A/HRC/22/45 Information from the Government 158. The Government transmitted two communications to the Working Group, on 21 November 2011 and 25 September 2012, in response to a general allegation, transmitted in September 2011, concerning reported obstacles in the advancement in criminal courts of cases of enforced disappearance and the lack of a national search commission resulting in the fate and whereabouts of victims remaining unknown in the great majority of the 45,000 cases of reported enforced disappearances in Guatemala (see A/HRC/19/58/Rev.1, paras. 194-200). Both responses from the Government contained a report on the implementation of the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance in Guatemala. 159. The Government provided information on four trials concerning cases of enforced disappearances, in which a total of five members of the military forces and two members of the National Police (PN) were condemned. In these trials a wide range of resources were used, such as files from the ―Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional (AHPN – Historic Archive of the National Police)‖ for the first time included as evidence in a trial in Guatemala; and a broader concept of enforced disappearance as a permanent and imprescriptible crime was applied. 160. A meeting between governmental human rights bodies, the Criminal Police and the Public Ministry reportedly took place on 7 July 2010, with the aim of adjusting the methodology that should be used to deal more efficiently with the cases presented by the Working Group in 2007. It was reported that to provide better conditions for moving investigations forward, the Public Ministry budget for 2011 was increased by approximately 15 per cent. Furthermore, the overuse of the amparo resource, an option of making a legal appeal to protect individuals from violations of human rights which is now reportedly often used in courts to delay or avoid sentences, was recognized by the Government as a barrier to justice. The amparo resource was subjected to preventive measures and a project that modifies the text of the law, which is being processed by the legislative body in order to avoid the misuse of this judicial procedure. 161. Regarding the trial concerning the enforced disappearance of Mr. Efraín Ciriaco Bámaca Velásquez, procedures were taken by the authorities to re-open the case but several times appeals were lodged by the lawyers of the accused precluding its progress. Following decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Government took action to comply with the investigations in the case of Mr. Bámaca Velásquez and to adapt the Guatemalans legal system to International Humanitarian Law standards. 162. It was reported that advances are being made in relation to the potential approval of a draft law to create the ―Comisión Nacional de Búsqueda de Personas Víctimas de Desaparicion Forzada y otras Formas de Desaparición‖ (National Commission to Search for Victims of Enforced Disappearances and other Forms of Disappearances). Approval is expected in 2012. The participation of civil society organisms in this process was emphasized. 163. The Government reported, concerning forensic investigations to identify victims of enforced disappearances, that since 2009, several Covenants were signed between Government entities related to this process in order to facilitate and support investigations. A pronounced advancement in relation to the methods employed and the results achieved was reported. Moreover, the work of the ―Dirección de los Archivos de la Paz‖ (Management of Peace Archives), a Government agency which administrates the historical archives related to the Guatemalan civil war, was reportedly very fruitful in terms of the clarification of the context of enforced disappearances committed in this period. It was therefore able to assist a large number of condemnations. 57