A/HRC/10/28 page 4 Missing Persons. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was represented by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. The panel was moderated by the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Luis Alfonso de Alba. 5. The panel’s main objective was to raise awareness of the issue of persons reported missing in connection with armed conflicts, highlighting the human rights aspects and their implications. Several important issues were discussed, in particular, the need for all parties to a conflict to cooperate with each other and to establish adequate mechanisms, institutions, laws and capacities, while taking into account that civil societies, families and supporting associations and national human rights commissions have a role to play in these mechanisms and institutions. The need to pay special attention to the legal status of the relatives of persons reported missing, in particular, on issues relating to their civil status, inheritance or pension rights, and the obligation of States to provide necessary assistance to those affected by the issue in order to reintegrate them into social life was highlighted. 6. The panel also aimed to identify practical recommendations to address the issue of missing persons, as well as best practices. A report providing a summary of the contents of the panel discussion on the question of missing persons has been submitted to the Council (A/HRC/10/10). III. THE RIGHT OF FAMILIES TO KNOW THE FATE OF THEIR RELATIVES REPORTED MISSING DURING AN ARMED CONFLICT 7. As highlighted during the expert panel discussion, any debate on the issue of missing persons should benefit from the conclusions and recommendations of the International Conference of Governmental and Non-Governmental Experts, organized in 2003 by ICRC, entitled “The missing: action to resolve the problem of people unaccounted for as a result of armed conflict or internal violence and to assist their families”. The Conference elaborated on issues relating to information-management and the processing of files on persons reported missing, the management of human remains and support for families. A. Information-management and the processing of files 8. The Conference observed that coordination of the activities of all those involved and the sharing of information would increase the effectiveness of any action taken to ascertain the fate of unaccounted persons. Measures proposed included ensuring that the information collected on persons unaccounted for is comprehensive, yet limited to that which is necessary for the purpose identified and is impartially collected and processed; sharing information on the methods and objectives of the data collection and processing procedure by those involved; exchanging the information collected among those involved, without endangering victims, the persons collecting the information or the sources of information; centralizing the information collected to increase the possibility of informing the families on the fate of their members; and respecting the relevant standards and principles with regard to the protection of personal information whenever information, including medical and genetic information, is managed and processed.