A/HRC/45/45/Add.2 responsible should be brought to justice. The conclusions of the Truth Commission and the initial criminal prosecutions in certain cases of violations that had occurred during the conflict gave hope to thousands of victims. At the same time, a reform process was undertaken to strengthen the legal and institutional framework of the State and to transform certain political, judicial and security bodies. 9. However, with the adoption of the General Amnesty (Consolidation of the Peace) Act in 1993, an impunity mechanism was put in place that lasted more than two decades, and whose effects are still being felt today. This impunity mechanism was accompanied by a widespread and institutionalized system, aimed at denying the past violations and causing them to be forgotten, that gouged deep rifts in the social fabric and collective narrative of the Salvadoran people. In this process, the victims of the abhorrent crimes of the past were forgotten and rendered invisible. 10. Over the last decade, a series of legislative, judicial and public policy measures were adopted that gave renewed momentum to the Salvadoran transitional justice process. The ruling of the Constitutional Division of the Supreme Court (44/2013 and 145/2013) on the unconstitutionality of the Amnesty Act is undoubtedly one of the most important advances. Other advances include the creation of the National Commission on the Search for Children who Disappeared during the Internal Armed Conflict (the National Commission on the Search for Disappeared Children) and the National Commission on the Search for Disappeared Adults; the creation of a group of prosecutors responsible for investigating the events of the armed conflict; the adoption of a criminal investigation policy for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the context of the armed conflict; the issuing of public apologies; the reopening of some of the legal proceedings that had been held up during the years of impunity; and the judicial progress made in the case of the El Mozote massacre. 11. Other measures, however, are cause for great concern, such as the proposed draft of the national reconciliation law presented within an ad hoc commission in February 2019; the slow pace of the Office of the Attorney General in investigating violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed during the armed conflict; the obstacles to accessing military files from the years of the conflict; and the inadequacy of the reparation and historical memory processes. To a great extent, the gaps and delays in transitional justice are due to the lack of a State policy to this end. 12. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the progress made and urges the State, the current administration and the three branches of government to move forward with those aspects of the transitional justice agenda that are still pending. Much remains to be done. The effective search for the truth about past violations, the search for disappeared persons, the punishment of those responsible, reparation for victims, intersectoral and intergenerational debate on the events of the past and the recognition of a historical memory common to all Salvadoran society will make it possible to recover confidence in the State and its institutions and trust among all members of society. 13. The current violence and rifts in the social fabric are clear examples that society cannot move towards a future of peace and progress without addressing the difficulties of the past and learning from its mistakes. II. Right to truth A. Search for and identification of disappeared persons 14. In addition to the initial work of the Truth Commission, the State has in recent years made progress in adopting a number of measures aimed at establishing the truth and searching for the large number of people who disappeared during the conflict, including children. 15. The National Commission on the Search for Disappeared Children was established by presidential decree in 2010 in compliance with the ruling of the Inter-American Court of 4 GE.20-09158