7 place of origin, date of birth, and other data. They alleged that the State did not take any measure to ensure that the information provided by those who were requesting the registrations were certain or to guarantee the right of the children to reestablish their identity. 50. With respect to the right to freedom of thought and expression, even though it is not in the petitioners’ briefs, during the hearing on the merits held November 6, 2009, they alleged that they also considered this right violated, for it has been shown that there is information in the hands of the Army that could lead to establishing the whereabouts of these children. They indicated that in many of the judicial proceedings to look into these cases military authorities have refused to provide information, which would be a violation of the right to the truth, which is derived from the rights to freedom of expression, judicial guarantees, and judicial protection. 51. In a manner cutting across the previous arguments, the petitioners argued that the State breached its duty to adopt special measures of protection for children and to guide all of its actions by the best interest of the child. The petitioners recalled that the disappearances were part of a pattern of forced disappearance of children carried out and tolerated by the State. They indicated that even though the Salvadoran State is aware of this situation, it has not adopted effective measures to locate the children and reunite them with their families. In this respect, the petitioners made reference to the failure to implement the measures of reparation ordered by the Inter-American Court in the case of Serrano Cruz Sisters v. El Salvador, including the inadequacy and ineffectiveness of the Inter-Institutional Commission to Search for Disappeared Children (Comisión Interinstitucional de Búsqueda de Niños y Niñas desaparecidos). B. The State 52. In the admissibility phase, the State denied the petitioners’ arguments, alleging the nonexistence of the facts and the lack of competence of the Commission and lack of jurisdiction of the InterAmerican Court to analyze the instant case. As regards domestic proceedings, the State argued that the petitioners did not make use of all the judicial mechanisms available for searching for disappeared children, and that the cases were being investigated by the Inter-institutional Commission to Search for Children who Disappeared as a result of the Armed Conflict. The Commission will not go further in this section on the details of the argument put forth by the State to controvert the allegations of fact and law made by the petitioners, due to the substantial change in its position in the merits stage. 53. In effect, during the hearing on the merits of the case, held November 6, 2009, the Salvadoran State declared that it was not controverting the facts alleged by the petitioners related to the forced disappearances of the children Santos Ernesto Salinas, José Adrián Rochac Hernández, Emelinda Hernández, Manuel Antonio Bonilla Osorio, and Ricardo Abarca Ayala, in the context of grave human rights violations that took place during the period of the armed conflict. 54. At that hearing the State asked the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda to convey to the family members of the children Santos Ernesto Salinas, José Adrián Rochac Hernández, Emelinda Hernández, Manuel Antonio Bonilla Osorio, and Ricardo Abarca Ayala the “most sincere apologies because in the past they were not considered by the State as victims of a pattern of violence that caused profound suffering for many families.” In addition, the State offered to give the family members of the disappeared victims dignified and humane treatment. 55. It noted that it has begun, through the Ministry of Foreign Relations, a process of dialogue with the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda de niñas y niños, in the course of which it has invited representatives of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) to participate. It indicated that even though this process of dialogue is focused on enforcement of the judgment in the case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters, some of the measures seek reparation for a larger group of child victims of forced disappearance in El Salvador. 56. The State indicated that on that occasion among the measures of reparation urgent mention was made of the creation of a National Search Commission (Comisión Nacional de Búsqueda),