A/HRC/42/45 51. Calculating the number of victims eligible for reparation is particularly challenging in conflict situations with great numbers of internally displaced persons or of refugees. In Colombia, for example, the estimate of the number of victims was about 4.5 million in 2012 after the adoption of the Victims and Land Restitution Law, but the actual number was almost twice that projection given the country’s growing internally displaced population. There are more than 8.7 million victims registered in Colombia in 2019. 28 52. Building strong registries of victims requires reaching out to civil society organizations. They have relevant data about victimhood and violations that would be of utmost importance in any mapping exercise. They also have vital links to communities of victims that could help State authorities to build trust with victims and help them come forward. 53. Effective registration also requires reaching out to inform all victims about their right to reparation, available reparation programmes and registration processes. In El Salvador, information was not disseminated to all victims, leading to a very small number of registrations in proportion to the number of victims. Evidence and special measures in registration processes 54. Special registration measures should be adopted to ensure that those in a situation of special vulnerability come forward, such as victims of sexual violence, children, and persons with disabilities. They should not be exposed through registration processes to further victimization or stigma. Measures should also be adopted for victims who are illiterate. 55. Special security conditions should be put in place for victims to register, particularly in countries that are still in the midst of conflict or where violence and insecurity is generalized. 56. Most registration processes require filling forms and providing some evidence of victimhood and harm. Forms should be confined to essential information, such as basic personal information, a statement of facts and of violations suffered, confidentiality issues, harms suffered, and supporting documents. 29 Specific forms might also be designed to clarify the universe of collective victims and provide them with collective reparation. Such forms would include the name of the community, the facts, and the violations suffered by it.30 Some forms are complemented with interviews undertaken by government officials. 57. Registries allow State authorities to decide who is eligible for reparation. However, the object of a registration process is not to challenge the veracity of the claims made by the victims or the evidence they have provided, rather to assume in good faith that what has been said is a statement of truth. The Special Rapporteur notes with appreciation that many States place the burden of proving the damage on State institutions rather than on victims, or that they apply lower standards of evidence. In Morocco, for example, the Equity and Reconciliation Commission accepted the testimonies of victims as evidence. 31 In Peru, victims were not required to provide documents that had been lost during their displacement or documentation from registries that had been destroyed during the armed conflict.32 In Colombia, the standard of evidence required is lower, too. The law indicates that authorities should always presume the good faith of victims and their ability to corroborate the harm by any means legally acceptable, and specifies the requirements in greater detail.33 28 29 30 31 32 33 Registro Único de Victimas, available at www.unidadvictimas.gov.co. Ruben Carranza, Cristián Correa and Elena Naughton, Forms of Justice: A Guide to Designing Reparations Applications Forms and Registration Processes for Victims of Human Rights Violations, International Center for Transitional Justice (2017), p. 22. Ibid., pp. 33–36. Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States: Reparation Programmes, p. 18. See www.gob.pe/790-inscripcion-en-el-registro-unico-de-victimas. Victims and Land Restitution Law, Law 1448/2011, art. 5. 9