CAT/C/SLV/CO/2 40/146 of 13 December 1985) and establishment of an independent body to safeguard the independence of the judiciary. 4. Public safety 13. The Committee notes with concern that the State party has assigned 4,000 members of the armed forces to police units known as Joint Task Forces, to undertake policing tasks, such as the prevention and suppression of common crimes linked to the number of gangs, instead of providing support to the police in its work (art. 2). The State party should take effective steps to support the National Civil Police and cancel programmes, even temporary ones, which authorize the army to intervene in law enforcement activities and the prevention of ordinary crime, which should be carried out exclusively by the police. 5. Enforced or involuntary disappearances during the armed conflict between 1980 and 1992 14. The Committee welcomes the as yet limited efforts of the Inter-agency Commission on the search for children who disappeared during the armed conflict and the plan to restructure the Commission and redefine its functions. It also welcomes the invitation extended by the State party to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in 2007. However, the Committee wishes to express its concern at the failure to provide full redress to the victims of enforced or involuntary disappearances during the armed conflict between 1980 and 1992 and their families and, in general, the inadequate investigations and punishment and the lack of full redress and compensation in relation to those crimes. It also regrets the failure to search for adults who have disappeared (arts. 2, 4 and 16). The Committee reminds the State party that the crime of enforced disappearance is ongoing by nature and should be investigated for as long as its effects continue, until those responsible have been identified. Similarly, the Committee reiterates the recommendations of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and notes with concern that they have not been implemented in full. The Committee urges the State party to take rapid steps to ensure progress in the search for missing persons, the establishment of a programme of full redress and compensation for victims and their families and the prevention of further cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance. 6. General Amnesty (Consolidation of the Peace) Act and recommendations of the Truth Commission 15. The Committee notes with satisfaction the Government’s statement that it will not maintain the position upheld by previous administrations of justifying the application of the Amnesty Act as necessary for the preservation of peace in the State party. It also notes that in its ruling of 26 September 2000, the Supreme Court held that, although the Amnesty Act is constitutional, judges may decide not to apply it when giving judgements on specific cases, adding that “it shall be for the judge to decide in each specific case when this exception applies, by means of an interpretation in keeping with the Constitution”, and that “if the events which gave rise to the civil responsibility of a public official or employee have not been covered by an amnesty — because they involve crimes which cannot be the subject of an amnesty — or if the amnesty granted breaches the Constitution, the obligation to provide compensation may be asserted before the competent courts”. However, the Committee considers that this Act violates the right to an effective remedy, since it hinders the investigation and punishment of all those responsible for human rights violations and stands in the way of the right to redress, compensation and rehabilitation of the victims. The 4 GE.09-46812