A/HRC/17/35 17. Once State responsibility to provide trafficked persons with remedies is established, the next question is the content of such remedies. In this regard, the formulation of the right to a remedy under various treaties and soft international law makes clear that it encompasses not only a substantive right to reparations, but also a set of procedural rights necessary to facilitate access to reparations. 18. In substance, victims of human rights violations must be provided with adequate reparations for the harms suffered. While most human rights treaties do not explicitly spell out the content of reparations, the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law (“Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedy and Reparation”) elaborate various forms of reparations, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. Clearly, the form of reparations that should be provided to the victim would depend on the nature and circumstances of the violation. While not all forms of reparation are necessary in all cases, adequate reparation may only be achieved in particular cases by the combination of different forms of reparation. 19. At the procedural level, victims of human rights violations must be guaranteed access to a competent and independent authority in order to successfully obtain reparations. Such an authority must have the power to investigate and decide whether a human rights violation has taken place, and if so, to enforce reparations.10 If the victims are to be provided with meaningful access to such an authority, they must be guaranteed of a set of ancillary rights. First, the victims should be provided with relevant information concerning the right that has been violated, and on the existence of, and modalities for gaining access to, reparation mechanisms. Secondly, they should be provided with legal, medical, psychological, social, administrative and any other assistance that they may require in order to exercise the right to an effective remedy in a meaningful manner.11 C. Substantive components 1. Restitution 20. As restitution is aimed at restoring the situation that existed prior to the violation, measures of restitution in the context of trafficked persons may include, for example: the release of the trafficked person from detention (whether such detention is imposed by traffickers, the State or any other entity);12 return of property such as identity and travel documents and other personal belongings; recognition of legal identity and citizenship; safe and voluntary repatriation to the country of origin; and assistance and support necessary to facilitate social integration. 21. Measures of restitution warrant a cautious approach in the context of trafficking in persons, as simply returning the trafficked person to the pre-existing situation may place him or her at the risk of further human rights violations and being re-trafficked. From this perspective, restitution implies States’ obligations to undertake broader measures to address root causes of trafficking and to provide necessary reintegration support to trafficked persons, so as to address any risk of re-trafficking. The repatriation in 2005 of about 1,000 Pakistani children who were trafficked to the United Arab Emirates as camel jockeys, provides an illustration. In this case, the factors which caused the children to be trafficked 10 11 12 6 See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 20 (1992), para. 14. See Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedy and Reparation, arts. 11 and 12. Anne T. Gallagher, The International Law of Human Trafficking (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 366.