A/HRC/30/42 records that contain information about gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law. a 6. As a general point, the Special Rapporteur would like to take the opportunity to reiterate the call on States to provide full support to truth-seeking mechanisms throughout their whole life-cycle, which includes access to records containing information on gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, in order for them to be able to effectively and independently implement their mandate. I. Recommendations for truth commissions In the context of their operations, truth commissions are encouraged to: 7. Build provisions for the eventual disposition of their records, guaranteeing both their safety and accessibility. This needs to be done in the early stages of planning their operations; a commission needs to decide who will be responsible for managing the records, where they will be stored in the short and long term, and how access to them will be controlled. 8. Engage archival expertise in making and implementing those provisions during the life of the truth commission, and in this context take advantage of national (National Archives and Archival Associations) and international assistance and advice (e.g. International Council on Archives, Archivists without Borders); 9. Plan to deposit their archives in the country where the violations occurred and the commission operates, preferably in existing national archives, duly taking into account considerations of the security, integrity and accessibility of the archives. New and specialized archives may need to be created until such time as the national archives are able to adequately handle records of truth commissions. In the event of the possible loss, mutilation, poor preservation or destruction of the records in the country of origin, truth commissions should keep a complete, scanned and/or digitalized copy of the records in a secure facility outside the country or consider temporary preservation in a secure repository in a second jurisdiction or with an international institution; 10. Consider criteria having to do with preservation, accessibility, and trustworthiness of the host institution in deciding on the adequate repository. b 11. Stipulate that the access policy of truth commission archives should maximize public accessibility, while respecting applicable privacy concerns, including in particular assurances of confidentiality provided to victims and other witnesses as a precondition of their testimony. Access to truth commission archives may not be denied on grounds of national security or other grounds unless the restriction is in full compliance with international human rights law; 12. Note that maximizing future accessibility has an impact on many operations of a commission throughout its lifetime, including, for example, on the process of taking statements and other contact with victims and witnesses who should be advised that their a b 28 Both sets of recommendations build on well-established definitions on the “right to know” and on “archives” as stipulated in, among other places, the Updated Set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity; see report of the independent expert Diane Orentlicher to update the Set of principles to combat impunity, E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1, 8 February 2005. For example, ISO 16363 defines a practice for assessing the trustworthiness of digital repositories.