Syria: Rapid Response Team tackles mass graves

Wired reports on the Rapid Response Team that has formed in the northeast Syrian city of Raqqa to help locate and identify human remains buried in mass graves. The group is using social media to gather information on possible gravesites and making identifications on the basis of clothing and accessories. https://bit.ly/2OOy2q3

Mexico: draft bill on missing persons

The Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico has approved legislative amendments that would facilitate the investigative capacity of the National Search Commission for Missing Persons, the Excelsior newspaper reports (Original article in Spanish). https://bit.ly/2K4ZEsm

50 migrants still missing off Libyan coast

The search for 50 migrants is ongoing after the Sea Watch rescue vessel picked up 67 migrants off Libya. Aljazeera reports that the Sea Watch has been searching for 50 migrants off the coast since Monday but has yet not been able to locate…

Sweden supports ICMP in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Swedish government will provide the International Commission on Missing Persons with additional funds to implement its program in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the FENA news agency reports. ICMP is helping the authorities to address the issue of unidentified remains held in BIH mortuaries. It is also providing Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology assistance, while ensuring that Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to have access to ICMP’s DNA testing and matching technology for human identification. http://bit.ly/2uFMXJI

Spain: identifying Civil War victims

The authorities in Spain estimate that just six percent of the 114,000 unidentified Civil War victims buried in mass graves can be identified, the Ok Diario news portal reports. The article states that locating graves and securing access is a challenge, as is the deterioration of human remains as a result of exposure to the elements (original article in Spanish). https://bit.ly/2WJOnz8

Syria: arbitrary arrests and enforced…