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For Immediate Release

PHR Asks President of El Salvador to Comply with Inter-American Court of Human Rights Decision on Disappearances

Cambridge, Mass - 12/08/2006

On March 1, 2005, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a decision pertaining to the case of the Serrano Cruz sisters, who were allegedly captured, kidnapped, and forcibly disappeared by the Salvadoran military during its "Operacion Limpieza” (Operation Clean-Up). To date, this case remains unresolved, those responsible have not been identified, nor have the two daughters been located. This is a fate shared by many families in El Salvador, some of which are represented by the Association Pro-Busqueda.

PHR’s International Forensic Program supports Association Pro-Búsqueda in its effort to reunite families with their loved ones who disappeared during the war in El Salvador. Since 1992, PHR has been providing technical and scientific support in the reunification of children with their families.

In a letter sent to the President of El Salvador on December 8, 2006, PHR asks the Salvadoran government to comply with the seven reparation measures issued by the Interamerican Court for Human Rights and encourages dialogue between the government, PHR, Pro-Búsqueda, and others about the Salvadoran government's plans for and progress in implementing the Court’s decision.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is an independent organization that uses medicine and science to stop mass atrocities and severe human rights violations against individuals. We are supported by the expertise and passion of health professionals and concerned citizens alike.

Since 1986, PHR has conducted investigations in more than 40 countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, the United States, the former Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe.

  • 1988 — First to document Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Kurds
  • 1996 — Exhumed mass graves in the Balkans
  • 1996 — Produced critical forensic evidence of genocide in Rwanda
  • 1997 — Shared the Nobel Peace Prize for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
  • 2003 — Warned of health and human rights catastrophe prior to the invasion of Iraq
  • 2004 — Documented and analyzed the genocide in Darfur
  • 2005 — Detailed the story of tortured detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay
  • 2010 — Showed how CIA medical personnel sought to improve waterboarding and
                  other interrogation techniques that amount to torture
  • 2011 — Championed the principle of noninterference with medical services
                  in times of armed conflict and civil unrest during the Arab Spring

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