A/HRC/12/18 page 14 categories of cases from military to civilian courts. OHCHR Nepal is promoting discussion of vetting programmes with the Government and security forces, and has already begun integrating issues of transitional justice into human rights training programmes for the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army. The Armed Police Force instituted a new policy in late 2008 on the selection of personnel prior to deployment on United Nations peacekeeping operations and OHCHR Nepal is engaged in preliminary discussions on providing assistance to improve this process. 41. HRTJS UNMIT supports the police vetting process in Timor-Leste by serving as an observer on the evaluation panel, which makes recommendations with regard to individual police officers and provides information based on UNMIT monitoring records. HRTJS UNMIT also participates in joint assessments by UNMIT and the Government to establish whether district police units are ready to assume executive policing authority from UNMIT police. HRTJS UNMIT has organized human rights training programmes as well as published and distributed human rights booklets for UNMIT and Timorese police officers and senior military officials. (c) Latin America and the Caribbean 42. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has been assisting the Government of Haiti to vet the Haitian National Police (HNP) in accordance with the framework set out in the HNP Reform Plan adopted in August 2006. The vetting process includes a background check of HNP officers carried out by a joint team made up of representatives from the HNP General Inspectorate and United Nations Police officers. This team evaluates the disciplinary, judicial and bank records of each HNP officer based on criteria drawn from Haitian regulations governing police service and international standards. HRS MINUSTAH also provides information to this team with regard to allegations of human rights violations committed by Haitian police officers. There are approximately 9,200 active police officers in Haiti. As of March 2009, the vetting process had evaluated 6,574 officers and completed investigation of 2,273 of these cases; 1,009 cases have been sent to the authorities for appropriate action. 5. National consultations 43. National consultations are a critical element of the human rights-based approach to transitional justice, and founded on the principle that successful transitional justice strategies necessitate meaningful public participation. Public participation reveals the needs of conflict-affected communities, allowing States to craft an appropriate context-specific transitional justice strategy. Moreover, the consultative process endows victims and other members of civil society with local ownership of the resulting strategy. Although national consultations can shape the design of an overarching transitional justice strategy, they can also take place within the context of a specific mechanism, such as truth commissions or reparations programmes. OHCHR has supported national consultative processes by providing legal and technical advice, promoting victim participation, supporting capacity-building and mobilizing resources.