A/HRC/15/26 23. In 2004, the national executive set up a special unit to investigate the disappearance of children as a result of acts of State terrorism. The unit provides assistance in cases involving such disappearances and is authorized to launch its own investigations, in which case the results must be transmitted to the judicial authorities. 24. A bill sent to Congress in September 2009 by the national executive proposed certain changes in the operations and scope of the National Genetic Data Bank with a view to developing more effective mechanisms for facilitating the identification of the children of the disappeared. As a result, on 18 November 2009, Congress adopted Act No. 26.548 on the National Genetic Data Bank. According to article 2 of the Act, the Bank aims “to ensure the collection, storage and analysis of the genetic information required as evidence for the elucidation of crimes against humanity instigated in national territory up to 10 December 1983, and to facilitate (a) the search for and identification of the sons and/or daughters of the disappeared who were abducted with their parents or born during their mothers’ captivity, and (b) the genetic identification of the remains of victims of enforced disappearances”. 25. The Act ensures the protection of the data and information in the Archive, in compliance with legislation on the protection of personal data and personal privacy, and guarantees that experts’ reports are checked by technical consultants who may be appointed by the parties to court proceedings. 26. With regard to El Salvador, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its ruling in the case of the Serrano Cruz Sisters v. El Salvador, ordered the State to create a system that “allows genetic data that can contribute to determining and clarifying the relationships and identification of the disappeared children and their next of kin to be obtained and conserved.��1 27. The current Government of El Salvador, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has prioritized compliance with the recommendations of international systems for the protection of human rights and has, inter alia, committed itself to building a genetic information system for the identification of children who disappeared during the internal armed conflict, with a view to converting it into a genetic information system with a broader mandate covering the identification of victims of serious violations of human rights during the internal armed conflict, as well as present-day victims of violence. Another aim of the new Government is to contribute to strengthening State scientific capacities in the area of forensic investigation, including forensic genetics. This is consistent with the interest expressed by the current judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador, to whose authority the Institute of Forensic Medicine is subordinated. 28. Regarding the issue of genetic databanks in Colombia, it should be noted that, in 2003, within the framework of the Plan Colombia programme, CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) was donated to Colombia by the Department of State of the United States through the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), with the aim of supporting judicial investigations mainly of offences known to have a high rate of recidivism. CODIS is a computer system that stores DNA profiles in a database so that they can be matched with persons suspected of committing an offence. 29. The database is placed under the supervision of the Inter-institutional Subcommittee on Genetics. The Subcommittee defined the database as a “national database of genetic profiles for use in judicial investigations”, decided on its internal operations, access restrictions and use, developed a user manual, and established a variety of categories for the storage of genetic profiles, namely: 1 See http://www.crin.org/docs/FileManager/IAC_El_SalvadorForced%20disappearance.doc. 9