309. Regarding the obligation to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible, the
representatives argued that the “obligation to investigate and sanction those responsible for
the human rights violations committed against the victims in this case should be
implemented by two types of proceedings: one criminal and the other constitutional.” They
indicated that “based on the judgment delivered by the Court, the State should require the
prosecutor’s office to initiate the corresponding investigations against the persons
implicated in this case.” They considered that, “in this case, the persons who intervened in
the violation of the victims’ rights are fully identified”; they are “the President of the
Republic at that time, Colonel Lucio Gutiérrez, because he called a special session to
address the issue of the dismissal of the judges; […] each and every member of Congress
who voted for the resolution that terminated the judges […] and those who voted in the
impeachment proceeding [on December 8, 2004,] and whose names appear in the case file;
[and] the judges of the de facto Constitutional Tribunal […], whose decisions and
interventions before the local judges, eliminated the possibility of the victims being able to
request judicial protection by the remedy of amparo.” With regard to the constitutional
responsibility for the violation of rights, they argued that “the State should open a
proceeding to obtain reimbursement for the payment made for the reparations that have
involved costs for the State” and that the “Organic Law on Jurisdictional Guarantees and
Constitutional Control establishes the proceeding for obtaining reimbursement from third
parties, which should be followed in order to comply fully with the principle of investigating
and sanctioning those responsible for violating human rights.” The representatives also
considered that considering “the public humiliation suffered by the victims in this case and
the mistreatment received at the hands of the State for almost nine years […], the
publication of the judgment is not sufficient, and they deserve a public apology.”
310. The State indicated that it “w[ould] only implement as a measure of satisfaction” the
publication of the Judgment. It also indicated that “it was organizing continual training
campaigns not only on judicial independence, but also on different points of law.”
311. The State indicated that “should the Court sentence [it, it] will conduct the necessary
investigations in order to establish the responsibility of the persons mentioned by the
petitioners.” It also indicated that, based on articles 11(9) and 417 of the Constitution, it
“will file a claim for reimbursement against those persons who are declared responsible for
the violations alleged by the representatives.” It added that “the exercise of the right to
claim reimbursement is not part of the obligation to make reparation to a victim, but rather
an obligation of the public administration towards the citizens in relation to the
consequences of an act that violates rights.”
Considerations of the Court
312. Regarding the other measures of reparation that have been requested, the Court
considers that the delivery of this Judgment and the reparations ordered in this chapter are
sufficient and appropriate to redress the violations suffered by the victims and does not find
it necessary to order the said measures.323
E.
Costs and expenses
Arguments of the parties
323
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico. Preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of
November 23, 2009. Series C No. 209, para. 359, and Artavia Murillo et al. (In vitro fertilization) v. Costa Rica,
para. 344.
89