Mr. Geoff Knupfer:

Some information comes directly. As Mr. Dalton explained, it is difficult to talk about these engagements but some information certainly comes directly to us. Other contacts come through intermediaries. It is always a problem where we do not have direct access to the person who is providing information. If it comes through a third party, there is a dilemma in not being able to ask the important questions, from our perspective. As an example, if we are examining a grave site, ideally we would like to speak to the people who dug that grave. They will know what the ground profile is like, what they encountered on the day, where they stood and what they saw. This is the sort of information we cannot get through third parties or, if we do, it will have been diluted in some way.

An issue we encountered in one case, without going into details, related to where discussions occurred prior to information being passed to the commission. This was decided, effectively, by committee, with a group of people sitting around a table and arriving at a conclusion regarding the detail they would provide to the commission. Unfortunately, in such circumstances, you tend to get the views of the loudest voice rather than those of the best informed. These are the sorts of problems we have encountered over the years, although on other occasions, the information has been excellent.

Another issue relates to the time gap between the events and the searching today. Memories fail or fade and, as I mentioned earlier, many people have passed away in the intervening years. In one case, again without going into details, people we could have talked to had died and they did so without having contacted the commission or passing on information via a third party. We urge anyone with any information, however trivial they believe it to be, to please contact us directly. If they are not prepared to do that or cannot do that, we urge them to come through a third party. We look forward to hearing from them.

This is entirely an intelligence-led operation. We are not plucking bits and pieces out of the sky but rather are waiting for people to contact us, and we will respond appropriately to any information received.