5 disappearance witness Marta Abarca observed numerous soldiers who were taking her cousin Ricardo Abarca Ayala, Manuel Antonio Bonilla, and a woman towards the Cerros of San Pedro. 38. As regards the domestic proceedings, the petitioners alleged that the search for the disappeared did not begin until years after the signing of the Peace Accords, since the victims’ next-of-kin did not trust the state institutions, which did not consider them credible. In addition, they indicated that after the military operations they continued to be subjected to persecution and repression by the military forces. 39. The petitioners indicated that the next-of-kin of the alleged victims turned to the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda, which on May 31, 1996, submitted to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsperson (Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos) several cases of children who disappeared during the armed conflict. They indicated that these cases include the case of Emelinda Lorena Hernández, José Adrián Rochac Hernández, Manuel Antonio Bonilla Osorio, and Ricardo Abarca Ayala. They noted that in 2004 the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsperson issued a report detailing 136 cases of disappeared children, including the cases mentioned. They added that in that resolution the Office of the Ombudsperson recommended to the Office of the Attorney General that it investigate the disappearance of the children mentioned in the report; according to the petitioners, that has not happened to date. 40. As regards the case of Santos Ernesto Salinas, they indicated that his mother, Ms. María Adela Iraheta, went before the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, in the city of San Vicente, in August 2002 to file a complaint regarding the disappearance of her son. They said that this complaint was not received by the prosecutorial officials based on the argument that it should have been filed at the central offices, with the Attorney General of the Republic, in the city of San Salvador. They added that as of that moment the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda sought to file the complaint with the Attorney General of the Republic, yet did not obtain any positive result. 41. They also indicated that all the next-of-kin filed habeas corpus actions with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, which were dismissed and archived, for, as argued, the executing judges (jueces ejecutores) did not act with due diligence in pursuing the investigations. 42. The petitioners considered that these facts constituted violations of various articles of the American Convention to the detriment of the disappeared children and their next-of-kin. Following is a summary of the main arguments with respect to the petitioners’ rights. 43. As for the right to personal liberty the petitioners alleged the violation of this right in relation to José Adrián Rochac Hernández, Emelinda Lorena Hernández, Santos Ernesto Salinas, Manuel Antonio Bonilla Osorio, and Ricardo Abarca Ayala. They indicated that even though the State of El Salvador is not a party to the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, that instrument can be used for interpretive purposes in this case. They argued that all the disappeared victims were last seen in the custody of agents of the armed forces, who illegally abducted them from their families without bringing them before a competent judicial authority, and that there was no effective response to the habeas corpus actions filed by their next-of-kin. 44. With respect to the right to humane treatment, the petitioners alleged that the Salvadoran State is responsible for the violation of this right to the detriment of all the alleged victims and their nextof-kin for the suffering caused by the forced disappearance and by the negligent attitude on the part of the authorities in the search and investigation. They indicated that the abduction of the disappeared victims represented for them a situation of isolation from what at their tender ages was familiar to them: their family members, their community, their place of origin. They alleged that this isolation is drawn out to this day, as they were never returned to their families, and it is very possible that their identities were changed. With respect to the next-of-kin, they indicated that they have been exposed to the uncertainty of not knowing the whereabouts of José Adrián Rochac Hernández, Emelinda Lorena Hernández, Santos Ernesto Salinas, Manuel Antonio Bonilla Osorio, or Ricardo Abarca Ayala, nor in what conditions they