Monthly Archives: June 2020

ICMP begins work on guide to help families of Iraq’s missing; seeks input from civil society, families

ICMP Iraq Program Head Rasa Ostrauskaite (to the right) with Yezidi families of the missing and community leaders following consultations. Baadre, November 2019. Photo: ICMP/Ali Simoqy

Baghdad, Iraq, 15 June 2020: Relatives of the hundreds of thousands of persons missing in Iraq often face difficulties in finding reliable information on what they can do to ensure that the disappearances of their family members are investigated. To help them navigate what can be a complex, challenging and lengthy process, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is developing a guide to Iraq’s approach to account for missing persons.

ICMP has worked with the authorities in Iraq since 2005, supporting them in work to account for all missing persons, regardless of their sectarian or national background, or the period of time in which they disappeared. ICMP also helps Iraqi families of missing persons access their rights.

The ICMP Iraq guide will explain the missing persons process in Iraq and outline the various steps involved in searching for and identifying missing persons in the country. It will highlight the roles…

EU Special Representative Visits ICMP Project related to Identifying Srebrenica Genocide Victims

ICMP Senior Forensic Anthropologist Dragana Vucetic shows printout of an autopsy report to Ambassador Sattler and Mr. Holliday

By: Saša Kulukčija

Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5 June 2020: The painstaking process of identifying victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide was the focus of a visit today by EU Special Representative Ambassador Johann Sattler, Head of the European Union Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to see the work of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

At the Podrinje Identification Project facility, Ambassador Sattler, who was accompanied by the Head of ICMP’s Western Balkans Program, Matthew Holiday, observed work by ICMP staff to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina in identifying human remains from the genocide. Using DNA-based identification methods, ICMP has assisted in the identification of 7,000 of the more than 8,000 persons who were missing following the genocide. The work continues to find new mass and clandestine graves related to Srebrenica.

“With the EU’s financial and political support, ICMP will continue to help the BIH authorities to fulfill their obligations to…