A/HRC/22/52 2. The right to truth in international human rights law 23. The principles of international law that govern accountability for such violations have two complementary dimensions. Put affirmatively, international law nowadays protects the legal right of the victim and of the public to know the truth.30 The right to truth entitles the victim, his or her relatives and the public at large to seek and obtain all relevant information concerning the commission of the alleged violation, including the identity of the perpetrator(s),31 the fate and whereabouts of the victim32 and, where appropriate, the process by which the alleged violation was officially authorized.33 It also includes the right of the victim to adequate reparation34 (of which the establishment of the truth is an indispensable part35). The payment of monetary compensation without full public exposure of the truth is not sufficient to discharge this obligation.36 24. The victim‟s right to truth has been expressly recognized in a number of international instruments negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations. Article 24(2) of the United Nations Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances provides that each victim “has the right to know the truth regarding the circumstances of the disappearance, the progress and results of the investigation and the fate of the disappeared person”.37 The United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 2005, provide at paragraph 24 that victims should be entitled to “seek and obtain information” on the “causes and conditions pertaining to gross violations of international human rights law” and to “learn the truth in regard to these 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 IACommHR, Annual Report, 1985-86, AS Doc. No. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.68, Doc. 8 rev. 1 (26 September 1986) p. 193; IACtHR, Myrna Mack Chang v. Guatemala, Judgment of February 22, 2002 (Reparations and Costs), (Ser.C) No. 91 (2002), (“Myrna Mack Chang”), paras. 75 and 77; ECtHR, El-Masri, op. cit., footnote 26, para. 191. El-Masri, op. cit., footnote 26, para. 183; OHCHR Study on the Right to Truth, United Nations Doc. E/CN.4/2006/91 (2006), para 39. See also Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, General Comment on the Right to Truth, United Nations Doc. A/HRC/16/48 (2011) para. 39: “The right to truth in relation to enforced disappearances means the right to know about the progress and results of an investigation, the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared persons, and the circumstances of the disappearance, and the identity of the perpetrator(s)”. See further paras. 27 to 31 below. See footnote 31. United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, General Assembly Resolution 60/147, 16 December 2005, Annex, (“United Nations Basic Principles on Remedy and Reparation for Gross Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Violations”), para. 24; see also IACommHR, Annual Report, 1985-86, AS Doc. No. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.68, Doc. 8 rev. 1 (26 September 1986) p. 193; Myrna Mack Chang, op. cit., footnote 30, paras. 75 and 77; El-Masri, op. cit., footnote 26, para. 192. United Nations Basic Principles on Remedy and Reparation for Gross Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Violations, op. cit., footnote 33, para. 3(d); United Nations Joint Study on Secret Detention, op. cit., footnote 1, para. 292(h); ICC, Decision Establishing the Principles and Procedures to be Applied to Reparations delivered on 7 August 2012. See http://www.icccpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc1447971.pdf. Myrna Mack Chang, op. cit., footnote 30, paras. 75 and 77. Three States (Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom) have so far paid substantial compensation to victims of secret detention, rendition and/or torture without acknowledging legal liability or establishing the facts: Globalizing Torture, op. cit., footnote 5, pp. 66 to 67, 110 and 116 to 117. United Nations Convention on Enforced Disappearances, op. cit., footnote 14, article 24(2). 9