A/HRC/10/28 page 11 exchange of information concerning missing persons and to cooperate in the search for them; for prosecutors and courts at all levels in countries in the region, to do their utmost to ascertain the whereabouts of mass graves; that the removal of human remains from a primary clandestine burial site to a secondary one be made an indictable offence; and that the protection of witnesses at all stages of any investigation be ensured. 35. The Commission also received a high-level delegation of 19 experts working on the issue of enforced disappearances in Colombia at its headquarters in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 20 to 25 November 2008. The Colombian delegation attended presentations relating to the Commission’s experiences and expertise in strengthening institutional capacity, creating viable legislation and enhancing the technical means to locate, recover and identify missing persons. It also stressed the importance of including civil society in all aspects of the process and ensuring that family associations of missing persons are fully informed. VII. MISSING PERSONS AND THE RULE OF LAW 36. In its resolution 63/183, the General Assembly stressed the need to address the issue of missing persons as part of peacebuilding processes, with reference to all justice and rule of law mechanisms, on the basis of transparency, accountability and public involvement and participation. 37. On the issue of impunity, the International Commission on Missing Persons suggests that the human rights, rule of law and transitional justice dimensions of the missing persons issue be taken into account more fully. In this regard, the Commission cooperates with national and international criminal tribunals through regular progress updates and, if requested, by written depositions and testimony, in certain cases. The Commission’s assistance in judicial proceedings is subject to data protection and other procedural safeguards. It also provides seminars and presentations on its work to investigators, prosecutors and judges to inform them of the assistance it provides to Governments on the issue of missing persons, and on how that assistance can contribute to the process of criminal justice in the field of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The last such event was held on 18 December 2008. 38. A study published in 2006 in the International Review of the Red Cross entitled “The missing and transitional justice: the right to know and the fight against impunity”, could constitute a useful basis for an analysis of the relationships between the issues of missing persons and transitional justice. The study looks at the ways in which transitional justice mechanisms may support the right of families to know the fate of their relatives, and how the issue of missing persons can be reconciled with an effective fight against impunity. The study concludes that clarification of the fate of persons unaccounted for, as a result of an armed conflict or other situations of violence, is an important issue that needs to be considered in any multidimensional and multi-stakeholder effort to address societies in transition. When peace or other settlements are negotiated, they should receive at least as much attention as other issues, such as refugees and displaced persons, land and property, or human rights and conflict resolution, in parties’ efforts to repair their past. The opening of mass graves, the identification of bodies, the establishment of the circumstances that led to death and clarification of the facts are all necessary steps for families to complete their mourning process, for victims to obtain reparation and, in the long term, for peoples and communities to come to terms with their past and move forward in peace.