26 March 2013: The BiH Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihović met with the Director General of the International Commission on Missing Persons Ms. Kathryne Bomberger in Sarajevo today.
Mr. Salihović and Mrs. Bomberger discussed efforts needed to accelerate accounting for missing persons in BiH. It is estimated that 9,000 persons missing from the armed conflicts relevant to Bosnia and Herzegovina are still unaccounted for.
25 March 2013: The UN and ICMP held consultations today with forensic experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The experts presented their views on the current situation of forensic science in BiH and proposed areas and methodology for improving capacities of this scientific field. They identified branches of forensic science in BiH which currently do not exist, as well as areas for improvement.
21 March 2013: The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Ambassador Jurriaan Kraak, visited the Identification Coordination Division (ICD) of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the Podrinje Identification Project (PIP) in Tuzla today.
Ambassador Kraak said that he was pleased to see the excellent work of the ICMP to which the Government of The Netherlands has been one of the largest donors.
16 March 2013: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) recently received skeletal samples and blood reference samples from Libyan authorities related to the high-profile case of the Bin Jawad mass grave. ICMP carried out the DNA analysis in its laboratories and compared the profiles of post mortem samples with blood reference samples obtained from families of the missing. As a result, 95 positive DNA matches were made of different individuals.
13 March 2013: A press conference was held today in Sarajevo to announce a new donation from Microsoft to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). The commercial value of Microsoft’s software donation is 480,000 USD, and includes Windows, Office, Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio and Lync.
8 March 2013: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) have concluded an agreement on cooperation in matters of common interest. A formal agreement was signed today in Geneva, Switzerland, by IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and ICMP Director General Kathryne Bomberger.
According to the agreement, the main areas of cooperation between the two international organizations will be to address the issue of missing persons from migration, displacement, human trafficking, and other causes. IOM and ICMP will also cooperate in conducting research studies on matters of mutual interest and other areas.
8 February 2013: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) hosted a two-day Working Group meeting “An Effective Partnership to ensure Identifications of Missing Persons” attended by high-level delegates representing all key Ministries and other Organizations involved in the missing persons process.
The meeting focused on next steps in the collection and protection of data from relatives of missing persons, the establishment of a centralized database and on advanced training in DNA techniques for Iraqi scientists.
6 February 2013: Following on from the visit to Tripoli last week of British Prime Minister David Cameron, the British Ambassador to Libya H.E. Michael Aron announced today funding to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to assist the Government of Libya in its efforts to account for missing persons.
Following the recent conflict in Libya and years of enforced disappearances perpetrated by the former regime, it is estimated that up to 10,000 thousand persons went missing.
ICMP is pleased to distribute the conclusions of a two-day conference hosted by ICMP in Skopje, FYROM/Macedonia, on 20 and 21 November,, entitled “The Future of the Missing Persons Process from the Kosovo Conflict.” The conference gathered representatives of family associations of missing persons, government representatives from Belgrade and Pristina, as well as representatives from the international community, including EULEX and ICRC.
The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), “Amnesty International” and “TRIAL – Track Impunity Always”, publish a set of joint recommendations calling on the Government of Iraq to take decisive steps to tackle and end the practice of enforced disappearance in Iraq.
The recommendations are the direct outcome of a conference ‘No Impunity for Enforced Disappearances’ held by the ICMP in cooperation with the Ministry of Human Rights in Baghdad, 16 and 17 September 2012 (download the report).
With the accession to the Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearance in 2010, the Government of Iraq is committed to tackle and combat the crime of enforced disappearance. The recommendations may serve as a basis for the relevant government agencies to enhance access to justice, truth and full reparation for victims of enforced disappearance. The document also aims…