CLOSED: Ernestina & Erlinda Serrano Cruz

Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz have been missing ever since they were captured in 1982 during El Salvador's internal armed conflict.

The sisters, then aged seven and three, were captured by the Salvadoran army on 2 June 1982 after becoming separated from their family. Their mother died in 2005 still having heard no news of her daughters. The rest of the family continues to pursue justice.

Since the new administration came to power in El Salvador in June 2009 it has made some important commitments to addressing the disappearance of more than 700 children during the 12-year conflict. However, Amnesty is concerned by delays in implementing these promises, especially with regard to the establishment of a genetic information database and online database for families of disappeared children, and to the new National Search Commission for Disappeared Children, which is yet to become operational. A new team has been set up to reinvigorate the investigation into the Serrano Cruz sisters' case, but has not yet made any significant progress.

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Background information

El Salvador’s internal armed conflict lasted from 1980 to 1992. Ernestina and Erlinda’s family was unable to start the legal battle to find out what had happened to the sisters until the fighting ended. In April 1993 the girls’ mother, Maria Victoria Cruz Franco, took the case to the Court of First Instance in Chalatenango. The case made no progress and was archived twice.

However, the family continued to pursue justice for the children, and in 2003 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the government of El Salvador to investigate the case. The Salvadorean state ignored the recommendations, and the Commission then submitted the case to the Inter- American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) – the first case from El Salvador to be considered by the court. On 1 March 2005 the court ordered the state to:

• Investigate the disappearance of Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz and bring those responsible to justice.
• Create a national commission to search for the children who disappeared during the internal armed conflict.
• Create a web-based database to help the search for people who disappeared.
• Set up a DNA database to help identify those who had disappeared.
• Designate a day to commemorate the children who were disappeared during the armed conflict.

The government did not fully comply with the ruling. It designated a day (29 March) to commemorate El Salvador’s disappeared children. It also established a national search commission – the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Search of Disappeared Children – and a web-based database, but these do not fully comply with the standards specified in the court ruling. The Inter-Institutional Commission for the Search of Disappeared Children has located about 30 children (now adults), but many of those had not been forcibly disappeared: they had lost contact with their families for other reasons.

In October 2009 the Attorney General’s Office promised to establish a new team to reinvigorate investigations into the disappearance of Ernestina and Erlinda. The Attorney General’s Office also promised to hold regular meetings with representatives of the Serrano Cruz family to update them on the investigation, but there has been no news of any recent advances.

On 28 January 2010 the Salvadoran State attended a private hearing at the IACtHR and presented a report on its progress in implementing the court’s 2005 order (see above) relating to the Serrano Cruz case. The State accepted responsibility for its failure to determine the whereabouts of the Serrano Cruz sisters. It also mentioned that it had signed an agreement for the provision of psychological services and medical care for the Serrano Cruz family.
Following this hearing the IACtHR ordered the Salvadoran State to adopt all necessary means to promptly comply with the outstanding requirements of the order, setting 30 June 2010 as a deadline for the Salvadoran State to provide information on the means adopted to comply with the outstanding reparations ordered by the IACtHR.

On 18 January an Executive Decree signed by President Funes came into effect, creating a new National Search Commission for Disappeared Children. In February 2010, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Salvadoran state to provide human resources and sufficient financial support for the functioning of the National Search Commission for Disappeared Children, in accordance with the standards established by the IACtHR. The Committee also stated that the State should undertake the necessary measures to investigate the forced disappearances of Erlinda and Ernestina Serrano Cruz, as well as the disappearance of other children during the armed conflict.

Ernestina and Erlinda Serrano Cruz have been missing ever since they were captured in 1982 during El Salvador's internal armed conflict.

The sisters, then aged seven and three, were captured by the Salvadoran army on 2 June 1982 after becoming separated from their family. Their mother died in 2005 still having heard no news of her daughters. The rest of the family continues to pursue justice.

Since the new administration came to power in El Salvador in June 2009 it has made some important commitments to addressing the disappearance of more than 700 children during the 12-year conflict. However, Amnesty is concerned by delays in implementing these promises, especially with regard to the establishment of a genetic information database and online database for families of disappeared children, and to the new National Search Commission for Disappeared Children, which is yet to become operational. A new team has been set up to reinvigorate the investigation into the Serrano Cruz sisters' case, but has not yet made any significant progress.

Keep up the pressure - Take action to build on the positive developments to date

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