sion of the disappearance. The relatives of the victims and their legal representatives should be part of the search and have access to information and be allowed to participate at all stages of the search.308 • For example, in Zimbabwe, in 1999 and 2001, Amani Trust led the exhumation of 20 bodies of victims of the Gukuharundi massacre to provide for their proper burial. In Nbelele culture, the burials are important rituals, during which the tears of the living and the proper period of mourning allow for the release of the soul of the victims and allow him/ her to rest.314 Individuals who have not been given a proper burial are in “an unhappy state of limbo and burial releases them” but “when a rural community’s desire to reclaim their dead was placed at the center of healing processes, reburials had transformative outcomes at the individual, family and community levels.”315 The 1992 Declaration provides that each State shall ensure that the competent authority has the necessary powers and resources to conduct investigations effectively, to ensure that persons involved in the search are protected from retaliation and that the findings of the results are made available to all those involved.309 Given the ongoing nature of the crime of ED, the State has a continuing obligation to carry out investigations as long as the fate of the victim remains unclarified.310 • Similarly, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission undertook at least 50 exhumations with the aim of establishing the ultimate fate of the disappeared and providing relief to the families of victims.316 Successful exhumations by the Commission permitted the delivery to the families of the physical remains of their relatives so that the remains could be buried according to the families’ chosen ceremonies. In the case of Ms Phila Portia Ndwandwe, who had been abducted by members of the Port Natal Security Branch, forensic examination of her exhumed remains revealed how she had died, thereby dispelling the belief that she had joined the security forces. In addition, press reports on Ms Ndwandwe’s exhumation led to her son meeting his grandparents for the first time.317 Related to the points above, forensic expertise is essential in helping to identify the victims of ED. Proper exhumation, DNA analysis and repatriation are all important to provide the relatives with the necessary closure and the right to truth and information as to what happened to their loved ones. According to the Guiding Principles for the Search for Disappeared Persons, it is the responsibility of the competent authorities to make use of appropriate forensic methods and professional expertise to search for and locate the disappeared person. 311 The competent authorities should use at their disposal tools to find the individual or identify his or her remains through DNA analysis and the family must be involved in every step of the process.312 However, despite the utility and importance of exhumations, the success of these investigations can be limited by issues such as the contamination and disturbance of mass graves and the related lack of mass grave protection guidelines, 318 inadequate consideration of a culturally appropriate reburial or a failure to recognise the place of reburial as a site of significance and memorialisation for families and communities.319 Ineffective exhumations were seen in Rwanda when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda-commissioned excavations of mass graves While States are required to use all available resources, including DNA analysis and international co-operation, they may not always have the necessary resources. However, while the competent authorities may not always possess the relevant expertise, they shall collaborate with civil society organisations and scientists who may assist the authorities in carrying out the search for the disappeared.313 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 Ibid. UNGA, Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, A/RES/47/33, 9 February 1993, Article 13 (2), (3) and (4) UN WGEID, General Comment on the Right to Truth in Relation to Enforced Disappearances. CED, Guiding Principles for the search for disappeared persons, CED/C/7. 8 May 2019. UN WGEID, General Comment on the Right to Truth in Relation to Enforced Disappearances. UN WGEID, General Comment on the Right to Truth in Relation to Enforced Disappearances. Tamara Hinan, Exhuming Norms and Comparing Investigations of Forced Disappearances, 24 October 2018. Tamara Hinan, Exhuming Norms and Comparing Investigations of Forced Disappearances, supra note 314. Human Rights Violations Committee, Abductions, Disappearances and Missing Persons, p. 556. Ibid, p. 550. Melanie Klinkner, Towards mass-grave protection guidelines, Human Remains and Violence, Volume 3, No. 1, 2017, pp. 52 – 70. Bournemouth University, The Bournemouth Protocol on Mass Grave Protection and Investigation, 2020, p. 14. 46