A/HRC/14/42 34. It must be kept in mind that the longer it takes to establish functioning mechanisms to deal with the issue of the missing, the less likely it will be that the missing will be identified and returned to their families. 35. The commission for missing persons should work closely other governmental and non-governmental entities, employing mechanism. Furthermore, it should closely cooperate with anthropologists, conducting the exhumations and identifications of persons. with the judiciary and a strong coordinating a team of forensic the remains of missing 36. As practice shows, these commissions focus largely on the missing persons of their own side of the conflict. It is essential that they deal with the issue of missing on both sides and not make their work conditional on the results achieved by any other side. Their mandates should make it clear that they also have responsibility, insofar as they have information or control over the relevant territory, for clarifying the fate of the missing on the other side(s) as well. In addition, the commissions need to cooperate with their counterparts. When there is no cooperation between respective commissions of the parties to armed conflict, the latter should consider establishing an international commission to look into the issue of the missing, with persons on the commission acting in an individual capacity but from the region and chosen by the different parties to the conflict (as in Cyprus and Nepal). 37. The commissions need to be as depoliticized as possible, work in a transparent manner and have, alongside members of Government bodies, representatives of civil society and representatives of the families of the missing. They should deal with the issue of missing persons as a humanitarian and not a political issue. 38. Apart from commissions for missing persons, other instruments and mechanisms could be explored when dealing with the issue of missing persons; for example, bodies such as human rights commission and ombudspersons. Both usually have a broad mandate to address human rights violations and should therefore include the missing within their jurisdiction. 39. All justice and rule of law mechanisms, including the local judiciary, parliamentary commissions and truth-finding mechanisms, are of key importance for solving the issue on the basis of transparency, accountability and public involvement in the process of addressing the issue of missing persons. Judicial process might for instance permit victims’ families to intervene at various stages of proceedings and exercise their right to know. Also, when tribunals are investigating large-scale killings and initiating mass exhumations and forensic activities, it should be ensured that such work is conducted in a manner serving the best interests of the families in terms of being provided with an answer, while also bringing the persons responsible for those crimes to justice. Exhumations can reveal what happened to victims of such killings and give families information about the fate of loved ones. They can also enable the next of kin to honour the dead in conformity with the precepts of their culture and religion. 40. Truth and reconciliation exercises may have a role to play in clarifying events and helping communities move forward. Such exercises would undoubtedly benefit families for answers about the fate of missing relatives. In its resolution 12/11 of 1 October 2009 entitled “Human rights and transitional justice”, the Human Rights Council emphasized that “truth-seeking processes, such as truth and reconciliation commissions, that investigate patterns of past human rights violations and their causes and consequences are important tools that can complement judicial processes and, when established, such mechanisms have to be designed within a specific societal context and to be founded on broad national consultations with the inclusion of victims and civil society, including non-governmental organizations”. GE.10-12433 9