A/HRC/34/55 83. Individual adoptions and adoption systems must be investigated as soon as there are indications of illicit practices. In 2014, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kazakhstan conducted an investigation into the possible sale of children for intercountry adoption after having detected inaccuracies in data on children adopted abroad, which led to court rulings on intercountry adoptions being reviewed and reversed. 80 However, investigations and prosecutions in receiving countries against their own nationals for having arranged illegal intercountry adoptions are rare. 84. Guatemala presents one of the few examples of investigation and prosecution efforts having been made with the aim of dismantling criminal structures. In 2011, with the support of the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, the Public Prosecutor’s Office proved the existence of a criminal structure involved in trafficking in children for the purpose of illegal intercountry adoptions operated by owners of residential facilities with the complicity of lawyers, registrars and judges. 81 Despite the convictions, the case illustrated the difficulties in balancing the conflicting needs and desires of those involved in adoptions (adoptees, adoptive parents and biological parents) and the interests of justice. 82 85. In all cases of systemic illegal adoptions, States must ensure redress for victims through remedies that include reparation for victims and support to adoptees in their search for their origins. The experiences of adoptees trying to establish the truth behind their “abandonment” and illegal adoption are telling, as are the obstacles they encounter and the good practices of competent authorities. 83 Gradually, efforts are being made to facilitate the search process. For example, an adoption manual has been developed by the adoption service and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea, containing information on the steps to be taken searching one’s birth family. The search for truth and origins is one of the main issues addressed by associations of intercountry adoptees. 84 Such initiatives are still rare, however. 4. Illegal adoptions and transitional justice 86. Various countries emerging from conflict or an authoritarian regime have been confronted with allegations of systematic illegal adoptions as part of past large-scale abuses. Few countries have responded to victims’ calls for truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, however, and none have done so in a comprehensive manner. 85 Argentina has pioneered such responses, in particular in relation to enforced disappearances, through truth-seeking and accountability. 86 Genetic tracing and the establishment of a national genetic database have played a key role in identifying 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 See http://prokuror.gov.kz/rus/novosti/press-releasy/vystuplenie-generalnogo-prokurora-ashatadaulbaeva-na-zasedanii-kollegii and information elicited through a questionnaire. See www.cicig.org/index.php?page=01080-2009-00470. See www.iss-ssi.org/images/News/Illegal_Adoption_ISS_Professional_Handbook.pdf. Ibid. See https://justicespeaking.wordpress.com. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of nonrecurrence has underscored the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to addressing gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, one that combines elements of truth-seeking, justice initiatives, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence in a complementary and mutually reinforcing manner (see A/HRC/21/46). Article 25 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance criminalizes the wrongful removal of children who are subjected to enforced disappearance and those whose parents or guardian has been subjected to enforced disappearance, as well as the falsification, concealment or destruction of documents attesting to the true identity of the children. 19