.
48.
In conclusion, the Commission makes no deduction whatsoever for the
personal expenses which the victims would have incurred during their probable
lifetime for such items as food and clothing. In the opinion of the Court,
those expenses, estimated at one quarter of their income, should be deducted
from the total compensation.
49.
The Court considers that the appropriate compensation for each of the
families of the victims should depend both on their ages at the time of death
and the years remaining until they would have reached the age of normal life
expectancy, and their actual incomes, calculated on the basis of their actual
wage (Velásquez Rodríguez Case, Compensatory Damages,
supra 36, para. 46, and Godínez Cruz Case, Compensatory Damages, supra
36, para. 44) or, in default of the appropriate information, on the minimum
monthly wage in effect in the country (Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra 9, paras. 88 and 89.
50.
In the instant case, with regard to the first of the above factors,
the Commission claimed that the life expectancy in Peru was sixty-seven years. Although this was refuted by the Government,
it produced no evidence in support of its objection. With regard to the calculation
of the monthly minimum wage, which would apply in this case, the Court observes
that neither the Commission's declarations nor the data supplied by the Government
provide sufficient information for determining the minimum wage. Consequently,
the Court, for reasons of equity and in view of the actual economic and social
situation of Latin America, fixes the amount of US$125 as the victims' probable
income, and therefore as the monthly figure to be used for calculating the
correct compensation (El Amparo Case,
Reparations, supra 36, para.
28). Once the calculation has been made, 25 percent shall be deducted for
personal expenses (ibid., para.
28). The interest accruing from the
date of the events up to the present shall be added to that amount.
51.
The Court, calculating the amounts on the basis of the above criteria,
finds that the compensation that Peru must pay is US$31,065.88 to the next
of kin of William Zenteno Escobar and US$30,102.38 to the next of kin of Edgar
Zenteno Escobar.
52.
It is difficult to make the calculation for the next of kin of Víctor
Neira Alegría, inasmuch as neither party has supplied his age in its statements. The Commission proposed that the average of
the ages of the other two victims be used.
However, the Government subsequently produced a statement delivered
in Cuzco before the investigation officer [Instructor]
at one of the Criminal Investigation Department offices, to the effect that
Neira Alegría was born on February 25, 1944, in Lucanas Province in the Department
of Ayacucho.
On
the basis of that information, the compensation to be paid to the Víctor Neira
Alegría's next of kin is US$26,872.48.
VIII
53.
The Commission considers that compensation should be paid for the moral
damages caused and that it should be added to compensation for the income
which the victims' next of kin ceased to receive.
The Commission based its argument on this Court's assessments in the
Velásquez Rodríguez and Godínez Cruz cases in judgments of July 21, 1989. The Government considers exorbitant the amount
of US$125,000 being sought by the Commission for each of the families.
54.
The Court observes that whereas the Commission did calculate the moral
damages on this Court's assessments in the Velásquez Rodríguez and Godínez
Cruz cases in judgments of July 21, 1989, it is also a fact that the awards
were different in the judgments on reparations in the Aloeboetoe et al. Case (US$29,070 for each of six families and US$38,155 for
the seventh, to which were added other obligations to be discharged by the
State) and the El Amparo case (US$20,000 for each of the 16 families).
55.
The Court is of the opinion that while case law may establish precedents
in this regard, it cannot be invoked as an absolute criterion; instead, each
case needs to be considered individually.
56.
This having been said, there are numerous cases in which other international
tribunals have decided that a condemnatory judgment constitutes per se adequate reparation for moral damages,
as amply demonstrated by the jurisprudence of, among others, the European
Court of Human Rights (arrêt Kruslin
du 24 avril 1990, série A No.176-A p. 24 par 39; arrêt McCallum du 30 août
1990, série A No. 183, p. 27, para. 37; arrêt Wassink du 27 septembre 1990,
série A No. 185-A, p. 15 par. 41; arrêt Koendjbiharie du 25 octobre 1990,
série A No. 185-B, p.42 par. 35; arrêt Darby du 23 octobre 1990, série A No.
187, p. 14 par. 40; arrêt Lala c. Pays-Bas du 22 septembre 1994, série A No.
297-A p. 15 par. 38; arrêt Pelladoah c. Pays-Bas du 22 septembre 1994, série
A No. 297-B p. 36, par. 44; arrêt Kroon et autres c. Pays-Bas du 27 octobre
1994, série A No. 297-C p. 59 par. 45; arrêt Boner c. Royaume-Uni du 28 octobre
1994, série A No. 300-B, p. 76, par. 46; arrêt Ruiz Torija c. Espagne du 9
décembre 1994, série A No. 303-A, p. 13, par. 33; arrêt B. contre Autriche
du 28 mars 1990, série A No. 175, p. 20, par. 59). However, it is the
Court's opinion that although a condemnatory judgment may in itself constitute
a form of reparation and moral satisfaction, whether or not there has been
recognition on the part of the State, it would not suffice in the instant
case, owing to the particular seriousness of the violation of the right to
life and of the moral suffering inflicted on the victims and their families,
which deserve be paid fair compensation.
57.
As this Court has established in the past, “[i]t
is clear that the victims suffered moral damages, for it is characteristic
of human nature that anybody subjected to the aggression and abuse described
above will experience moral suffering. The
Court considers that no evidence is required to arrive at this conclusion”
(Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra 9, para. 52, and El Amparo Case. Reparations, supra 36,
para. 36).
58.
In the light of the foregoing, the Court, taking all the special circumstances
of the case into account, concludes that it is fair and just to grant an indemnity
of US$20,000 to each of the families of the deceased and to each of the survivors.
IX
59.
The Court has ruled in previous cases which the indemnity that should
be paid for the arbitrary deprivation of a person's life is a right to which
those directly injured by that fact are entitled.
60.
As the Court has also declared on previous occasions, it is a norm
common to most legal systems that a person's successors are his or her children. It is also generally accepted that the spouse
has a share in the assets acquired during a marriage; some legal systems also
grant the spouse inheritance rights along with the children (Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra
9, para. 62 and El Amparo Case. Reparations,
supra 36, para. 40).
X
61.
The Court turns to the examination of the distribution of the amounts
fixed for the various types of compensation, and considers it equitable to
apply the following criteria, which are in keeping with its rulings in previous
cases (Aloeboetoe et al. Case. Reparations, supra
9, para. 97, and El Amparo Case. Reparations,
supra 36, para. 41).
a. Reparations for material damages shall be divided
as follows: one-third to the wife,
and two-thirds to the children, to be shared equally among them.
b. Reparations for moral damages shall be awarded
as follows: one half to the children; one quarter to the wife; and one quarter
to the parents.
c. In the matter of material damages, where there
is no wife, that part shall be awarded to the parents. With regard to moral damages, where there is
no wife, that part shall be added to the share of the children.
d. If there are no parents, their portion shall be
paid to the children of the victims and, if there should be only one surviving
parent, that parent shall receive that entire share.
e. The expenses shall be reimbursed to each of the
families.
62.
On the basis of the information contained in the dossier, the Court
has prepared the following list of beneficiaries entitled to compensation:
1)
Víctor Neira Alegría:
WIFE:
Aquilina M. Tapia de Neira (her whereabouts are unknown
to the Commission)
CHILDREN:
Three minor sons (not identified in the dossier and their
whereabouts are unknown to the Commission)
2) William
Zenteno Escobar
WIFE:
Norma Yupanqui Montero
CHILDREN:
Erika Claudia Zenteno
Edith Valia Zenteno
Milagros Yoisy Zenteno Rodríguez (daughter William Zenteno
Escobar and Julia Rodríguez Zenteno)
3) Edgar
Zenteno Escobar
PARENTS:
Corcenio Zenteno Flores
Aurea Escobar de Zenteno
The
claim for the compensation payable to the family of Víctor Neira Alegría is
subject to the presentation of documentary proof to the Government of Peru
by the interested parties.
XI
63.
This judgment is to be executed in the following manner: within six
months of the date of notification the State shall pay the indemnities awarded
to the adult relatives and the survivors. Should any of those persons die
before the payment is made, that sum shall be paid to his or her heirs.
64.
The Court rules that the State may fulfill this obligation through
payments in dollars of the United States, or of an equivalent amount in the
local currency of Peru. The rate of
exchange used to determine the equivalent value shall be the selling rate
for the United States dollar and the Peruvian currency quoted on the New York
market on the day before the date of the payment.
65.
The Government shall pay the compensation for the minor children by
creating, within a period of six months, trust funds in a solvent and sound
Peruvian banking institution, on the most favorable terms permitted by banking
laws and practice, for each of the minor children, who shall receive the interest
accrued on a monthly basis. Once the
children become of age or marry, they shall receive the total owing to them.
In the event of their death, their rights herein shall pass to their heirs.
66.
In the event that any of the adult beneficiaries fail to claim the
payment of the compensation to which they are entitled, the State shall deposit
the sum due in a trust fund, on the terms set forth in the preceding paragraph,
and shall make every effort to locate that person.
If, after ten years from the establishment of the trust fund the indemnity
has not been claimed by the person or his or her heirs, it shall be returned
to the State and this judgment shall be deemed to have been fulfilled with
regard to that person. The foregoing
shall also apply to the trust funds established for the minor children.
67.
The compensation payments shall be exempt from any tax currently in
force or any that may be decreed in the future.
68.
Should the Government be in arrears with its payments, it shall pay
interest on the total of the capital owing at the current bank rate in Peru
on the date of the payment.
69.
As a form of moral reparation, the Government has the obligation to
do all in its power to locate and identify the remains of the victims and
deliver them to their next of kin.
XII
70.
With reference to costs, these were determined in the judgment on the
merits (Neira Alegría et al. Case, supra 5, para.
87), which is consistent with the Court's previous rulings to the effect that
the Commission cannot demand that expenses incurred as a result of its own
internal work structure be reimbursed through the assessment of costs (Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra
14, paras. 110-115, and El Amparo Case. Reparations, supra 36, para. 63).
NOW, THEREFORE,
THE COURT,
By five votes to one,
1) Sets the total reparations at US$154,040.74 to
be paid to the next of kin and the surviving victims referred to in the instant
case. This payment shall be made by
the State of Peru within six months of the date of the notification of the
present judgment, and in the form and conditions set forth in the preceding
paragraphs,
Judge ad hoc Orihuela-Iberico
dissenting.
Unanimously,
2) Orders the creation of trust funds on the terms
set forth in paragraphs 65 and 66 of this judgment.
Unanimously,
3) Decides that the State of Peru shall not impose
any taxes on the compensation paid.
Unanimously
4) Decides that the State of Peru is obliged to do
all in its power to locate and identify the remains of the victims and deliver
them to their next of kin.
Unanimously,
5) Decides that it shall supervise compliance with
this judgment and that the case shall be deemed to be closed only after such
compliance.
Unanimously,
6) Rules that payment of costs shall not be ordered.
Judge
ad hoc Orihuela-Iberico informed
the Court of his dissenting opinion, which shall be attached to this judgment.
Done
in Spanish and English, the Spanish text being authentic, in San José, Costa
Rica, on this nineteenth day of September, 1996.
Héctor Fix-Zamudio
President
Hernán Salgado-Pesantes
Alejandro Montiel-Argüello
Alirio Abreu-Burelli
Antônio A. Cançado Trindade
Jorge E. Orihuela-Iberico
Judge ad hoc
Manuel E. Ventura-Robles
Secretary
Read
at a public session at the seat of the Court in San José, Costa Rica, on September
20, 1996.
So ordered,
Héctor Fix-Zamudio
President
Manuel E. Ventura-Robles
Secretary