A/HRC/45/45/Add.1 (d) Focus the discussions about accountability on the means and preconditions for the establishment of credible procedures that guarantee the rights of victims and the accused. The truth is that, while the debate about the nationality of judges, which has led to the politicization of the discussions on transitional justice, can generate lots of sparks, the actual record of the criminal justice system in dealing with emblematic cases or cases relating to system crimes continues to be dismal, making the argument that there is no need for international assistance in these hard-to-sustain processes; (e) Preserve records, information documenting violations and the results of mapping out the existing archives of previous relevant mechanisms. E. Recommendations on reparations programmes 92. Concerning the Office for Reparations, the Government should: (a) Support the work of the Office for Reparations, technically, financially and politically. Establishing an office of this kind, given the long history of ad hoc measures, does not guarantee that reparations will actually be made. Making reparations is a mid-to-long-term process that requires a firm, stable and continuous commitment; (b) In the short run, support the Office’s plan to provide different forms of immediate relief to victims, including psychosocial support; (c) Learn from previous experiences with reparations in Sri Lanka and ensure that there are no inequities in the design or the implementation of its reparations programme. The sole relevant criterion for gaining access to benefits should be the fact of having suffered a violation, not one’s ethnicity, religion, regional origin or any other factor; (d) Make sure that there is nothing in the process of accessing reparations that undermines other victims’ rights, including the right to justice; (e) In making reparations, acknowledge responsibility. Making a link with the work of the truth commission would be useful in this respect; (f) Make sure that all aspects of the design of such a programme are gender-sensitive and respond to the special needs of women, in particular those who are heads of households, who should be consulted at each step of the process. 93. Concerning land restitution, the Government should: (a) Carry out a comprehensive mapping of occupied land and, on the basis of its findings, define a strategy with deadlines for the release of land; (b) Ensure that the Armed Forces retain only land that is strictly necessary for security purposes (narrowly and objectively interpreted); (c) Ensure that decisions to retain land should not be within the sole purview of the military. A body or procedure should be set up in order to broaden the scope of stakeholders and decision-makers on this issue; (d) Consider establishing a land commission as a specialized entity able to address the issue of military-occupied private and public land and the multiple conflicting claims over land by communities displaced at different times; (e) Strengthen its resettlement policy, as there continue to be camps where internally displaced persons have lived for almost 30 years and in conditions that do not befit a middle-income country; (f) Consult beneficiaries on issues regarding new housing programmes to avoid future problems, including questions about suitability and indebtedness, in particular among vulnerable communities. 94. Concerning memorialization measures, the Government should support memorialization efforts, as these can have a reparative effect provided that they are even-handed and not used by anybody as part of a zero-sum game in which the basic 18