A/HRC/12/18 page 20 65. OHCHR will further explore linkages between economic, social and cultural rights and transitional justice. Special rapporteurs and treaty bodies should also continue to give due considerations to this subject. The development of national capacities should be further encouraged, and national human rights institutions, for example, could take on the responsibility for monitoring and ensuring that these rights are realized in post-conflict States. 3. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and transitional justice 66. Transitional justice mechanisms and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration initiatives have both come to play increasingly important roles in assisting States in their transition from violence to peace. At the same time, it has become increasingly evident that when implemented in a coordinated fashion, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and transitional justice can positively reinforce each other. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes contribute to securing the stability necessary to implement transitional justice mechanisms, while transitional justice mechanisms strengthen the legitimacy of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration initiatives by helping conflict-affected communities accept the reintegration of ex-combatants into society. 67. Understanding the connections between disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and transitional justice is critical to successfully integrating both initiatives to work in a mutually reinforcing manner. Truth commissions, for instance, can facilitate the reintegration of ex-combatants into conflict-affected communities by affording them the opportunity to reveal their experiences of the conflict. 68. Prosecution initiatives may distinguish ex-combatants from perpetrators of human rights violations, diminishing public perception that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes are reintegrating all ex-combatants without regard for crimes they may have committed over the course of the conflict. Prosecution initiatives may also contribute by removing obstacles such as uncooperative commanders, from the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, thereby supporting the cessation of hostilities. 69. Reparations programmes should also be designed in conjunction with disarmament, demobilization and reintegration initiatives to combat perceptions of inequity in the treatment of ex-combatants and victims. Reparations programmes, which offer redress to conflict-affected populations, can help quell resentment that victims and communities may harbour towards ex-combatants who receive disarmament, demobilization and reintegration benefits. 70. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes are also critical to the success of institutional reform. Such programmes contribute to security in the short to medium term, while institutional reform seeks to transform the larger security environment, altering the relationship between citizens and State. Thus, they are often one of the first security initiatives in a post-conflict society, and their success provides the foundation for long-term reform of the security sector as well as other institutions. Without coordinating disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and vetting processes, some ex-combatants who have committed or are suspected of committing serious crimes could be reintegrated into national police or military structures. The United Nations must insist that such individuals be excluded from serving in these capacities, at the risk of undermining public trust in government institutions.