- 7expands the list of individual rights, but also contributes to strengthening the protection of human rights. 25. Its other component in this case, the rights of the family, is expressly established in both the American Convention (Article 17) and in the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Protocol of San Salvador, Article 15), among other international treaties.15 In its Advisory Opinion No. 17 on the Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child, the Court stated that recognition of the family as a natural and fundamental component of society, with the right to protection by society and the State was a fundamental principle of international human rights law;16 in the words of the Court, "In principle, the family should provide the best protection of children against abuse, abandonment and exploitation. And the State is under the obligation not only to decide and directly implement measures to protect children, but also to favor, in the broadest manner, development and strengthening of the family nucleus. In this regard, “[r]ecognition of the family as a natural and fundamental component of society,” with the right to “protection by society and the State,” is a fundamental principle of International Human Rights Law, enshrined in Articles 16(3) of the Universal Declaration, VI of the American Declaration, 23(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 17(1) of the American Convention [on Human Rights]" (para. 66). The Court added that the right to protection of the family acquires even greater relevance when a child is separated from its family.17 In this case, the rights of the family require the State to take positive measures. c) The key importance of the rights of the child 26. In the public hearing before the Court in this case on September 7 and 8, 2004, the Director of the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda (J.M.R. Cortina Garaícorta) gave testimony18 and, among other probative elements considered by the Court, described the context of the instant case: "(...) During the armed conflict in El Salvador, there was a systematic pattern of child disappearance during military operations. The case of Erlinda and Ernestina fits perfectly into the general pattern of child disappearance during the conflict. The Armed Forces and the humanitarian institutions that kept the children did nothing to find their families; they were taken to orphanages and to military barracks or they were ‘sold in adoption.’ It was sufficient for a judge to declare that a child had been materially and morally abandoned for its adoption to be authorized. These adoptions were based on the lie of abandonment and that the children were orphans. 126 children have been found abroad, in 11 countries of America and Europe. All of them have been naturalized as citizens of the country in which they live and almost all of them do not speak their mother tongue. (...) 15 Also in the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 23), the United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(Article 10(1)), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 8), The European Convention on Human Rights (Article 8). and cf., also, on family reunification, Protocol II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on international humanitarian law (Article 4(3)(b)). 16 On the importance of the principles of international human rights law in international public law and in all legal systems, cf. ICourtHR, Advisory Opinion on the Juridical Status and Rights of Undocumented Migrants (OC-18/03, of September 17, 2003, Series A, no. 18), concurring opinion of Judge A.A. Cançado Trindade, pp. 213-267, paras. 1-89. 17 Cf. I/ACourtHR, Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child Advisory Opinion OC-17/02, of August 28, 2002, Series A, no. 17, pp. 105-106, para. 71. 18 Its transcription is summarized in paragraph 36(a)(3) of this judgment, where the quotation reproduced below is to be found.