A high-level delegation of 8 Iraqi experts working on the issue of missing persons in Iraq visited the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) at its headquarters in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 4th^th to 9^th October, 2009.  The visit was funded by the British Government through its Embassy in Baghdad.

Representatives of missing persons institutions of the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia met yesterday at a meeting of a Regional Working Group hosted by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). This was the second working meeting of this Working Group consisting of representatives of the Missing Persons Institute (MPI) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), the Commission for Missing Persons of the Republic of Serbia (RoS) and the Commission for Detained and Missing of the Republic of Croatia (RoC). The meeting was also attended by a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) hosted a visit to its facilities in Tuzla by a high-level delegation of EU Ambassadors, diplomatic staff, military and police officers led by H.E Bosse Hedberg, Sweden’s Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sweden currently holds the presidency of the European Union and is also a major donor to ICMP.

The DNA laboratory system of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has made a total of more than 16,400 DNA matches during its work assisting governments worldwide in dealing with the issue of persons missing from armed conflicts, human rights violations and natural disasters. This is the largest number of DNA-assisted identifications ever made, and is more than four times the total made by the world’s other main DNA laboratories combined.

The International Commission on Missing Persons warmly welcomes Ms. Carolina Barco Isakson, current Ambassador of Colombia to the USA and former Foreign Minister of Colombia, as the new ICMP Commissioner. Ambassador Barco becomes the sixth of ICMP’s  Commissioners, joining Her Majesty Queen Noor, the Rt. Hon Michael Portillo, Willem Kok, Ambassador Rolf Ekeus and James V. Kimsey. ICMP Commissioners advocate for the resolution of the issue of enforced disappearance and represent ICMP at the highest diplomatic and governmental levels worldwide.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has handed over the chairmanship of the Expert Group on Exhumations and Missing Persons to the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Under the leadership of MPI, the new Expert Group is expected to enhance the process of searching for the remaining 8,000 to 10,000 missing persons of the 30,000 originally missing.

“We are gathered here today to commemorate those persons who are missing from armed conflict, crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights from around the world.  We are here to remember those persons who have been effectively deleted because they belonged to the wrong nationality, religion, race, class, gender or political group.

We are also gathered here today to pay our respects and to show compassion to the families of the missing and disappeared.  Their pain and suffering is…

The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will mark the International Day of the Disappeared by organizing a special parliamentary session on 31^st August to commemorate the day and to push for the implementation of the Law on Missing Persons and the establishment of a fund for families of the missing. The session will be the highlight of a series of events held across the country and the region, aimed at building public awareness of the universal nature of the problem of missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Kosovo.

On 5 August 2009 the Colombian Government presented the document CONPES 3590.  The document, adopted in June by the National Council for Economic and Social Policy, strengthens and consolidates the process of searching for and identifying of victims of enforced disappearance.

ICMP extends its condolences to Mrs. Esma Palic and to the relatives and many friends of Colonel Avdo Palic who have suffered for so long as a consequence of not knowing his fate and whereabouts. We also continue to extend our support to all those who are searching for persons missing from the armed conflicts of the 1990’s in the regions of the former Yugoslavia.