filiation, as well as their life certificate,
Fathers and mothers must produce only an
attestation of paternity or maternity as well as life certificate or any other equivalent proof.
c) Proof of causal link between the wrongful act and the moral prejudice
55. Regarding the causal link between the wrongful act and the moral prejudice suffered,
the Court is of the opinion that such link may result from the violation of a human right, as
an automatic consequence, without any need to prove otherwise.
In the jurisprudence of
the Inter-American Court, there is even a presumption in that regard.
This Court has
indeed declared that there is “a presumption according to which violations of human rights
and a
situation of impunity regarding those violations cause
grief, anguish and sadness, both to the victims and to their next of kin’°, and that in such
circumstances no proof is required 2"
56. In the instant case, there is hardly any doubt that the close relatives of Norbert Zongo
and
his three
companions
suffered
moral
damage
arising
from
the
shortcomings
ascribable to the Respondent State for having failed to apprehend, prosecute and bring
to trial those responsible for the quadruple murder on 13 December 1998, and in particular
the
unduly
prolonged
procedure
which
in the
end
turned
out to be fruitless
(see
Judgement of 28 March 2014, paras 152 to 156).
20 IACHR: Caracazo v. Venezuela, Judgment of 29 August 2002, Reparations and Costs, para. 50,;,.."the
presumption according to which violations of human rights and a situation of impunity regarding those
violations cause grief, anguish and sadness, both to the victims and to their next of kin’. See in this same
regard: Idem: Aloeboetoe v. Surinam, (Reparations and Costs), Judgment of 10 September 1993, para 76;
Idem: Loayza Tamayo v. Peru (Reparations and Costs) Judgment of 27 November 1998, para. 140; Idem:
Gonzalez Medina and Others v. Dominican Republic, 27 February 2012 (Preliminary
Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs) para. 270; Idem:
November 2003 (Merits, Reparations and Costs), para. 243.
Myrna Mack v. Guatemala, Judgment of 25
21 ACHR: Mapiripan Massacre v. Colombia, (Merits, Reparations and Costs), Judgment of 15 September
2005, para, 146: “Beyond the above, in a case such as that of the Mapiripan massacre the Court deems
that no evidence is required to prove the grave impact on the mental and emotional well-being of the next
of kin of the victims.”
19
aed
dy