30 September 2011: In light of recent developments in Libya, the International Commission on Missing Persons calls on Libyan authorities to design mechanisms to address the issue of missing persons in accordance with international norms. Accordingly, ICMP notes that the state has the obligation to document cases of enforced disappearance, recover and identify mortal remains, and return them to families for a dignified burial.
ICMP Works with Iraqi NGOs and Government Representatives to Ensure the Right to Know the Fate of the Missing
28 September 2011: The International Commission Missing Persons held a seminar and workshop on enforced disappearances entitled, “The Right to Know” on 26 and 27 of September 2011. The ICMP held the event in Baghdad and in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights.
German Embassy chargée d’affaires in Bosnia and Herzegovina visits ICMP facilities in Tuzla
13 September 2011: Ms. Christiana Markert, German Embassy chargée d’affaires, and Mr. Christian Reismuller, First Secretary and Consul of the German Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, visited the facilities of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the Podrinje Identification Project (PIP) in Tuzla today.
US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Patrick Moon visits ICMP
31 August 2011: A day after the International Day of the Disappeared was marked by families of missing persons across the world, the US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina H.E. Mr. Patrick Moon toured the facilities of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Tuzla. In these facilities ICMP works to identify missing persons from the armed conflict in BiH and the rest of the world where it has its operations. This was Ambassador Moon’s second visit to ICMP, following his tour of ICMP HQ and DNA laboratory at ICMP’s Headquarters in Sarajevo in November 2010.
Letter of ICMP Director General Kathryne Bomberger on the occasion of the Intl Day of the Disappeared
30 August 2011: The 30th of August is increasingly recognized throughout the world as the International Day of the Disappeared. On this day families of persons who have missing loved ones from armed conflicts and violations of human rights seek to draw attention to this issue and to ensure that authorities uphold the legal rights of the families of the disappeared to know the fate and whereabouts of a missing loved one.
Letter of Regional Coordination on the occasion of marking the International Day of the Disappeared
29 August 2011: The International Commission for Missing Persons is delighted to be able to share with you a text that has been written by the Regional Coordination of Family Associations of Missing Persons from the former Yugoslavia which was read at today’s marking of the International Day of the Disappeared in Brcko. The Regional Coordination comprises representatives of family associations of the missing from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia whose mission is to lobby governments and state institutions to resolve the missing persons issue and increase awareness of the issue at the domestic and international level.
Iraqi Parliament’s Committee for Martyrs and Political Prisoners Meets with ICMP
22 August 2011: Head of ICMP’s Iraq Programs, Mr. Johnathan McCaskill, met in Baghdad on Wednesday with members of the Committee for Martyrs and Political Prisoners of the Parliament of Iraq, including the head of this Committee Sheikh Mohammad Al-Hendawi. Mr. McCaskill briefed the Committee of ICMP’s activities both in Iraq and internationally.
Representatives of Families of the Missing from the Western Balkans Gather in Sarajevo
22 July 2011: Members of the Steering Board of the newly created Regional Coordination of Missing Persons Family Associations from the former Yugoslavia met for the second time on Friday, 22 July in Sarajevo and discussed strategies to ensure that governments in the region remain vigilant in addressing the issue of missing persons.
ICMP Chairman Ambassador Thomas Miller Visits ICMP HQ
15 July 2011: The newly appointed Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and former US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Thomas Miller paid his first visit to the international headquarters of the ICMP today as part of a three-day visit.
Ambassador Miller also met with representatives of the BIH Missing Persons Institute and spoke with members of the MPI Advisory Board, who represent the families of missing persons within MPI, about their needs and issues that can be improved in the search for missing persons. He also met with members of MPI’s Board of Directors, MPI Steering Board and the BiH Prosecutor’s Office.
613 Srebrenica Victims to be Buried at a Memorial Ceremony in Potočari
10 July 2011: By analyzing DNA profiles extracted from bone samples of exhumed mortal remains and matching them to the DNA profiles obtained from blood samples donated by relatives of the missing, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has so far revealed the identity of 6,598 persons missing from the July 1995 fall of Srebrenica.
In an effort to identify the victims ICMP has collected blood samples from 21,566 Srebrenica victims’ survivors. The number of reported missing for whom ICMP has blood samples as well as the matching rate between DNA profiles extracted from these bone and blood samples leads ICMP to support an estimate of around 8,100 individuals missing from the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995. This leads us to a conclusion that the bodies of approximately 1,500 persons still need to be found.