A/HRC/14/24 (ii) Consideration should also be given to the circumstances in which United Nations officials, for human rights and humanitarian purposes, should maintain contact with rebel or insurgent groups. 80. Given the importance and complexity of these issues, it would be especially beneficial if a thorough independent study was commissioned. H. Demobilization and unlawful killings 81. In post-conflict countries, or countries seeking to transition out of conflict, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes for former rebels or other armed groups are critical to ending violence. However, my visits to States such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia indicate that delayed or poorly conceived or implemented DDR programmes may continue or start new cycles of violence. 82. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the poorly planned rapid integration (without vetting for war crimes or other violations) of over 12,000 rebels into the national army contributed to large-scale massacres of civilians by those newly integrated forces (A/HRC/14/24/Add.3). Colombia is an example of a Government that achieved partial success in its DDR process – 48,616 illegal armed group members demobilized between 2002 and 2009. Yet because the Government did not adequately dismantle command structures or investigate and prosecute crimes, new illegal armed groups, composed in large part of former paramilitaries, have formed and have allegedly committed over 4,000 killings between 2002 and 2008 (A/HRC/14/24/Add.2, paras. 53-54 and 61). In the Central African Republic, delays and a lack of substantive progress on the country’s DDR programme heighten the risk that rebel groups will engage in more violence and killings in the lead-up to 2010 elections (A/HRC/14/24/Add.5). 83. In recent years, significant attention has been paid to formulating effective DDR programmes from the peacekeeping and security perspectives – addressing the political, military, technical, security, humanitarian and socio-economic needs of both victims and ex-combatants.38 But more research on DDR is needed from a human rights perspective. The challenges faced by Governments that, as a result of brutal and often decades-long conflicts, must re-build war-torn societies and fragile or non-existent State institutions cannot be underestimated. In order to assist policymakers, peacekeepers, civil society and human rights professionals to formulate and implement programmes that respect and ensure the right to life even – and especially – in unstable societies, in-depth and systematic research on the following would be beneficial: (a) The relationship between different kinds of DDR programmes and their effectiveness in eliminating unlawful killings or other grave human rights abuses; (b) The relationship between DDR programmes and transitional justice mechanisms as a means of eliminating unlawful killings; 38 Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs Working Group on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration, Harnessing Institutional Capacities in Support of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Former Combatants (2000); Report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict, (A/55/985-S/2001/574); Report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, “Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects” (A/57/767); Report of the Secretary-General on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (A/60/705). 21