XI. Reporting on consultations • The report of a consultation exercise must always be true to the views that have been expressed; any additional analysis and editorializing need to be carefully considered. • Principles of accountability suggest that such reports should, as a general rule, be published. It will generally be correct to at least deliver specific findings, or some other form of summary feedback, to those who have been consulted. • Publication is not appropriate if a report would release partial or possibly misleading findings or if there are reasons to suspect that findings have been manipulated or tampered with. • Reports should take account of the capacities of the recipients, and therefore should be translated into local languages and distributed appropriately. XII. Follow-up to national consultations • Results of consultations should be taken into very serious account. However, they should not tie the hands of the decision makers. This is consistent with the human right of participation, which requires that views should be taken into account in a conscientious and respectful manner but does not carry with it the expectation that those views will be acted on. • Even if consultations are not acted upon, they can constitute valuable sources of information about the capacity and the willingness of communities to undertake reconciliation and rehabilitation, as well as about the assistance they need in that regard. As such, they are important for policymakers in general and development actors in particular. GE.09-16852 34