75
Genetics.” The State “reaffirm[ed] its commitment to comply” with these measures, and
indicated that it was taking steps in the context of the case in question. Regarding the
National Search Commission, it indicated that it “did not object” to the representatives’
request, because creation of the Commission, “by presidential decree, does not exclude the
possibility of the Legislative Assembly consolidating the establishment of this Commission by
ordering its creation by legislative decree.” Regarding the Institute of Anthropology and
Forensic Genetics, the State considered it positive that a proposed strategy for implementing
this measure is “the possibility of entering into partnerships and obtaining technical
cooperation from countries and entities that have installed capacity and accumulated
experience.”
216. In the seventh operative paragraph of the judgment in the case of the Serrano Cruz
Sisters,301 the Court ordered that the State “must adopt the following measures to
determine the whereabouts of Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz: establishment of a
national commission to trace the young people who disappeared during the armed conflict
when they were children, with the participation of civil society; creation of a search web
page, and creation of a genetic information system.” Since the said measures ordered in the
judgment in the case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters are part of a specific operative paragraph
of that judgment, which, taken as a whole, refers to the implementation of a system that
permits an effective search for the children disappeared during the armed conflict, the Court
does not find it pertinent to order the requested measures of reparation again, because they
have already been established in the said judgment and compliance with what the Court
ordered is still being evaluated during the stage of monitoring compliance with judgment.
217. Similarly, the Court does not find it pertinent to order the creation of an autonomous
Institute of Anthropology and Forensic Genetics, in the understanding that the contact with
the families in order to interview their members, collect and update information, obtain
details of the circumstances of the disappearance, and collect biological samples with the
proper chain of custody, must be part of the work performed by the National Search
Commission and the genetic information system to permit the identification of a person or of
human remains using the appropriate forensic methods.
218. The representatives also asked the Court to order the State to adapt the definition of
the crime of forced disappearance of persons to international standards on the matter. In
addition, they asked that the recommendation that the State adopt “the measures necessary
to ratify the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons” be reiterated.
The State reported that the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador was examining bills to
reform the definition of the crime of forced disappearance, which would result in compliance
with the international standards for the definition of this crime.
219. According to the information it has received, the Court urges the State to continue
the legislative process and adopt, within a reasonable time and in accordance with the
obligation arising from Article 2 of the American Convention, the necessary measures to
define the crime of forced disappearance of persons in keeping with the inter-American
standards. This obligation is binding for all the State powers and bodies. In this regard, as
this Court has indicated previously,302 the State must not restrict itself to promoting the
corresponding bill, but rather it must also ensure its prompt enactment and entry into force
in accordance with procedures established in domestic law. While complying with this
301
Cf. Case of the Serrano Cruz sisters, supra note 29, seventh operative paragraph.
302
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 25, para. 344, and Case of Gomes Lund et al. (Guerrilha do
Araguaia), supra note 97, para. 287.
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