page 2 Acknowledging the reports of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to the truth (E/CN.4/2006/91, A/HRC/5/7) and its significant conclusions related to the right to know the truth about gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, Stressing that adequate steps to identify victims should also be taken in situations not amounting to armed conflict, especially in cases of massive or systematic violations of human rights, Recalling the set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/20/Rev.1, annex II) and taking note with appreciation of the updated version of those principles (E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1), Noting that the Human Rights Committee 1 and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (E/CN.4/1999/62) have recognized the right of the victims of gross violations of human rights and the right of their relatives to the truth about the events that have taken place, including the identification of the perpetrators of the facts that gave rise to such violations, Acknowledging, in cases of gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, the need to study the interrelationship between the right to the truth and the right to access to justice, the right to obtain effective remedy and reparation, and other relevant human rights, Stressing the importance for the international community to endeavour to recognize the right of victims of gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, and their families and society as a whole, to know the truth regarding such violations, to the fullest extent practicable, in particular, the identity of the perpetrators, the causes and facts of such violations, and the circumstances under which they occurred, Stressing also that it is important for States to provide appropriate and effective mechanisms for society as a whole and, in particular, for relatives of the victims, to know the 1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/51/40).