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….

30 April 2020 – How a future, post-conflict Syria could handle the challenge posed by large number of Syrians who are missing is the focus of a series of online policy discussions on the Syrian situation organized by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

The second segment of the weekly series, held 29 April 2020, focused on missing persons institutions and legislation. The online series forms part of a set of Roundtable discussions hosted by ICMP to bring Syrian civil society organizations and associations of families of the missing together to support them in a process of devising common strategies on the issue of detained and missing persons. International experts and others involved in similar processes elsewhere are also part of the discussions.

Three Roundtables have been held: one in May 2019 in The Hague, one in October and November in Istanbul and one in February 2020 in The Hague. A…

By Saša Kulukčija

Sarajevo, 1 April 2020: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has donated personal protective equipment to the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist in combating the spread of Covid-19 disease in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ICMP donated 500 disposable aprons, 1,000 protective suits and 3,000 disposable gloves to the Ministry of Security, which will use the material to keep its staff safe as they implement measures to limit the spread of the virus. The IOM BIH plans to use the 200 protective suits donated by ICMP to adhere to the health and safety instructions aimed at containing the Covid-19 pandemic when working in migrant centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“We hope this modest donation from our stocks will help the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and those working with the vulnerable migrant population stem the spread of the virus,”…

By Mariana Lersundy

Bogota, 30 March 2020: It was children’s play with a purpose. Guided by the Colombian non-governmental organization Association for the Integral Development of Victim, 40 children whose family members are missing used art and play to learn about a pre-colonial chieftain, human rights and disappearances. 

The project was supported by the International Commission on Missing Persons through its small grants program. In Colombia, ICMP has provided 20 civil society organizations with grants worth more than a total of 300,000 US dollars to facilitate the search, location and identification processes, and to support families with missing family members. 

For the children and youth taking part in the project in Pasto, southwestern Colombia, family life often revolves around the search for missing family members. The project brought them together to play, share experiences and learn. Organizers chose to focus…

The Hague, 9 March 2020 – ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger has committed to ensuring that all ICMP global programs will promote female leadership and engagement. This effort, part of her 2020 International Gender Champion commitments, aims to support women whose relatives have gone missing, so that they can become strong human rights advocates and work to secure their rights.

“As an International Gender Champion, I will strive to reduce the plight of women survivors of atrocities.  Silence has long surrounded the issue of missing persons, likely because those left behind tend to be women and children, while most of those who go missing from war, human rights abuses, organized crime and irregular migration are men,” she said.

“Many women don’t report missing person cases out of fear of reprisals, and many may not be aware of their rights, including the right to a proper investigation.”

She noted that ICMP raises global…

The Hague, 6 March 2020: Representatives of civil society organizations involved in Syria learned about the missing persons process in a learning and development program organized by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) through its newly launched ICMP Wim Kok Center of Excellence and Learning.

The new learning program uses a simulation exercise to teach scientists, judges, prosecutors, academics, families of the missing and civil society organizations about the process of locating and identifying missing persons, from reporting a missing person to locating a missing person.  The program also helps “first responders” learn about the importance of documenting the location of irregular gravesites.

Participants in the 27 February simulation exercise learned about each aspect of the missing persons process and the need for securing and centralizing relevant data so that missing persons can be found. The simulation underlined the importance of an integrated system that collects and shares relevant information.

First,…