A/HRC/5/7 page 14 73. In its concluding observations regarding the reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee has expressed support for the creation of mechanisms to give effect to the right to the truth. In one case, the Committee expressed regret at a State party’s “failure to adopt an appropriate law on the establishment of a Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as of other initiatives to promote reconciliation” and suggested that the State party should “intensify its efforts to adopt a systematic approach to re-establishing mutual trust between different ethnic groups and accounting for past human rights abuses”.6 In another case,7 it suggested that a State party should act swiftly to implement the recommendations of the “national dialogue” on the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission. 74. The Committee has also frequently reminded States parties that, in the event of violations of human rights and of international law, they are under an obligation to investigate the violations and to bring the perpetrators to justice.8 The Committee has, for example, recommended that the competent authority should ensure that the relatives of disappeared and abducted persons have access to information about the fate of the victims, as well as to adequate compensation.9 75. In another case, which illustrates the relationship between the right to the truth and other rights, the Committee asked the State party to consider other methods of accountability for human rights crimes committed under the military dictatorship, including disqualifying gross human rights violators from relevant public office and establishing justice and truth inquiry processes. The Committee expressed the view that the State party should make public all documents relevant to human rights abuses, including the documents currently withheld pursuant to a presidential decree.10 76. Moreover, in early 2006, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a series of five “rule-of-law tools” designed to ensure long-term, sustainable institutional capacity to respond to the demands of justice in periods of transition. These tools outline the basic principles involved in: mapping the justice sector, prosecution initiatives, truth commissions and vetting and monitoring legal systems. A new series dealing with subjects such as reparation and the legacy of international tribunals is to be published shortly. Other topics are being considered, in particular, national consultations on the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms, amnesties and mainstreaming the gender perspective in the transitional justice process. 6 See document CCPR/C/BIH/CO/1. 7 See document CCPR/C/CAF/CO/2. 8 See, for example, CCPR/C/UNK/CO/1, CCPR/C/CAF/CO/2 and CCPR/C/HND/CO/1. 9 CCPR/C/UNK/CO/1. 10 CCPR/C/BRA/CO/2.