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162.
In relation to non-pecuniary damage, the Commission indicated that:
a)
The Court has established a presumption in relation to the nonpecuniary damage suffered by the victims of human rights violations and their
next of kin;
b)
During her clandestine captivity, Maritza Urrutia experienced profound
psychological suffering; she felt that she was under the constant threat of
being physically tortured, raped or assassinated, or that her son would be
assassinated. Furthermore, she was subjected to measures designed to
obliterate her personality such as forced insomnia and a state of absolute
defenselessness and vulnerability, which caused her gastric and intestinal
problems. The effects of the psychological torture to which she was subjected
continued for a considerable time. During the first years following her
release, the victim suffered from fear, nightmares, and a permanent feeling of
vulnerability because she had been identified by members of a State agency,
who had “abused” her, protected by the cloak of impunity. Nowadays,
Maritza Urrutia continues to suffer the effects of the trauma, manifested by
periods of anxiety; and
c)
The Commission estimates non-pecuniary damage in the symbolic sum
of US$55,000.00 (fifty-five thousand United States dollars), in consultation
with the victim and her representatives.
Arguments of the representatives of the victim
163. The representatives of the victim stated that they endorsed the indications of
the Commission concerning reparation for the non-pecuniary damage suffered by the
victim. However, in the brief with final arguments they presented a list of the
amounts requested for this concept, as follows:
a)
Maritza Urrutia should be compensated with US$15,000.00 (fifteen thousand United
States dollars) for the treatment she received during her captivity and solitary confinement. This
includes compensation for psychological torture, unlawful and arbitrary detention, infringement
of her privacy and that of her family when she was shown photographs of the latter and
discovered that she was being watched, pressure to lie to her next of kin and to public opinion
and mislead public opinion through the media, in violation of Articles 5, 8, 7, 11, 13 and 25 of
the Convention and Articles 1 and 6 of the Convention against Torture. In addition, the
representatives requested US$20,000.00 (twenty thousand United States dollars) for the
aftereffects of the said violations for the victim, which still continue;
b)
Fernando Sebastián Barrientos Urrutia, the victim’s son, should be
compensation with US$12,000.00 (twelve thousand United States dollars),
because it must be presumed that the victim’s suffering affected her son, who
was separated from his mother, and knew and shared her suffering. They
added that the fact that Fernando Sebastián has lived alone with his mother,
traumatized and far from his next of kin, means that, in some way, he has
shared the problems she suffers. Since he is a minor, he merits special
treatment from the State, owing to the violation of Articles 1, 5, 11, 13, 19, 8
and 25 of the Convention;
c)
Edmundo Urrutia Castellanos and María del Pilar García, the victim’s
parents, should each be compensated with US$10,000.00 (ten thousand
United States dollars), as compensation, based on the presumption that a
victim’s parents incur non-pecuniary suffering owing to the fate of their child,