6
v.
c.
Adopt measures of non-repetition to ensure that the integral protection system for children is
implemented effectively, including its strengthening and adaptation to the international standards of
the Civil Registry system and the adoption system.
Notification to the State. On November 21, 2012, the State was notified of the Report
on the Merits and was granted a period of two months to report on its compliance
with the recommendations.
e)
Submission to the Court. On March 21, 2013, in the absence of any information from the
State, the Commission submitted to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court all the facts
declared in its merits report, “since these constitute continued violations,” and given the need
to obtain justice for the presumed victims. The Commission appointed Rosa María Ortiz,
Commissioner, and Emilio Álvarez Icaza L., Executive Secretary, as its delegates before the
Court, and Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Assistant Executive Secretary, Silvia Serrano Guzmán and
Isabel Madariaga, lawyers with the Executive Secretariat, as legal advisers.
3.
Requests of the Inter-American Commission. Based on the foregoing, the Commission asked
the Court to declare El Salvador responsible for the violation of the rights it declared violated in its
merits report6 (supra para. 2.d). In addition, the Commission asked the Court to order the State to
implement specific measures of reparation, which will be specified and analyzed in Chapter VIII of
this judgment.
II
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT
4.
Notification of the State and the representatives. The submission of the case by the Commission
was notified to the State and the representatives of the presumed victims on May 29, 2013.
5.
Brief of pleadings, motions and evidence. On July 24, 2013, the representatives of the
presumed victims submitted to the Court their brief of pleadings, motions and evidence (hereinafter
“pleadings and motions brief”). The representatives agreed substantially with the arguments put
forward by the Commission and asked the Court to declare the State’s international responsibility for
the violation of the same articles alleged by the Commission and, in addition, “the violation of the
right to the truth.” Likewise, the presumed victims, through their representatives, requested access
to the Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund of the Inter-American Court (hereinafter the “Assistance Fund
of the Court” or the “Fund”). Finally, they asked the Court to order the State to implement various
measures of reparation and to reimburse certain costs and expenses.
6.
Answer brief. On November 11, 2013, the State submitted to the Court its brief answering
the submission of the case and its observations to the pleadings and motions brief, in which it
acknowledged its international responsibility. The State appointed as its Agents Mr. David Ernesto
Morales Cruz, then Director General of Human Rights, and Mr. Sebastián Vaquerano López, El
Salvador’s Ambassador to Costa Rica. Subsequently, the State appointed Mrs. Tania Camila Rosa,
Director General of Human Rights at the Foreign Ministry as its Agent, in replacement of Mr. Morales
Cruz.
7.
Access to the Legal Assistance Fund. In an order issued on December 12, 2013, the President
of the Court approved the request submitted by the presumed victims, through their representatives,
In the proceedings before the Commission, the petitioners presented arguments concerning the alleged violation of
Article 18 of the American Convention. However, in the Report on Merits, the Commission considered that, although the
context indicates that a common fate that befell many disappeared children was to be stripped of their identity through name
changes, in the instant case these circumstances were not established. In the proceedings before the Court, the dispute did
not include that aspect. Cf. Merits Report No. 75/12 of the Inter-American Commission on November 7, 2012, para. 209.
6