Conducting a National Inquiry into Systemic Patterns of Human Rights Violation 2.3. SITUATIONS THAT LEND THEMSELVES TO A NATIONAL INQUIRY PROCESS A national inquiry is a good means to address the most complex human rights situations that NHRIs confront. Whereas NHRIs may conduct public hearings into individual complaints, that process is quite narrow and confined to the specific facts of the particular complaints. A national inquiry, by contrast, addresses patterns of violation revealed by large numbers of complaints, or other information addressed to the NHRI, that require a comprehensive approach. National inquiries address situations of human rights violations that affect the entire country or a significant part of it. This is a space dimension. There is also a time dimension. A national inquiry is a good means to handle an historic pattern of human rights violations, such as practices that have become embedded over many years or decades in the history and culture of the country and that are difficult to investigate on the basis of isolated individual actions. The complexity of the situation being investigated requires that any response be undertaken by a significant number of different actors, not only the Government. The national inquiry process enables the identification of all those who have some past, present or future role in relation to the situation or some responsibility for its causes or consequences. It therefore permits findings and recommendations to be made in relation to all those who share responsibility. The educational dimension of the national inquiry process makes it especially useful to address human rights issues that have a low level of public and political recognition or acceptance. Often even situations that are well known may not be recognised for their human rights dimensions. A national inquiry will reveal the full dimensions of the situation in terms of human rights law and provide a human rights analysis and human rights recommendations. The public process of the inquiry ensures that the issue itself becomes better known and that its dimensions are better understood. National inquiries attract significant media attention and so they can raise the profile of little known and little understood issues. That in turn encourages greater political attention to the issue and promotes pressure for an adequate response and for changes in public policy and practice. The national inquiry process is also well suited to the examination of situations of violation of economic, social and cultural rights. These situations are typically far more complex than situations of violation of civil and political rights. There are often many more actors involved and sometimes social and economic forces play significant parts in causing the violations and in making remedial action difficult to identify and implement. Seeking to identify and hold accountable a single individual or organisation for a violation of an economic, social or cultural right will usually confuse a situation and contribute little to its resolution. The complex nature of the enjoyment of these rights requires detailed analysis to identify all of the actors that need to make a contribution to the resolution of violations. Some of the national inquiries described in this manual are inquiries into violations of economic, social and cultural rights. They include the right to health; the right of indigenous peoples to lands and culture; access to services for transgender and gender diverse people; and the removal of indigenous children from their families. 8