The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) assisted in the excavation of 62 potential victims from the conflicts in the regions of the former Yugoslavia. The bodies were originally found in the Danube and Sava rivers after floating down from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia during the conflicts in early nineties and were buried as unidentified in Belgrade cemeteries.The exhumations, which took place at the Nova Bežanija and Orlovača cemeteries in Belgrade, started on 21 November under the supervision of the Serbian government's Commission on Missing Persons, with the additional presence of representatives from the government commissions on missing persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia.

Fifteen years after the outbreak of conflicts in the former Yugoslavia family members of missing persons from all sides are united in their appeal to Governments to deliver answers about the fate of their missing relatives. They announced their recommendations at the close of the three-day Ninth Regional Networking Conference on the missing persons issue organized by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Brčko.This and previous regional conferences provide a much-needed opportunity for participants to exchange experiences, identify common problems, and to jointly define priorities in order to speed up the process of tracing for missing persons. More than 60 representatives of associations of families of missing persons and relevant government institutions from the Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and UN-Administered Kosovo, as well as ICMP and ICRC representatives discussed three critical themes – improving the process of exhumations, identifications, and rights of…

Representatives of governments from the former Yugoslavia and representatives of families of missing persons gathered at conference organized by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Brčko today. The conference is forum for families to ask government representatives questions regarding the process of exhumations, identifications and rights of surviving family members of the missing. Members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency opened the conference and visited a recently opened mass grave in Brčko where ICMP forensic anthropologists and archeologists are providing assistance to local expert teams.

The German Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Schmunk visited the newly discovered mass grave site in Gorice near Brčko, northern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Thursday. The Director General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), Ms. Kathryne Bomberger accompanied the Ambassador on his visit where ICMP forensic anthropologists and archeologists are providing assistance to local expert teams.
The mass grave site in Gorice is alleged to contain the remains of individuals who went missing in the Brcko area in 1992. However, a positive link will only be established following DNA analysis which will be undertaken by ICMP. ICMP uses scientific technology as tool to address one of the biggest human rights issues facing BiH today. ICMP introduced DNA as primary tool in missing persons identification in this region, demonstrating success on massive scale.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in coordination with representatives of associations of families of missing persons from the territory of the former Yugoslavia are organizing the Ninth Regional Networking Conference from 23 to 25 November 2006 in Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This event is an annual opportunity for all groups involved in tracing for missing persons to share experiences and to discuss ways of improving the process in the future. Main themes to be discussed will be exhumations, identifications and rights of surviving family members of the missing.