International Commission on Missing Persons

The Hague, 29 September 2023: As Canada marks the 10^th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day and the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) reaffirms its commitment to Residential School Survivors and Indigenous communities in achieving justice and accountability for the missing children and unmarked burials associated with Canada’s Indian Residential Schools system.

ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger said, “ICMP recognizes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The ICMP Canada Program, like ICMP’s programs throughout the world, is focused on advancing truth, justice, and accountability. ICMP acknowledges the government of Canada’s efforts to address past injustices and urges the state to make reparations under its international human rights obligations.” Ms Bomberger continued: “To do this, we are actively reaching out to and listening to the experiences and the wishes of Survivors, Leadership, and Indigenous communities. We will be guided by their experience, and we…

The Hague, 15 September 2023: The Ukrainian government’s commitment to efforts to fulfill its obligations to families of the missing should be recognized and applauded, the Chairperson of the International Commission on Missing Person (ICMP), Knut Vollebaek, said on Thursday.

Ambassador Vollebaek was speaking at a panel discussion organized at ICMP’s Headquarters in The Hague to present A Country of Missing People: Securing Justice and Truth for Families of the Missing in Ukraine, a newly-published book which describes in detail the scale of the missing persons challenge facing Ukraine, and the steps that can be taken to meet this challenge.

“The authorities are endeavoring to establish an effective missing persons process even as the country fights a war for its very survival,” Ambassador Vollebaek said. “This is not a contradiction. The authorities fully understand the legal, social and political consequences of a situation in which tens of thousands of their citizens…

The Hague, 12 September 2023 – The government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has made a new financial donation to support efforts by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to help account for missing and disappeared persons. The donation will be used to fund vital operations at ICMP’s headquarters in The Hague and around the world.

“It is thanks to the goodwill and targeted support of long-standing partners such as Luxembourg that ICMP has been able to develop its advanced technical assistance capabilities and implement a growing number of country programs around the world,” ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger said today. “We are grateful for the indispensable and longstanding support provided by Luxembourg, one of the five original signatory countries to the Agreement establishing ICMP as a treaty-based international organization.”

“As an International focal point on the issue of missing persons, ICMP works from its Headquarters in The Hague across a…

Kyiv, 31 August 2023: On the International Day of the Disappeared, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the National Police of Ukraine (NPU) signed a Protocol that will enable the Main Investigative Department of the NPU to use the Integrated Data Management System (iDMS) developed by ICMP to process data to locate, reunify and identify people who have gone missing as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The signing of the Protocol marks the beginning of ICMP’s campaign to collect data from Ukrainian families residing outside of the country who have missing relatives from the ongoing war.

Under the Protocol, signed by ICMP Europe Director and Head of the Ukraine Program Matthew Holliday and Deputy Chairman of the National Police of Ukraine Maksym Tsutskiridze, the NPU will be able to access DNA profiles provided by relatives of missing persons and stored in the iDMS, as…

The Hague, 30 August 2023: – Throughout the world, authorities are bound by laws and agreements, such as the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to fulfill obligations towards families of the missing, including families of missing refugees and migrants. Marking the International Day of the Disappeared, International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) Director-General Kathryne Bomberger emphasized the responsibility of states: “Governments must secure the rights of victims and their families, regardless of their nationality, religion, or gender, or the circumstances of their disappearance.” They can fulfil this commitment “through coordinated action, including pooling resources, and through a strategy based on upholding the rule of law.” Failure by governments to account for missing persons is “a fundamental and corrosive violation of domestic and international law,” Ms Bomberger added.

ICMP Chairperson Knut Vollebaek noted today that “in the last 25 years the capacity to locate and…

Kyiv, 29 August 2023: Ukraine can account for tens of thousands of missing people if it takes steps to fill gaps in its institutional framework and encourages closer cooperation between families of the missing and the government agencies that have responsibility for addressing this issue, the Head of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) Ukraine Program, Matthew Holliday, told reporters in Kyiv today.

Holliday was speaking at a press conference to present A Country of Missing People: Securing Justice and Truth for Families of the Missing in Ukraine, published by ICMP to mark International Day of the Disappeared. The book provides an overview of the missing persons issue in Ukraine. It reviews the steps that Ukraine is already taking to address this issue, and shows in detail how an effective missing persons strategy can secure truth and justice for large numbers of families of the missing.

Holliday stressed the…

Baghdad, 18 August 2023: On 15 August 2014, in the village of Kojo in the Sinjar region of Iraq, Yazidi residents were massacred by Da’esh; women and children were abducted. Many of the victims are still missing.

Speaking on the anniversary of this crime, the Director General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), Kathryne Bomberger, described the Kojo massacre as “a stark and painful reminder” of the absolute necessity of pursuing justice, truth, and accountability, and she said ICMP would continue to help the Iraqi authorities to locate, recover, and identify victims.

“Nine years ago, the Yazidi community faced a devastating onslaught fueled by hatred,” Bomberger said. “Today, ICMP is working closely with the Iraqi National Team – the Martyrs’ Foundation Department of Mass Graves Affairs and Protection, the Medico-Legal Directorate of the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs – to uphold the right…

Hanoi, Vietnam 26 July 2023 – During the week, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) have hosted a series of events aimed at enhancing efforts to account for the large number of missing persons and unidentified human remains from the Vietnam-American War. The project is funded and generously supported by US Agency for International Development.

Senior representatives from ICMP participating in this week’s events include Ms. Thảo Griffiths, Board Member of the ICMP, Ms. Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General of ICMP, Dr. Thomas Parsons, Member of the ICMP Expert Panel and an expert on forensic genetics, and two senior ICMP scientists from the ICMP DNA Laboratory in The Hague, specializing in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies.

On Monday, 24 July, during a workshop organized by VAST, together with representatives from the Center for DNA Identification (CDI), the Institute for Biotechnology (IBT), the Department…