A/HRC/24/42 81. The Special Rapporteur welcomes ongoing efforts by the Human Rights Council as well as by OHCHR93 to systematize existing standards in the area of access to information, protection and preservation of records, and management of archives.94 He welcomes particularly the role of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in this regard. There are noteworthy efforts at the regional level, including by the Council of Europe.95 82. In many countries where truth commissions operate there are no pre-existing national archive laws or legislation regulating data access and privacy matters. Recommendations of truth commissions concerning these aspects contribute importantly to the promotion of human rights. In its final report, the IER of Morocco, for example, made recommendations about the preservation and organization of, and access to, national archives. Following these recommendations, an archive law was adopted in 2007 covering all records received and produced by the public service, including the Commission’s own records.96 A law on access to information is currently being prepared.97 83. The archives of commissions are, to a great extent, composed of victims’ testimonies and statements. They are a means of guaranteeing that the voices of victims will not be lost, and they contribute to a culture of memorialization and remembrance. They also provide a safeguard against revisionism and denial – essential given the long duration and non-linearity of social reconciliation and integration processes. Furthermore, archives can play crucial roles in prosecutions, reparations and other transitional justice measures. These are important reasons for truth commission to prioritize early thinking on the establishment of their own and national archives by following up-to-date practices. 84. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that the balance between accessibility and openness of archives on the one hand, and confidentiality and privacy on the other, is not easy to achieve. Difficulties are exacerbated wherever security threats persist and data and document management infrastructures are weak. However, there are ways of achieving a proper balance, as suggested below. 85. An elemental question is the disposition of the archives. Commissions have stipulated that their archives should be deposited in national archives,98 be transferred either to ministries or to independent human rights institutions,99 be deposited in follow-up institutions,100 or transferred to the United Nations.101 The decision concerning the 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 The Special Rapporteur would like to specifically highlight the OHCHR seminar on experience of archives as a means to guarantee the right to the truth (2011), see report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the seminar on experiences of archives as a means to guarantee the right to the truth, A/HRC/17/21. See Human Rights Council resolution 21/7 on the right to the truth, 10 October 2012; report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Implementation of the right to the truth, A/HRC/12/19 (2009). Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Recommendation No. R (2000) 13 to Member States on a European policy on access to archives, 13 July 2000. Dahir Nr. 1-07-167. The corresponding decrees implementing it should be elaborated and contain aspects relating to accessing the archives of the Commission. Which of course assumes their existence and (ideally) their good functioning. E.g., TRC of South Africa, Report (fn 51), vol. 6, sect. 5, ch. 7, p. 729. E.g., TRC of Sierra Leone, Witness to Truth (fn 40), vol. II, p. 203. In Peru, the mandate of the TRC required it to transfer its archives to the national Ombudsman office: S.D., 065-2001-PCM, confirmed by Supreme Decree No. 101-201-PCM, 4 September 2001. E.g., CAVR, Final Report (fn 40), part 11, p. 44; Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya, Final Report, vol. IV, pp. 76-77, available at: www.tjrckenya.org. 23