-7- (j) Regarding the obligation to carry out an effective investigation into the reported facts in this case, identify and punish those responsible and conduct a genuine search for the victims, and to publicize the result of the criminal proceedings, “the competent authorities responsible for investigating crimes and prosecuting them […] are playing an active role in specific procedures designed to clarify the facts so as to conclude the judicial proceedings.” At the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, the respective court has sent an official communication to the Ministry of Defense requesting information on those responsible for the military operations in the zone and those who took part in them. 5. The brief of May 17, 2006, and its attachments, in which the Asociación ProBúsqueda and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), representatives of the victims and their next of kin (hereinafter “the representatives”), submitted observations on the State’s report of April 5, 2006 (supra Having seen paragraph 4). To summarize, in this brief they stated that: (a) Regarding the functioning of a national commission to trace the young people who disappeared during the armed conflict when they were children, and the participation of civil society: i) Pro-Búsqueda “knew about the draft regulations [of the InterInstitutional Tracing Commission] and forwarded observations on them in June and August 2005, but it was never informed about the final version of the regulations approved in February 2006.” The State has not modified or proposed any reform of Decree No. 45 creating this Inter-institutional Commission, so that its purpose continues to be “to collaborate with the public institutions involved in or responsible for the protection of children in tracing children who were involuntarily separated from their families and to facilitate family reunification, based above all on the best interests of the child”; ii) Regarding access to all files and records that could contain information on the possible whereabouts of the young people, “there is no guarantee of any kind that it would have access to all the information needed for its investigations,” so that “on repeated occasions, [they have] advised the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is responsible for coordinating this Commission, that the Commission needs to be given high legal standing to guarantee its stability and permanence, and have suggested the possibility of including a provision that makes it compulsory for all State entities to collaborate with the Commission”; iii) Regarding the Commission’s composition, “the State makes no reference to the measures adopted” to guarantee the independence and impartiality of the members. “[T]hose who form part of the Commission […] are officials of the institutions that […], in some cases, participated in the disappearance of children, such as the Armed Forces.” In addition, “neither Pro-Búsqueda, nor any other non-governmental organization is a member of the Inter-Institutional Tracing Commission.” The Asociación Pro-Búsqueda decided to withdraw from the Inter-institutional Commission owing to “the excessive delay in starting up operational activities, the lack of concrete results[…,] the State’s political manipulation of Pro-Búsqueda’s participation in the Commission, and also the failure to modify or adapt the Commission to the parameters defined by the Court”;