CRC/C/SLV/CO/3-4 4. Civil rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8, 13-17 and 37(a) of the Convention) Birth registration, name and nationality 35. The Committee, while welcoming the operative plan 2010 for the elimination of fines for the late registration of children, is concerned at the information that the lack of birth registration continues to be a problem, especially in rural and remote areas and regrets the lack of data on this issue. The Committee is also concerned that, there are still fees to pay to register a child, fines applicable for non-registration, as well as administrative obstacles which de facto obstruct registration. 36. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the State party pursue and strengthen its efforts to develop an efficient and free birth registration system for all children. The Committee urges the State party to make the civil registration system more accessible at the grassroots level, to ensure allocation of adequate human, technical and financial resources to registration centres and to take further measures, including mobile services, to ensure easy access to registration by the population, including in less accessible areas of the country. The State party should also provide the Committee with relevant data on this issue in its next report. Preservation of identity 37. The Committee notes that the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Search of Children in El Salvador mandated to search and find children who disappeared during the internal armed conflict concluded its activities on 31 May 2009, with little progress in the investigations of disappeared children. The Committee is concerned that this Commission did not meet the standards required by the Inter American Court on Human Rights in its 2005 judgment “Hermanas Serrano Cruz c. El Salvador”, namely increased investigative capacity, independence of its members and victims’ representation in the activities of the Commission. As noted above (para. 4(a)), the Committee welcomes the fact that the new Government has taken the commitment to create a new Commission of Investigation according to the standards set out in the Serrano Cruz case. 38. The Committee recommends that the State party provide the new Commission with the necessary human and financial resources, according to the standards set out by the Inter American Court of Human Rights. The State party should also allocate the necessary resources to comply with the decision in the case of the Serrano Cruz sisters, including by granting the reparatory measures envisaged by the Court and thoroughly investigating their disappearance as well as the disappearance of other children during the conflict. The State party should also consider promptly ratifying the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as well as the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearances of Persons. Protection of privacy 39. The Committee notes the various initiatives taken by the State party to ensure that the media promote and respect the rights of the child. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned at the fact that in various instances, the media continue attacking the honor and reputation of children, especially adolescents. 40. The Committee recommends that the State party protect children from unlawful attacks on their honour and reputation, especially in the media, including by encouraging and promoting the adoption of an ethics code by the media for selfregulation aimed at respecting the rights of the child. 9

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