20
"The silence of the universe led me to the conclusion that the world is meaningless. This
silence points to the evils of war, poverty and the suffering of the innocent. (...) All I can
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do is write about it and keep writing about it .”
After transcribing these words by A. Camus, the abovementioned theologist added
that "one of the hardest problems facing human beings is the existence of evil. It is
not an exclusively religious problem. Any feeling person is disturbed by evil and by
pain 74.”
55.
I could not avoid giving, in this Separate Opinion, recognition to the suffering
of the silent victims in the instant case of the Sawhoyamaxa Community — as well as
those of the previous related case of the Indigenous Community Yakye Axa — and
addressing, in particular, the memory of the innocent who lost their lives along a
roadside, and the pain of their surviving next of kin who survive, along the same
roadside, in the distress imposed on them by human greed and stinginess. As I
pointed out in my Separate Opinion in the Judgment on reparations int he case of
the “Street Children “ (Villagrán Morales et al.) v Guatemala, Judgment of May 26,
2001, the triad formed by victimization, human suffering and rehabilitation of the
victims has not been sufficiently considered by contemporary international legal
experts and in contemporary international case law, and there is a pressing need to
do so, based on the integrality of the personality of the victims (paras. 2-3 and 23 of
the Opinion), taking into account even their cultural identity.
56.
In the same Separate Opinion in the Case of the “Street Children”
(reparations), I also noted that:
“(…) But even if those responsible for the established order do not perceive it, the
suffering of the excluded ones is ineluctably projected into the whole social corpus. The
supreme injustice of the state of poverty inflicted upon the unfortunate ones
contaminates the whole social milieu (…). Human suffering has a dimension which is
both personal and social. Thus, the damage caused to each human being, however
humble he might be, affects the community itself as a whole. As the present case
discloses, the victims are multiplied in the persons of the surviving close next of kin,
who, furthermore, are forced to live with the great pain inflicted by the silence, the
indifference and the oblivion of the others.” (para. 22).
Thanks to the existence of international human rights jurisdiction, the silence
of the innocent in the instant case, has, however, echoed at the international level.
The instant case of the Sawhoyamaxa Community shows that their legal entity and
capacity were affirmed and exercised beyond question. This is particularly
meaningful in the circumstances of the case, dealing with members of an indigenous
community.
57.
VIII. Final Considerations.
1.
The Rights of the Indigenous Peoples in the Formation and the
Development of the Law of Nations (Jus Gentium).
58.
In recent years, draft declarations and studies are being developed in the
framework of international organizations (both the United Nations and the
73
.
Quoted in H. Mumma, Albert Camus e o Teólogo, São Paulo, Carrenho Edit., 2002, page 30.
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.
Ibid., pages 31-32.