219. On December 13, 1991, the Minister of Defense and Public Security advised that the cantons and villages mentioned, “have been places where, since the beginning of the ongoing armed conflict, terrorist criminals, who have mined certain sectors of those areas that only they know, were and are present and, therefore during several military incursions, members of the Armed Forces have been injured after stepping on those explosive artifacts. Only FMLN supporters, guided by members of this Front, have been able to pass through those places without problems.” In addition, he explained that “currently the security conditions are not favorable for taking the said measures, clarifying that, at the court’s request, the Armed Forces are able to conduct a military operation to expel any possible terrorists who are in the place in question and to clear the land of the terrorist mines and obstacles to be found there.”319 220. In this regard, on January 23, 1992, the prosecution indicated that it left it to the judge to decide the court orders that should be issued in order to take the necessary measures to continue the proceedings.320 The following day, the trial judge ordered that a communication be sent to the Director of the National Geographic Institute requesting “photographs or topographic maps of the areas where the events of the [criminal case] supposedly occurred.”321 This communication was not issued by the Judge until February 7, 1992. 322 In a letter of February 11, 1992, the Director of this Institute responded to the judge’s request, sending a map of the department of Morazán.323 On March 13, 1992, the trial judge again asked the said Director for a map of the department of Morazán, because the one sent previously had been “given to the Institute of Forensic Medicine [… t]o be used for the same purposes.324 221. On March 25, 1992, the Chief Military Observer and Commander of the Military Division of the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) certified that, on March 7 that year, members of the National Army for Democracy (END/FMLN), accompanied by two military observers, conducted a search for possible mines placed during the conflict in the area of El Mozote, and concluded that all the said mines had been removed and that, consequently, the area was totally free of these artifacts.325 The trial judge received this information on March 27, 1992, from both ONUSAL and the National Army for Democracy (END/FMLN), the latter clarifying that the “units of the END ha[d] not placed minefields in those sectors.”326 222. On April 1, 1992, the trial judge requested the Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine to forward the list of personnel who would collaborate in the exhumations.327 In 319 Communication of the Ministry of Defense and Public Security of December 13, 1991 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1807) 320 Cf. Communication of the special agent, in representative of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of El Salvador, of January 23, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1810). 321 Decision of the Second First Instance Court of San Francisco de Gotera of January 24, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folios 1812) 322 Cf. Communication of the Second First Instance Judge of San Francisco Gotera, addressed to the Director General of the National Geographic Institute, of February 7, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1813). 323 Cf. Communication of the Director General of the National Geographic Institute, addressed to the Second First Instance Court of San Francisco Gotera, of February 11, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1814). 324 Communication of the Second First Instance Judge of San Francisco de Gotera, addressed to the Director of the National Geographic Institute, of March 13, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folios 1819). 325 Cf. Attestation of the Chief Military Observer and Commander of the Military Division of the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) of March 25, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1820). 326 Attestation of the Chief Military Observer and Commander of the Military Division of the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) of March 25, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1820), and Communication of the National Army for Democracy, Third Military Region, of March 18, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1822). 327 Cf. Decision issued by the Second First Instance Court of San Francisco Gotera on April 1, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1843). 71