h)
Obligation to make an audio-visual documentary on the forced
disappearance of children during the armed conflict in El Salvador with
specific mention of this case, which includes the work carried out by the
Asociación Pro-Búsqueda de Niños and Niñas Desaparecidos (ninth
operative paragraph of the Judgment)
53.
The State reported that it had commenced the necessary coordination with the
Communications Secretariat of the Presidency, with which it is working on the planning
stage for producing the documentary video in which the participation of the victims and
their representatives will be ensured.
54.
The representatives appreciated the commencement of coordination by the State and
awaited official information regarding the effective implementation of the measure of
reparation. Accordingly, they asked the Court to consider that this measure had not been
complied with and to continue monitoring it until it had been accomplished completely and
satisfactorily.
55.
The Commission took note that the State had indicated that it was taking the
necessary steps to comply with this aspect of the Judgment and awaited compliance within
the two-year time frame established by the Court and the corresponding information from
the State.
56.
The Court assesses positively that El Salvador is taking the necessary steps to
comply with this measure of reparation, and urges the State to take all the measures that
remain pending in order to comply with the measure. Consequently, it decides that the
State must present complete, detailed and updated information on the steps taken,
forwarding a copy of the corresponding documents.
i)
Obligation to adopt the pertinent and appropriate measures to
guarantee to agents of justice, as well as to Salvadoran society, public,
technical and systematized access to the archives that contain useful
information that is relevant to the investigation in cases prosecuted for
human rights violations during the armed conflict (tenth operative
paragraph of the Judgment)
57.
The State affirmed that the approval of the Law on Access to Public Information,
which entered into force on April 8, 2011, guaranteed access to useful and relevant
information that could be required by judicial order or by institutions with the authority to
conduct investigations, such as the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ombudsman’s
Office, the latter in the context of the investigation procedure into presumed human rights
violations. In addition, it indicated that the National Search Commission was empowered to
inspect documentary records or archives of State institutions that are part of the Executive
Branch, especially records or archives of military or police institutions, detention centers or
prisons that operated between January 1, 1977 and January 16, 1992. According to the
State, this law establishes an internal mechanism for access to the information of State
entities – which is guaranteed in its article 19, should confidentiality be claimed – “in the
case of the investigation of grave violations of fundamental rights or crimes with
international transcendence.” In addition, according to the provisions of this law, public
information access units, responsible for handling requests for information, have been
created in each institution obliged to provide this. Lastly, the State advised that it was
working on the creation of the Institute for Access to Public Information, entity responsible
for monitoring the application of the law, and that significant progress had already been
made in standardizing official information and uploading it onto the institutional websites in
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