Inter-american court of human rights

Costs and expenses

477. 
     The representatives indicated that they have been supporting the community from February 28, 1997, to date, as well as during “approximately eleven […] years of litigation at the domestic level, and four years at the international level.” They also indicated that the average expenditure, per person, to visit the humanitarian zones is US$700 (seven hundred United States dollars) and that, in activities of “gathering information, powers of attorney, development of the reparation proposal presented in this brief, and information activities to explain to the victims” about the inter-American system and the processing of this case, they had incurred expenses of US$17,500 (seventeen thousand five hundred United States dollars). Lastly, they calculated that their expenses in relation to the litigation before the Inter-American Court amounted to US$6,000 (six thousand United States dollars) and the value of the support provided from 2002 to 2011⁷⁵⁴ at US$793,866 (seven hundred and ninety-three thousand eight hundred and sixty-six United States dollars). To authenticate the foregoing, the representatives attached a series of invoices for public services, stationery expenses, restaurants, plane and bus tickets, payments they had made in the name of various individuals, and other elements, without providing any further explanation.
     
478. 
     The Commission did not make any claims and the State did not refer to the representatives’ request.
     
479. 
     The Court reiterates that, according to its case law,⁷⁵⁵ costs and expenses are part of the concept of reparation, because the activities deployed by the victims in order to obtain justice at both the national and the international level entail disbursements that must be compensated when the international responsibility of the State is declared in a judgment.
     
480. 
     Regarding the reimbursement of expenses, the Court must make a prudent assessment of their scope, which includes the expenses incurred before the authorities of the domestic jurisdiction, as well as those arising during the processing of the case before the inter-American system, taking into account the circumstances of the specific case and the nature of the international jurisdiction for the protection of human rights. This assessment may be made on the basis of the principle of equity and taking into account the expenses indicated by the parties, provided that their quantum is reasonable.⁷⁵⁶
     
481. 
     In this regard, the Court notes that even though the file contains a series of invoices and receipts provided by the representatives, this does not constitute probative support relating them to expenses made owing to the case and, thus, justifying the amounts requested by the representatives for honoraria and professional services, because they were not accompanied by any explanation as to how this sum was determined.⁷⁵⁷ Consequently, the Court establishes, in equity, the sum of US$80,000.00 (eighty thousand United States dollars) for the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz for costs and expenses related to these proceedings.
     

1. Method of complying with the payments ordered

482. 
     The State must make the payment of the compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and to reimburse costs and expenses established in this Judgment directly to the persons indicated herein or, as requested by the representatives, to the person who they appoint to receive it by means of an instrument that is valid under Colombian law, within one year of notification of this Judgment, in accordance with the following paragraphs.
     
483. 
     The State must comply with its monetary obligations by payment in United States dollars. If, for causes that can be attributed to the beneficiaries of the compensation or to their heirs, it is not possible to pay the amounts decided within the indicated time frame, the State shall deposit the said amounts in their favor in an account or certificate of deposit in a solvent Colombian financial institution, in United States dollars, and in the most favorable financial conditions allowed by banking law and practice. If the corresponding compensation is not claimed, after ten years the amounts shall be returned to the State with the interest accrued.
     
484. 
     The amounts allocated in this Judgment as compensation and to reimburse costs and expenses must be delivered to the persons indicated integrally, as established in this Judgment, without any reductions for eventual taxes or charges.
     
485. 
     If the State should incur in arrears, it must pay interest on the amount owed corresponding to banking interest on arrears in the Republic of Colombia.
     

X
OPERATIVE PARAGRAPHS

486. 
     Therefore,
     

unanimously,

1. 
   To establish that it is not in order to rule in a preliminary manner on the claims made by the State as “preliminary objections,” in the terms of paragraphs 33 to 36 of this Judgment.
   

unanimously that:

2. 
   The State is responsible for the violation of the rights to personal integrity and not to be forcibly displaced (included in the right to freedom of movement and residence), recognized in Articles 5(1) and 22(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of the members of the Afro-descendant communities displaced from the Cacarica River basin and/or who were present at the time of the paramilitary incursions, as described in paragraphs 241 to 280 of this Judgment.
   
3. 
   The State is responsible for the violation of the rights to life and to personal integrity, recognized in Articles 4(1), 5(1) and 5(2) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of Marino López Mena, owing to its failure to comply with its obligations of prevention, protection and investigation, as well as for the violation of the right to personal integrity to the detriment of his next of kin, as described in paragraphs 281 to 282 of this Judgment.
   
4. 
   The State is responsible for failing to comply with its obligations to ensure humanitarian assistance and a safe return, in violation of the right to freedom of movement and residence and of the right to personal integrity, recognized in Articles 22(1) and 5(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of the Afro-descendant communities of the Cacarica River basin who were in a situation of forced displacement, as described in paragraphs 315 to 324 of this Judgment.
   
5. 
   The State is responsible for the violation of the right to personal integrity, recognized in Article 5 of the American Convention, in relation to Articles 1(1) and 19 of this instrument, to the detriment of the displaced children of the Afro-descendant communities of the Cacarica River basin, as well as of those who were born in a situation of displacement, indicated in Annexes II and III of this Judgment, as described in paragraphs 327 to 331 of this Judgment
   
6. 
   The State is responsible for the violation of the right to collective property, recognized in Article 21 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of the members of the Afro-descendant communities displaced from the Cacarica River basin and of the members of the Community Council of the Communities of the Cacarica River basin, as described in paragraphs 344 to 358 of this Judgment.
   
7. 
   The State is responsible for the violation of the rights to judicial guarantees and judicial protection, recognized in Articles 8(1) and 25 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of the next of kin of Marino López, of the members of the Afro-descendant communities displaced from the Cacarica River basin, and of the Community Council of the Communities of the Cacarica River basin, as described in paragraphs 368 to 410 of this Judgment
   
8. 
   The State is not responsible for the violation of the rights to life and to personal integrity, recognized in Articles 4 and 5 of the American Convention, in relation to the bombing carried out during the execution of Operation Genesis, as indicated in paragraphs 227 to 240 of this Judgment.
   
9. 
   It is not incumbent on the Court to rule on the alleged violations of Articles 1, 6 and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture, as indicated in paragraph 282 of this Judgment.
   
10. 
    It is not incumbent on the Court to rule on the alleged violation of the right to honor and dignity, protection of the family, and equality before the law, contained in Articles 11, 17 and 24 of the American Convention, or on the alleged non-compliance with the obligation to adopt provisions of domestic law established in Article 2 of this instrument, as indicated in paragraphs 332 to 338 of this Judgment.
    

11. 
    This Judgment constitutes per se a form of reparation.
    
12. 
    The State must use all necessary means to continue, effectively and with the greatest diligence, the investigations that have been opened, as well as open any that are necessary in order to individualize, prosecute and eventually punish all those responsible for the facts of this case, and remove all the obstacles, de facto and de jure, that may maintain impunity, as established in paragraphs 439 to 440 of this Judgment.
    
13. 
    The State must make the publications ordered, as established in paragraph 445 of this Judgment.
    
14. 
    The State must organize a public act to acknowledge international responsibility for the facts of this case, as established in paragraph 447 of this Judgment.
    
15. 
    The State must provide the appropriate and priority medical treatment required by the victims of this case, in the context of the reparation programs established by domestic law, as established in paragraphs 452 and 453 of this Judgment.
    
16. 
    The State must restore the effective use, enjoyment and possession of the territories recognized by domestic law to the Afro-descendant communities assembled in the Community Council of the Communities of the Cacarica River basin, as established in paragraph 459 of this Judgment.
    
17. 
    The State must ensure that the conditions of the territories that are restored to the victims in this case, as well as of the place where they are living currently, are adequate for the safety and decent life of both those who have returned and of those who have not yet done so, as established in paragraphs 460 and 461 of this Judgment.
    
18. 
    The State must ensure that all the persons who have been recognized as victims in this Judgment receive the compensation established by the pertinent domestic laws referred to in paragraph 475 of this Judgment, within one year of its notification.
    
19. 
    The State must pay the amounts established in paragraph 476 of this Judgment for the pecuniary and non-pecuniary harm caused to Marino López Mena and his next of kin, and to this end must make the pertinent publications and broadcasts, as well as pay the amounts established for reimbursement of costs and expenses, within one year of notification of this Judgment, as indicated in paragraphs 479 and 481 hereof.
    
20. 
    The State must provide the Court with a report on the measures adopted to comply with this Judgment within one year of its notification.
    
21. 
    In exercise of its attributes and pursuant to its obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights, the Court will monitor complete compliance with this Judgment, and will consider this case concluded when the State has complied fully with all its provisions.
    

Done, at San José, Costa Rica, on November 20, 2013, in the Spanish language.

President

Manuel E. Ventura Robles Alberto Pérez Pérez

Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot

Secretary

Diego García-Sayán

President

Pablo Saavedra Alessandri