By Saša Kulukčija

The Hague, 15 May 2020: Artists play a crucial role in society by casting light on difficult topics, such as that of missing persons, Kathryne Bomberger, the Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons, said during the May 15, 2020, online launch of a virtual publication that collect the works of 13 photography students from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

The works, collectively titled Parts Unknown, were created in collaboration with ICMP and Creative Court, a Hague-based organization that works at the interface of art and global justice. Under their guidance, the students visited the ICMP headquarters, including its DNA laboratory that analyses samples from missing persons and family members, and held discussions with ICMP experts to inspire the development of their concepts. They then created individual pieces of art that revolve around the notion of missing and absence: What happens when someone never comes…

By Saša Kulukčija

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 20 May 2020: Efforts to secure the rights of Srebrenica families of the missing to justice through court-led investigations and DNA-based identifications of the victims were highlighted today during a briefing for the representatives of international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, held by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) with the participation of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) ahead of the 25^th annual commemoration of the mass killing.

For more than two decades, ICMP has led efforts to account for those who went missing during the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and to uphold the rights of families of the missing, regardless of national, ethnic or religious affiliation, or role in the conflicts. It has helped identify almost 90 percent of the 8,000 men and boys who went missing as a consequence of the Srebrenica…

The commission, a civil society organization created in the framework of the 2016 Peace Accords, focuses on documenting and collecting information regarding missing persons. Earlier this year, members of the commission took part in training at the ICMP Bogota office, learning how to strengthen their organization and how to use a special, ICMP-developed software that can manage and analyze data on missing persons and those who are searching for them. Commission members also have taken part in other ICMP workshops and training on data issues….