identified some 118 organizations in 11 national departments, including 18 regional, 21 provincial and 32 “direct” organizations, 22 women’s organizations, 15 youth groups and 26 organizations of displaced people. It is necessary to ensure that victims’ groups really represent the victims’ views. Although this is often the case, sometimes the groups may convey very specific viewpoints of just some victims or will have an agenda of their own. Some groups, often based in national or provincial capitals (and far from many of the victims), may tend to reflect solely what might be described as “elite” views. For instance, in one country it is reported that urban, capital-based NGOs dominated phases of the consultation process, assuming representation of victims as a whole without properly consulting with those they claimed to represent or gaining an express mandate to do so. Another concern is the extent to which victims’ groups have internal processes to discern and present the views of the victims they claim to represent. Care needs to be taken, for instance, when consulting any victims’ group that seems to be run in an authoritarian or undemocratic manner. In all situations, victims’ groups need to be given adequate time to consult with those they represent. Victim groups can make an important contribution to the design of victim consultation processes. Notwithstanding the concerns mentioned above, the perceived success of consultations of victims in Guatemala prior to the approval of transitional justice legislation (Law 975/2005) was attributed in part to the active participation of such organizations in all planning and implementation phases. The identification of other stakeholders will very much depend on the precise purpose of the consultation. These stakeholders may include civil, traditional and religious leaders, political representatives, national human rights institutions, professional organizations, the media, trades unions and the business community, the security forces, including the police and army, other former combatants, educationalists and academics. Diplomatic missions, representatives of international organizations and the donor community may also be consulted (although such groups cannot be considered as representative of “national” views). Victims’ groups themselves may demand that various other groups should be consulted or otherwise participate in the process. In Nepal, for instance, they expressed a strong desire for the presence at consultations of all the concerned stakeholders, including ministers, local authorities, party leaders, and district and regional administrative officers, as their presence reassured the victims that their grievances were acknowledged and would be addressed. A consultation process, in addition to conducting an actual direct dialogue, may also take account of stakeholder views that have been expressed in other contexts. Sources for such views can include the proceedings of peace conferences, debates in the media, the proceedings of parliament and the output of workshops. 22