compliance had expired, it considered relevant that the Court require the State to provide
updated information on the payment of the amounts established in its Judgment.
67.
The Court observes that the period of one year from notification of the Judgment
established for making the payment and deposit of the amounts determined as
compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and to reimburse costs and
expenses, as appropriate, had expired, without these obligations having been met. Since
the State has fallen into arrears, the Court notes that, pursuant to paragraph 249 of its
Judgment (supra having seen paragraph 1), “[i]f the State falls into arrears with its
payments, it shall pay interest on the amount owed corresponding to the Salvadoran bank
interest rate on arrears.” In this regard, the State should indicate in which month of the
current year it will make the payments and the deposits, and present complete, detailed
and updated information on the actions taken to comply with this measure of reparation,
forwarding copies of the corresponding documents.
k)
Regarding other institutional measures reported
68.
The State advised that “in order to strengthen investigation capacities in cases such
as those that concern us, the Institute of Forensic Medicine, attached to this country’s
Judiciary, plans to set up a Forensic Anthropology Investigation Unit and to organize a
genetic database that will assist in the investigation of cases of forced disappearance of
children, missing adults and exhumations.” For their part, the representatives observed that
the information provided by the State that the Institute of Forensic Medicine, attached to
the country’s Judiciary, planned to set up a Forensic Anthropology Investigation Unit and to
organize a genetic database could best be provided to the Court in the proceeding of
monitoring compliance with judgment in the Case of the Serrano Cruz Sister v. El Salvador.
The representatives also underscored the importance of the State’s announcement;
however, they indicated that they had been informed of the decision to remove the Director
of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, which would probably have repercussions on the
information provided by the State. The Commission considered that it would be relevant, in
relation to the search for the whereabouts of the victims, to have recent information on the
steps taken to create the Forensic Investigation Unit and on the implementation of the
genetic database for disappeared persons. The representatives also highlighted that,
although the National Search Commission had been created specifically to comply with a
measure of reparation ordered in the Case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters v. El Salvador, its
satisfactory functioning would have a direct impact on the search for the victims who
disappeared in this case. This was verified by the fact that, during the litigation, the State
indicated that the said measure would be complied with through this institution.
69.
Since the “establishment of a national search commission to trace the young people
who disappeared during the armed conflict when they were children, with the participation
of civil society,” as well as the “creation of a system of genetic information,” are part of a
specific operative paragraph of the judgment in the Case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters,22 the
Court reiterates that “compliance with what the Court ordered is still being evaluated during
the stage of monitoring compliance with judgment.” Also, the Court recalls that, in the
Judgment in the instant case, it did not find it pertinent to order the creation of an
autonomous Institute of Anthropology and Forensic Genetics, “in the understanding that the
contact with the families in order to interview their members, collect and update
information, obtain details of the circumstances of the disappearance, and collect biological
samples with the proper chain of custody must be part of the work performed by the
22
Cf. Case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters v. El Salvador. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of March 1,
2005. Series C No. 120, seventh operative paragraph.
21