Conducting a National Inquiry into Systemic Patterns of Human Rights Violation Other stakeholders will come from government, both the political and bureaucratic arms. Government ministers are responsible for public policy and so are best placed to explain and justify the policy. Public or civil servants are implementers of government policy and so their detailed knowledge of the policy and implementation in practice will be among the most useful information an inquiry obtains. Local governments may also be an important stakeholder on some issues. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can be stakeholders in many different senses and can have very different interests in the inquiry, including concerns about the implications of the inquiry for themselves. Some will be specialists in the particular issue being investigated. They can assist the inquiry with their specialist knowledge but may not know or understand the broader context. Other NGOs are generalist organisations that can assist with the context but have limited knowledge of the specific issue. NGOs traditionally are closer to victims of human rights violations and to their communities than government agencies are. These organisations have information and analysis that will be of value to the inquiry precisely because of their close associations. While victims will usually speak of their own personal experiences, NGOs may be able to provide data on the extent of violations and patterns of violation. They may also be able to provide analysis of the causes of the violations and their consequences. Some NGOs may be implementers of government programmes and so can assist the inquiry from that perspective. They may not necessarily be enthusiastic about the inquiry because they may fear criticism of their role or even that the inquiry will result in unwelcome changes to their work. For example, NGOs that deliver services on behalf of government agencies may lose their contracts if the inquiry shows them to be poor services providers. Academics and professionals have expertise that will be of assistance to the inquiry’s analysis. The inquiry requires access to the best academic research and academics can assist them to obtain that. Often there will be significant gaps in research that the inquiry itself will need to fill but the prior step is finding and assessing the research that is already in existence. Religious groups and foundations, including philanthropic foundations, often provide assistance to vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as children separated from their families and women and children victims of family violence, and so may also be important stakeholders. Many human rights issues involve questions of social justice that may be the concerns of these organisations. Perpetrators of human rights violations or, more broadly, those whose actions have contributed directly or indirectly to the situation being investigated, will clearly have an interest in the inquiry greater than anyone but the victims of the violations. The inquiry will need to be careful to respect and protect the rights of alleged perpetrators. At the same time, it will want to encourage them to assist the inquiry. They can explain their actions and their motivation and so assist the inquiry to understand the dynamics of the violations and to find ways to address both the consequences and the causes. In a sense, the media are stakeholders too. They are interested in newsworthy issues and events and so could have an interest in the national inquiry. They will look to the inquiry for “good stories”: personal experiences, new insights into issues of public or political concern, revelations of governmental failure or scandal, whatever may interest readers of newspapers, listeners of radio programmes and viewers of television and so attract them to the media. The inquiry needs the media to tell its story but it may also be a victim of the media if its work is misreported or distorted or if it is subjected to media attacks. The media are key stakeholders but they require careful handling. 24