Yearly Archives: 2013

William Hague Appoints Alistair Burt MP as ICMP’s British Commissioner

18 December 2013: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is pleased to announce the appointment of The Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP as an ICMP Commissioner. Mr. Burt is the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire and was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, until October this year.

In a letter to ICMP nominating Mr. Burt, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State, William Hague, said: “Your organization is carrying out important work to address some of the key challenges posed by armed conflicts and natural disasters. The support your organization provides to the families of missing persons and the various institutions which search for truth is…

Czech Republic Continues Funding ICMP

17 December 2013: The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Bosnia and Herzegovina announced today that the Czech Republic will continue to support the work of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) through June 2014.

H.E. Ambassador Tomas Szunyog made the announcement during a signing ceremony of the donation agreement with the ICMP Director General, Kathryne Bomberger, at the ICMP headquarters. The donation of 12,700 EUR will be used to support ICMP’s programs in the Western Balkans. The Czech Republic has donated 110,000 Euro to ICMP since 2008.

Delegation of “Remembering Srebrenica” Project visit ICMP

11 December 2013: A group of religious leaders from the United Kingdom led by former BBC news correspondent Martin Bell OBE, and the Chairman of the “Remembering Srebrenica” Project, Dr. Waqar Azmi paid a visit to the headquarters and identification facilities of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Sarajevo and Tuzla on Monday and Tuesday, as part of their visit to BiH.

ICMP Joins INTERPOL Assessment Team in the Philippines

19 November 2013: ICMP is part of an INTERPOL Incident Response Team (IRT) which has deployed to the Philippines in order to assess Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) requirements after Typhoon Haiyan hit that island more than a week ago leaving thousands of people displaced, dead and missing.

In addition to ICMP the team includes specialists from INTERPOL, DVI and DNA experts from Canada and South Africa. As part of the assessment mission, the IRT will meet the Philippine authorities and make recommendations for the recovery and identification of victims, as well as coordinate national and international DVI efforts.

ICMP’s Video on the International Conference

13 November 2013: ICMP’s International Conference “The Missing: An Agenda for the Future” in The Hague provided a venue for over 200 delegates from around the world to explore how the issue of the missing will be addressed in the future, including global initiatives to locate missing persons for all involuntary reasons.

Please watch this conference video that emphasizes the key ideas and messages from the event.

Dutch Foreign Minister Timmermans Calls for ICMP to be given a legal status under International Law

1 November 2013: Concluding a conference hosted by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr. Frans Timmermans stated, “I am calling for ICMP to be transformed into a modern small and flexible organization established with formal legal status under International Law that allows it to operate worldwide.” He went on to say “I call upon national governments to support our efforts to make it easier for this organization to operate around the world”.

Cases of missing persons around the globe discussed at ICMP’s Conference

31 October 2013: A conference hosted by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) started yesterday in the City of The Hague at the Peace Palace. It is the first conference to address the issue of missing persons, regardless of whether they are missing from war, human rights violations, disasters, human trafficking, drug related violence, migration or other causes.

ICMP Hosts Conference “Missing Persons: An Agenda for the Future”

29 October 2013: A three-day conference hosted by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) will open tomorrow in the City of The Hague at the Peace Palace. It is the first conference to address the issue of missing persons, regardless of whether they are missing from war, human rights violations, disasters, human trafficking, drug related violence, migration or other causes.

ICMP Partners with INTERPOL to Provide Assistance to Kenya in the Aftermath of Shopping Center Shooting Incident

9 October 2013: ICMP has launched efforts to assist Kenya in the aftermath of the attack the Westgate Shopping Mall, Nairobi. The assistance comes following an invitation from INTERPOL and is a part of ICMP’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) efforts.

ICMP is currently in the field in Nairobi providing guidance to local authorities and international teams in the collection of biological reference samples and proper sampling of postmortem samples from victim remains.