Failure to uncover the truth about the deaths of many victims of the Troubles could undermine efforts to establish a stable political solution, a victims' organisation has warned.
Healing Through Remembering has published five options aimed at recovering the truth about the fate of victims, and is embarking on a series of consultation meetings throughout Ireland and in Britain.
The group, a diverse body with members from loyalist, republican, British army and policing backgrounds, as well as different faith backgrounds, community groups and academic institutions, hopes its report will stimulate debate about the steps ahead.
Making Peace With the Past: Options for truth recovery regarding the conflict in and about Northern Ireland was written by Queen's University law professor Kieran McEvoy following consultation lasting two years. It outlines a range of options, from a "do nothing more" stance to a truth-recovery commission along the lines of those witnessed in other conflicts.
Among the options is a proposal for organisations that had been involved in the North's violence to take primary responsibility for helping to provide victims' relatives with as much information as possible about the fate of their loved ones.
The report evaluates five choices, outlining practical issues and considering the strengths and potential problems of each.
The first public meeting will take place in Belfast on December 1st before branching out across Ireland and Britain.
Healing Through Remembering co-ordinator Kate Turner said the five suggestions were not meant to be prescriptive or to offer a definitive view on what model for truth recovery there should be.
"The five options are examples of approaches that might be taken," she said. "The views of those who feel 'nothing else' should be done must be heard alongside those who propose a specific option or hybrid of options."
Healing Through Remembering believes not addressing unresolved issues could hinder political stability.