the general obligation to respect and ensure the rights and the duty to adopt domestic legislative measures that is established in Articles 1.1 and 2 of the American Convention, respectively. The Commission further decides to publish this report and include it in its Annual Report to the OAS General Assembly. II. PROCESSING BY THE COMMISSION 5. The petition was presented to the IACHR on September 11, 2003; and on October 22, 2003, the Inter-American Commission assigned it number 732/03 and requested information from the Salvadoran State on the pertinent parts of said petition. 6. The State submitted its observations on March 5, 2004, which were duly forwarded to the petitioners on March 19, 2004. 7. On April 22, 2004, the petitioners presented their comments on the State’s information, which were duly transmitted to the State on December 15, 2004. 8. The State sent its observations on February 15, 2005, which were forwarded to the petitioners on October 5, 2006. 9. On November 29, 2006, the petitioners submitted their comments, which were transmitted to the State on March 1, 2007. III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. The Petitioners 10. The petitioners allege that Emelinda Lorena Hernández was the victim of forced disappearance by members of the Salvadoran army. The petitioners state that from December 8 to 16, 1981, members of the Atlacatl Rapid Response Infantry Battalion of the Salvadoran armed forces conducted a military operation in the northern zone of Morazán Department, specifically in Guacamaya, La Joya and Cerro Pando cantons of Meanguera district, and in the village of Los Toriles, in Arambala district. 11. The petitioners then state that in view of the imminent military incursion, the Hernández Sánchez family left its home in La Joya canton, Morazán Department, and headed for the woods to seek protection. They state that after about 12 days in the woods, since they were exhausted and running out of food, and Emelinda “had cried a lot during the time when her family was in hiding,” Ms. Adela Hernández and her husband, Juan de la Cruz, decided to take her to La Joya canton, where they met Marta Ramírez, an acquaintance who was willing to care for the child. 12. The petitioners say that on December 12, 1981, the day after Emelinda’s parents left her in Ms. Marta Ramírez’s house, they heard many shots. That same night the group of persons hiding in the woods, including Emelinda’s father, went to the canton to see what happened. The petitioners state that Ms. Marta Ramírez, who was taking care of Emelinda, was assassinated along with her four children. According to Mr. de la Cruz’s report, they found the body of an eight-month-old baby, but not that of Emelinda, so they combed the entire area, finding only her shoes and a shawl. 13. The petitioners indicate that a relative of Ms. Adela Hernández saw soldiers going through the town carrying many children, but she could not see them clearly. In this regard, the petitioners state that at the time Emelinda Lorena Hernández disappeared El Salvador had a clearly defined pattern of forced disappearance that was recognized by the Inter-American Court 2