The right to the truth is often invoked in the context of gross violations of human rights and grave breaches of humanitarian law. The relatives of victims of summary executions, enforced disappearance, missing persons, abducted children, torture, require to know what happened to them. The right to the truth implies knowing the full and complete truth as to the events that transpired, their specific circumstances, and who participated in them, including knowing the circumstances in which the violations took place, as well as the reasons for them.

To:

• Declare on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (1992)
• Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation (2005)
• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2006)