A/HRC/45/13/Add.3 evidence. It can also facilitate the identification of responsibilities in terms of the chain of command in organized power structures.78 72. Moreover, centralizing the information in specialized investigation units has the potential to drive more efficient searches and to enable better coordination with other agencies, particularly those in charge of searching for disappeared persons.79 73. At the same time, public accountability mechanisms and related procedures should be established, with the participation of victims and their relatives, as well as national human rights institutions and civil society organizations, as a safeguard against the potential risks resulting from the centralization of the investigation in a single unit.80 G. Independence and technical expertise of forensic investigations 74. The absence of forensic agencies with high professional expertise and independence standards can also act as an obstacle to the advancement of effective investigations in some countries.81 The autonomy of a forensic team is of the utmost importance in carrying out the investigation without fearing that it might pose a risk of retaliation.82 75. In many countries, successful initiatives have been developed by civil society and academia, which have facilitated not only the identification of hundreds of disappeared persons,83 but have also proven critical in terms of understanding how State structures have perpetrated enforced disappearance in a systematic manner. Furthermore, forensic teams have often been able to create relationships with the families of the disappeared, who in many cases had been mistreated by public officials who initially denied that disappearances had taken place. 84 The Working Group was also able to document positive State experiences in this sense during their country visits85 and has recognized the critical role that international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Commission on Missing Persons can play.86 76. Some positive results have been achieved through the use of new forensic techniques in investigations of enforced disappearances. Besides the broadly developed techniques of identification through DNA samples, scientific progress in the cross-matching of data of telephone calls, geolocation of mobile phones, the use of satellite imagery and optical detectors have also been very useful.87 H. Policies for the conservation and disclosure of archives 77. In cases where the State directly participated in enforced disappearances, there may be bureaucratic traces that in many instances can prove useful in the search for the truth. The investigation of military, national security, intelligence and police agency archives can be particularly relevant. In addition, even the administrative records of such agencies, 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 Verónica Hinestroza, Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association, contribution to the expert consultation of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance at its 116th session. Available at www.ohchr.org. See also Mariano Gaitan, “Prosecutorial discretion in the investigation and prosecution of massive human rights violations: lessons from the Argentine experience”, American University International Law Review, vol. 32, No. 2 (2015), p. 548. CED/C/MEX/CO/1, para. 29. See contribution by the Asociación Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, 24 January 2019, p. 8. Available at www.ohchr.org. Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), para. 31. A/69/387, para. 37. Examples include the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) and the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG). EAAF, recommendation No. 1. Available at https://eaaf.typepad.com/recommendations/. A/HRC/22/45/Add.1, para. 18. A/HRC/16/48/Add.1, paras. 28–29. For example, a study of fire to rule out the hypothesis of cremation of the bodies in a dumpster in the city of Cocula was especially important for the investigation of the disappearance of 43 students of the School of Ayotzinapa in Mexico (GIEI, Informe Ayotzinapa II: Avances y Nuevas Conclusiones Sobre la Investigación, Búsqueda y Atención a las Víctimas, p. 278 (in Spanish)). 15