-85context, as well as any reasonable expenses they have to incur to achieve the
reunion. [… I]t is very important that Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz
should be informed of their origins, to allow them to rebuild their identity and
be reunited with their family”; and
c)
“To reform domestic criminal laws and criminal procedure so as to
classify the forced disappearance of persons as a crime, and establish a
penalty that corresponds to its gravity. Likewise, […] to adopt all necessary
measures to ratify the Inter-American Convention on the Forced
Disappearance of Persons.”
Arguments of the representatives of the victims and their next of kin
163. The representatives requested the Court to order the State to take the
following measures:
a)
With regard to the obligation to investigate the facts and arrive at the
truth, it should undertake “an effective investigation that results in a prompt,
independent and impartial trial in which the masterminds and perpetrators of
the abduction and subsequent disappearance of the children are punished. […
This investigation should] fulfill two objectives: on the one hand, it should find
the two young women and, on the other hand, it should identify and punish
the officials responsible for their disappearance.” They requested the Court to
“declare Legislative Decree No. 486 null and void […], since it is incompatible
with the provisions of the American Convention […]”;
b)
As measures of satisfaction in favor of the Serrano family:
i)
The head of the Executive Power, as the representative of the
Salvadoran State, should make a public statement acknowledging the
human rights violations committed in this case; and
ii)
The complete judgment delivered by the Court should be
published in the official gazette and in other national newspapers with
widespread circulation. This should be done three times, at one month
intervals. In addition, it is essential that the proven facts and operative
paragraphs of the judgment be published in the bulletin with the
widest circulation within the Salvadoran Armed Forces;
c)
As “[m]easures to help find the whereabouts of the young people who
are still disappeared”;
i)
“A commission [should be established,] to […] trace the young
people who are alive and, if they agree, facilitate contact with their
biological families. [… This commission] would have its head office in
San Salvador and would carry out its activities throughout national
territory […];
ii)
In relation to the “Inter-institutional Tracing Commission”
created by Executive Decree No. 45 of October 5, 2004, they stated
that this “Commission[,] as it was set up[,] is a far cry from the
proposal submitted by Pro-Búsqueda, [… because] it is composed
exclusively of State institutions […,] which could be seen as an
impediment to ensuring the impartiality, autonomy and independence
with which this entity must work.” In addition, “the Commission should
not take a collaborative approach, but be an entity that heads actions
to trace the disappeared children, […] with a functional structure and