A/HRC/45/13/Add.3 who, in many instances, are unable to see results in efforts deployed to find their loved ones and obtain justice and other forms of reparation. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has considered that the right to access justice entails taking all the necessary steps to find out the truth and to punish the perpetrators within a reasonable time.9 17. Delays can sometimes be employed as an intentional means to shield perpetrators. They can also be the consequence of deficient institutions, which are not adequately equipped to investigate complex crimes such as enforced disappearance. The Working Group considered that delays could put witnesses at risk and foster revictimization.10 18. In many countries where enforced disappearances have occurred, investigations have been bureaucratic, material resources have been insufficient or investigators have lacked the required special training to undertake such investigations effectively.11 19. At the same time, it should be stressed that the duty to conduct diligent investigations should not lead to rushed or unduly hurried investigations.12 B. Prompt legal remedy to determine the whereabouts of the disappeared persons 20. In line with article 9 of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, it is the victim’s right and the State’s obligation to grant them access, under all circumstances, to a prompt and effective judicial remedy as a means of determining the whereabouts and welfare of persons deprived of their liberty, and to disclose the identity of the authorities who ordered or carried out the act of deprivation of liberty (art. 9 (1)). This judicial remedy, often called habeas corpus, is aimed at ending and preventing enforced disappearances, but it is also a means of guaranteeing an efficient investigation. As stipulated in the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, this right can be exercised by any person with a legitimate interest, including relatives of the victims, their representatives or a lawyer (art. 17 (2) (f)). 21. As required by article 9 of the Declaration, within the framework of a habeas corpus, the competent judicial authorities and/or investigators should have full access to any place where persons deprived of liberty may be kept or places where there are grounds to believe that such persons may be found, irrespective of whether or not such places are official detention facilities.13 22. Prompt access to possible sites of detention can help ascertain important information towards the clarification of the facts and identification of the perpetrators. On the other hand, any delays by the judicial authorities in producing the necessary evidence may increase the risk to the life and welfare of the disappeared person and create favourable conditions for the concealment of the whereabouts of the victim or destruction of evidence. Therefore, any such delays must be investigated and sanctioned, both at the criminal and administrative levels. 23. Furthermore, experience has shown that, even in contexts in which habeas corpus remedies did not yield results, their mere presentation was of decisive documentary value as judicial evidence of the facts related to the disappearance. 9 10 11 12 13 investigation/university-texas-austin-school-law-human-rights-clinic.pdf. See also CCPR/C/119/D/2259/2013, para. 7.5. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Terrones Silva et al. v. Perú, Case 11.053, Judgment, 26 September 2018, para. 196 (in Spanish). A/HRC/10/9/Add.1, para. 76 (in Spanish). Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Anzualdo Castro v. Perú, Case 11.385, Judgment, 22 September 2009, para. 135. European Court of Human Rights, Pomilyayko v. Ukraine, Application No. 60426/11, Judgment, 11 February 2016, para. 53. See also Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016): The Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (2017), para. 23. See also art. 13 (2) of the Declaration. 5