United Nations recommends El Salvador to investigate the whereabouts of the Serrano Cruz sisters

San Salvador, El Salvador, February 5, 2010

On February 3, the Committee on the Rights of the Child of United Nations made public its concluding observations on the third and fourth report from El Salvador in meeting its obligations as a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In them, he referred specifically to the Salvadoran state’s obligation to comply with the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters. In this regard, although recognized as a progress for the adoption of a presidential decree to create a Commission to Search for Missing Children, during the Salvadoran armed conflict, it established that the state should provide it with human and financial resources which are suitable for operating according to standards set by the Court.

Likewise, it established that the state should adpot necessary measures to investigate the disappearance of girls Erlinda and Ernestina Serrano Cruz, as well as the disappearance of other children during the armed conflict.

It is important to point out that on January 28^th, a hearing was held to monitor compliance of the sentence mentioned, at the headquarters of the Inter-American Court. In it, the Association for Children Search Missing (Pro-Búsqueda) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), in their capacity as representatives of the victims, made the same accusations that are now taken up by the Child Rights Committee.

In this sense, both organizations stressed their concern that the recently adopted decree states that the Search Committee will work with resources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which can threaten the independence of its operation, and accessibility of it to the people.

They also indicated that the greatest desire of the members of the Serrano Cruz family is to know the truth of what happened to Erlinda and Ernestina, which has not been possible to date. Although five years have passed since the issuance of the decision of the IACHR, the State has not conducted any due diligence on their own initiative to find their whereabouts. What is more serious, is that the judicial process in progress for the disappearance of this girls, remains in the hands of the same judge whose actions have not condemned El Salvador. This, despite the fact that the Inter-American Court established “that public officials and individuals who interfere[d], deviate[d], or expand[ed] improper investigations to clarify the truth of the facts, should be punished, applying thereon with the greatest rigor, forecasts of domestic legislation”

CEJIL and Pro Búsqueda urge the Salvadoran state to comply as soon as possible the recommendations of the Child Rights Committee, and take into account external comments by our organizations at the hearing cited in order to ensure that the Search Committee for Missing Boys and Girls function properly and ensures that members of the Serrano Cruz family may know the whereabouts of Ernestina and Erlinda, and hundreds of families whose children disappeared during the armed conflict.

Contact Information

In El Salvador
 Pro Búsqueda
Leonor Arteaga
(503) 22351039/22351041
incidencia.probusqueda @ gmail.com

In Costa Rica
CEJIL
Nancy Marin
(506) 2280-7473
[email protected]