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individualize those responsible, the State must adopt the pertinent and adequate measures
to guarantee public, technical and systematic access to agents of justice and to Salvadoran
society to the archives containing information that is useful and relevant to the investigation
in cases involving human rights violations during the armed conflict. The measures must be
supported by adequate budgetary allocations.
2.
Psychosocial assistance program for individuals who are found and their next
of kin, and for the next of kin of those who remain disappeared
213. The representatives requested the creation of a State program to provide free
psychological assistance to those who are found and their next of kin, and to the next of kin
who have not yet found their loved one and who, at the time of the disappearance, were
under 18 years of age. They reported on several communications and meetings with the
State in which the following agreements were reached: the program “would be attached to
the Health Ministry;” “its establishment will mean setting up a new structure with its own
budget and technical independence;” “it must include the participation of the next of kin of
the victims and the support of experts in this area;” “it must have trained and sensitive
personnel” and “it must be permanent.” Furthermore, the representatives gave a detailed
description of the characteristics of the program and asked the Court to establish a deadline
for the State to comply with this measure, and to monitor its implementation until it was
fully complied with. The Commission did not make any specific request on this issue. The
State confirmed that it has reached a general agreement with the representatives on the
characteristics and progressive establishment of a State program for psychosocial care,
which would create a specialized structure on the matter within the Health Ministry of El
Salvador with technical independence. The “essential characteristics [of the program]
include: personnel trained in providing care to victims; it will be holistic in its approach to
medical and psychological care, and it will coordinate with the different processes for
reparation to the victims that are being carried out by the State; it will seek interinstitutional coordination and apply recognized technical, legal and ethical standards in the
sphere of psychosocial support, with the active participation of next of kin and the technical
support of experts in this area.” In addition, it indicated that the program will be set up in
several stages, which include the identification of the victim population that will benefit from
the program; the initial individual and family evaluation and diagnosis based on psychosocial
parameters; the training of human resources and the preparation of supporting material on
experiences, as well as the theoretical framework of the program and its functions.
214. The Court assesses positively and takes note of the agreements and coordination
between the State and the representatives in order to establish a comprehensive program of
psychosocial care for victims of forced disappearance who have been found and their next of
kin, and the next of kin of those who remain disappeared, which will not be monitored by
the Court.
4.
Other measures requested
215. The Commission considered that, taking into account the relationship between this
case and the case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters, the Court should “again order the State to
take non-judicial measures to find the disappeared children.” To this end, it deemed it
necessary for the Court to “take into account the most specific problems that are being
verified in the compliance with the judgment in [that] case […] so that the State has more
precise guidelines for rectifying the problems that have impeded implementation.” For their
part, the representatives referred to the said reparations, asking that the State be ordered
to create a regulatory framework for the National Search Commission through the
Legislature, as well as to “create an autonomous Institute of Anthropology and Forensic
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