A/HRC/45/45 opening up a broad debate on the causes and consequences of past violence and on the need to build a different future. Society must be given the opportunity to acquire a clear idea of the context that made it possible for mass violations of human rights and/or international humanitarian law to occur. 60. The examples given below are not exhaustive. It is not possible to list all the positive experiences in the area of memorialization, which include literature, the arts, academia, museums and other forums, and can make use of either physical or online means of dissemination. Other examples include the catalytic work of truth commissions, the observance of days to commemorate disappeared persons, and school textbooks. 61. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada,31 after establishing the facts about persons who were directly or indirectly affected by the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools, devoted much of its work to the promotion of reflection on this past within society. In Liberia, one of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to launch a “memoryscape” that would examine forms of reparation and work on neo-traditional dispute settlement mechanisms. In Sierra Leone, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission launched a national cross-disciplinary project that triggered a broad reflection on the country’s vision for the future. In Argentina, the work of the Truth Commission (the National Commission on Enforced Disappearance of Persons) and criminal prosecutions have helped to forge a common understanding of State terrorism under the military dictatorship. 62. In different countries, works that portray the history of victims and the circumstances surrounding their disappearance or death have served to remind the public of the lives lost to political violence.32 Books such as The Northern Ireland Book of the Dead have had a broad impact, including on the Catholic and Protestant Churches of Ireland, and have made it possible for both communities to share their suffering. 63. The writing of collective history also addresses present and future issues, which is why history books are important for new generations. In addressing inter-State conflicts, historians from opposing countries have in some cases managed to produce a single narrative, while in other cases they have set out a range of mutually irreconcilable views. It is then up to the reader to develop his or her own interpretation of the facts, having had the benefit of access to a range of informed sources. A textbook on Franco-German history by authors from both States was published under the title Histoire/Geschichte33 at the start of the 2006/07 school year. Another reference book worth mentioning is the Israeli-Palestinian work Histoire de l’autre, produced by the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East, 34 in which the text is set out in two columns, the first expressing the Palestinian perspective and the second putting forward the Israeli view of the same historical events; a space in the middle is left blank so that students can write their own narrative. A third example is a textbook that describes the wars that took place in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s, placing them in the context of regional events and providing access to documents on highly controversial historical episodes.35 64. Civil society plays an important role in public memorialization activities. In 2019, voices in Lebanon were raised to express the need for dialogue, debate and the reappropriation of memory in the public arena in relation to the conflict that tore the country apart between 1975 and 1990. Walking tours along the route of the “green line” that once separated the communities, photo exhibitions on the civil war, film screenings and countless debates were organized. This swirl of activity has had the effect of transcending traditional community divisions. 31 32 33 34 35 GE.20-09155 https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525. For example, The Kosovo Memory Book, https://www.kosovskaknjigapamcenja.org/?page_id =29&lang=de, and The Northern Ireland Book of the Dead, https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/thenorthern-ireland-book-of-the-dead-417032. https://www.klett.de/produkt/isbn/978-3-12-416510-7. Vidal-Naquet, Pierre and others, Histoire de l’autre, Liana Levi, Piccolo collection, No. 55 (February 2008). www.cdrsee.org/publications/education/volume-2-wars-divisions-integration-1990-2008, and www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Balkans/The-Balkans-rethinking-history-text-books-177099. 11