Monthly Archives: August 2022

ICMP DG Op-Ed: How the International Commission on Missing Persons works in Ukraine

The Hague, 30 August 2022: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is preparing to launch a major program in Ukraine. ICMP will work with government institutions and with families of the missing and civil society organizations to help the authorities develop a process that will make it possible to locate missing persons and reunite them with their families and also to identify human remains from mass and clandestine graves.

Ukrainian law and the international agreements that Ukraine has signed, including the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which Ukraine ratified in 2015, uphold the rights of families of the missing.

These include the right to the truth about the fate and whereabouts of family members, the right to an effective and official investigation, the right to seek, receive and impart Information, the right to form associations and communicate with international organizations, the right to family…

Families of the Missing and Disappeared Have the Right to Truth, Justice and Reparations

Artwork created by families of the missing for an exhibition organized by the Judy Organization for Relief and Development (JORD). The paintings are courtesy of JORD.

The Hague, 30 August 2022: – Accounting for missing persons is a central and indispensable element in efforts by countries and regions around the world to recover from conflict, disasters and other traumatic events, Kathryne Bomberger, the Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), said today.

Speaking on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, Ms Bomberger noted that, throughout the world, authorities are bound by domestic law and international agreements, including the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to fulfill obligations towards families of the missing.

To mark the International Day of the Disappeared, ICMP has published a Guide for Families of the Missing, which explains in detail the rights of families, including the right to the truth about the fate and whereabouts of family members, the right to an effective and official investigation, the right to seek, receive and impart…

ICMP’s Kevin Sullivan Wins 2022 Hubert Butler Essay Prize

The Hague, 11 August 2022: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), is proud to announce that one of our colleagues, Kevin Sullivan, has been awarded the internationally-recognized Hubert Butler Essay Prize for 2022. The prize promotes the art of essay-writing across Europe. Named in honor of one of Ireland’s most distinguished 20th-century writers, it reflects Hubert Butler’s interest in the common ground between the European nation states that emerged after the First World War, including his concern with the position of religious and ethnic minorities.

The theme of this year’s prize is “In dark times, what can be done to resist the abuse of political power”? Professor Roy Foster, chair of the judges’ panel, commended the essay by Sullivan, for its broad perspective and optimism and its support for the concept of “living in truth.”

Sullivan said: “It is an honour to have been awarded this prize. The topic offered…

ICMP Staffer Receives Dutch Royal Recognition

His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has appointed Alexander Hug as an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. The award was presented to Mr. Hug, who is the head of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) Iraq Program, by Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra, on 15 July 2022.

The appointment recognizes Mr. Hug’s actions after Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian BUK missile over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Mr. Hug, who was at the time the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), led the first team to reach the crash site, and negotiated access despite obstruction from armed men occupying the area. He and his team helped to secure the site, provided access to forensic investigators and facilitated the return of…

The Search for Missing Yazidi’s Must Be Advanced

The Hague, 3 August 2022 – Today marks the 8th anniversary of crimes committed against the Yazidi population in Iraq. When Da’esh invaded the Iraqi province of Sinjar in 2014, more than 5,000 men were killed and 7,000 people, mainly women and children, were abducted. A significant number of those who were abducted are still missing.

On this somber anniversary the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) reaffirms its commitment to help the Iraqi authorities find missing persons and investigate their disappearance and to help Yazidi families of the missing secure their rights to truth and justice.

ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger said today that “surviving families must be able to access their fundamental right to truth, justice and reparations.” She commended the courage and strength that has been shown by Yazidi families and other families of the missing in Iraq, as they demand that the remaining missing persons are found and…