A/HRC/5/7 page 11 53. Argentina emphasizes that the right to the truth could be satisfied by a number of different institutional means and mechanisms, some judicial, some not. It comments on the importance of the “truth trials” at the Federal Court in La Plata: the court had instituted judicial proceedings limited to investigations and the compilation of case files on forced disappearances which, because of the amnesty laws in force, were not followed by prosecutions and punishment. When the laws in question were repealed, the court handling the various “truth trials” was able to hand the case files over to the criminal justice system. Further to these two judicial steps, the “truth trials” and the criminal trials proper, the Argentine Government set up a support and assistance programme with a Federal Human Rights Council for complainants, victims and witnesses of State terrorism, and a national protection programme for complainants and victims of human rights violations. 54. Serbia describes cases brought before Serbian courts against the perpetrators of war crimes against civilian groups, and the cooperative machinery that it has set up with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. 55. Serbia reports the judgements handed down by national courts in the Podujevo, Strbci and Sjeverin trials on charges of war crimes punishable under article 142 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It also draws attention to a change in its own judicial system made in 2003: the creation of a war crimes division in the Belgrade district court, with jurisdiction over war crimes as stipulated in the Criminal Code and article 5 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. 56. Mention has been made, in connection with judicial proceedings, of the role played by applicants for civil indemnification in connection with criminal trials. In a number of judgements, the Colombian Constitutional Court has emphasized the importance of having such applicants present at the criminal trials of those responsible for grave human rights violations, as a means of guaranteeing victims and their families the right to the truth. 57. On a similar note, FIDH advocates a study of national legislation to see whether it allows victims to attend trials and be kept regularly informed of inquiries in progress, and whether it establishes a general right of access to information on human rights violations. The Federation also suggests that the issue of the right to the truth should be further studied in the context of the development of international criminal justice. With a view to better understanding of the right to the truth, Argentina has suggested preparing and distributing a handbook on best practice in the exercise and protection of this right. To facilitate the exercise of the right to the truth, Switzerland suggests guidelines on the protection of archives relating to human rights violations, and considers that thought might be given to the establishment of a special adviser or United Nations rapporteur on the question of the “treatment of the past”. D. Preservation of and access to archives on human rights violations and the question of memory 58. Archives of human rights violations, originally intended to buttress repressive regimes of all kinds, are vital in making reparation for the injury suffered by victims of repression and in prosecuting those responsible for atrocities. They have an intrinsic value directly related to the exercise of victims’ rights, the work of the courts and non-judicial mechanisms for establishing