B) Claims for reparation of moral prejudice"
1) The Applicants, natural persons
32.
In their
Brief on
Reparations,
the
Applicants,
natural
persons,
beneficiaries of Norbert Zongo, Abdoulaye Nikiéma alias Ablassé,
namely:
the
Ernest Zongo, and
Blaise Ilboudo, are claiming reparation essentially on account of the “pain, physical and
emotional suffering and trauma” suffered by them “throughout the duration of the lengthy
legal procedure, which is entirely ascribable
33. They pointed out that
to Burkinabé authorities.”
“to wait for nearly eight
years for a hypothetical notification
from the court to be able to provide the Judge with information likely to help him follow a
line of enquiry to track down the perpetrators of the assassination of one's relatives”... “to
wait endless hours in front of the chambers of counsel and/or investigating magistrates
in search of news about these persons" ... "and spend sleepless nights ‘brooding over’
the difficulties encountered on a daily basis in the quest for the truth” have been, for the
beneficiaries, “ordeals to which it is almost impossible to ‘attach’ a cost”.
34. They further stated
that even if the Judgment
of 28 March 2014 may in itself be a
form of reparation, “the length of the judicial proceedings, the suffering and persecutory
treatment that they caused,
the changes
that they brought about
beneficiaries and, above all, the situation of impunity
enjoyed by the perpetrators of the
assassination of Norbert Zongo and his companions, - all justify
compensation, based on the principle of equity...which could
the feeling of a fair reparation
in the life of the
the grant of monetary
give them [the Applicants]
for the prejudice suffered”.
35. They underscored in this regard that they had categorically refused the social welfare
cover in the form of feeding, healthcare and education as well as a special
allowance offered by the Respondent
State in 1999, because they did not want “any
support from the State as long as the perpetrators of the assassination had not been
brought to book before Burkinabé courts.
" The Applicants are referring to “non-pecuniary damages”, whereas in reality, the issue is one of
application for “pecuniary” damages for “moral” prejudice.
12
eo
/§
SS