-4the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Esteban Laínez Rivas, on Wednesday,
March 22, 2006 […].”
4.
The brief of April 5, 2006, and its attachments, in which the State of El
Salvador (hereinafter “the State” or “El Salvador”) presented its report on the
measures adopted to comply with the judgment delivered by the Court on March 1,
2005 (supra Having seen paragraph 1). In summary, El Salvador indicated that:
(a) Regarding the functioning of a national commission to trace young people
who disappeared during the armed conflict when they were children, and the
participation of civil society:
i.
“It had begun to take administrative measures […] in order to provide
this commission with a physical space for its operations, and financial
resources, which had not been included in the State’s budget, to allow it
to respond to the acquired obligation. [… O]n April 18, 2005, […] it
[had] hired a person from the Association [Pro-Búsqueda de Niñas y
Niños Desaparecidos]” (hereinafter the “Asociación Pro-Búsqueda” or
“Pro-Búsqueda”). “On May 5, 2005, Pro-Búsqueda had officially handed
over 40 cases to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs […]”;
ii.
“The composition of the Inter-Institutional Commission to trace children
who disappeared as a result of the armed conflict [hereinafter “the
Inter-Institutional Commission”] is as follows: the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, as Coordinator; the Ministry of Governance; the Ministry of
Defense; the National Civil Police; the Salvadoran Institute for the
Integral Development of Children and Adolescents; the Attorney
General’s Office; and the Prosecutor General’s Office.” “Unfortunately, in
a note of September 29, 2005, the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda notified the
Coordinator of the Inter-Institutional Tracing Commission of its decision
to withdraw from the Commission as of that date.” The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has asked the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda to reconsider its
decision on several occasions, stating that “it was willing to submit the
pertinent reforms to the consideration of the President of the Republic,
so that the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda could be officially considered a full
member of the commission.” At all times, the State had granted this
Association special recognition and, even though it was not an official
member of the Commission, it had been regarded as a member owing
to its active participation in the Commission’s work. During the
discussions to draw up the regulations, it had submitted proposals,
suggestions and observations that had been taken into account; hence
it was never considered to be a mere observer;
iii.
The regulations for the organization and operation of this Interinstitutional Commission were approved on February 6, 2006;
iv. Regarding the work of the Commission, the first case of a person who
had been found was resolved at the beginning of March, and family
reunification was being arranged;
v.
“With regard to ensuring that the State’s institutions are obliged to
cooperate by providing information to the national Tracing Commission
and access to all files and records that could contain information on the
possible whereabouts of the young people in question, […] it has
already been possible to access the files of the Salvadoran Institute for
the Integral Development of Children and Adolescents, [and] the
Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Defense have provided the
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