The Hague, 29 March 2018: Speaking at the Camera Justitia Masterclass today, as part of The Hague “Movies that Matter Festival”, International Commission for Missing Persons Director of Policy and Cooperation Andreas Kleiser stressed that addressing the issue of missing persons demands a rule-of law approach rather than a purely humanitarian one.

“Large numbers of missing persons destabilize fragile societies, which means that an effective program to account for the missing is a crucial component of any post-conflict or post-disaster recovery effort,” Kleiser said, adding that despite major challenges, effective programs to recover large numbers of missing can be carried out, sometimes many years after the event.

Kleiser said an effective strategy involves working with governments to establish legislative and institutional structures, working with civil society to ensure that the rights of families of the missing are secured, including rights to effective investigations,…

Sarajevo, 9 March 2018: The Director of Albania’s Institute of the Formerly Politically Persecuted, Bilal Kola, led a training and study mission to Sarajevo this week as part of an ICMP initiative to help Albania develop its capacity to address the issue of missing persons.

During the visit, which ended today, six staff members from the Institute of the Formerly Politically Persecuted were trained in ante-mortem data collection and reference sample collection at ICMP’s facilities in Sarajevo and Tuzla. ICMP also provided training in the use of its Integrated Data Management System (iDMS), which will be used to assist the Albanian authorities in compiling a list of missing persons and members of their families.

The Head of ICMP’s Western Balkans Program briefed Mr Kola on key elements of ICMP’s strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it has spearheaded an effort that has made…

Statement by ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger

On the Occasion of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2018

Events will take place around the world today to mark the progress that women have made in asserting their social, political and economic rights. There will be recognition too for those who fought to ensure that in many countries around the world women exercise their basic human rights. Yet, we must not forget those fields and countries where women still have to struggle against the odds, and this is especially relevant when it comes to the issue of disappeared and missing persons.

In conflict and other scenarios, a majority of those who disappear are male, which means that single female heads of household have to struggle on their own to access their rights and the rights of their children – the right to effective investigations and due process, the right not to be subjected to torture…

Sarajevo, 7 March 2018: The International Commission on Missing Persons has presented Sarajevo University’s Faculty of Natural Science with a comprehensive range of equipment that will make it possible to establish a new DNA laboratory at the university.

At the Faculty today, the Head of ICMP’s Western Balkans Program Matthew Holliday presented the Dean of Faculty of Natural Science, Professor Mustafa Memić with the accompanying documentation for the equipment, which includes two DNA sequencers and sequencing computers, pipettes necessary for DNA lab work and essential laboratory hardware and furniture.

ICMP has also supplied the operating system and software needed to make the equipment operational.

“The equipment donated to our faculty is of great importance and will be used in the teaching process of all three study cycles. In this way, students will be introduced to the latest technologies in the field of molecular biology….

Baghdad, 4 March 2018: Despite the enormous challenges to a sustained and effective missing persons process in Iraq, the authorities, working with families of the missing, have the capacity to make substantial progress in accounting for those who have disappeared as a result of decades of conflict and human rights abuse, ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger said today.

Ms Bomberger was speaking during a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad.

The Director-General, together with the Head of ICMP’s Iraq Program, Lena Larsson, briefed the minister on ways in which ICMP can help the Iraqi authorities coordinate the effort to account for the missing and cooperate constructively with families of the missing.

“The task is enormous,” Ms Bomberger said. “The numbers of missing persons are enormous. But it is very important to stress two things. The…