International Commission on Missing Persons

8 December 2010: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) organized today in Sarajevo the 6th meeting on Regional Cooperation between governments on the issue of persons missing from the 1990’s armed conflicts.

The meeting held today focused on the 1991- 1995 conflicts and included representatives of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina (MPI), the Ministry of Family, Veteran’s Affairs and Inter-generational Solidarity of the Republic of Croatia, the Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of Republic of Serbia and the Commission on Missing Persons of Montenegro.

2 December 2010: The Missing Persons Task Team of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) have successfully collaborated in resolving cases of political disappearances from the period 1960 to 1994.

As a consequence of their joint efforts, several long-pending cases were resolved, including the identification of three members of the African National Congress (ANC) who disappeared in 1983, a Soweto Student Congress Member who was killed with two fellow activists in Soweto 1989, an Alexandra Township activist who was killed in 1986 and a man killed in 1982 during armed raids in Maseru, Lesotho. ICMP was also able to exclude the possibility that one man who disappeared in Pretoria in 1976 during a nationwide student protest, where…

24 November 2010: The USA Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Patrick S. Moon visited the international headquarters of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Sarajevo today.
Accompanied by ICMP’s Director-General Ms. Kathryne Bomberger, H.E. Ambassador Moon received briefings on ICMP’s assistance to governments worldwide, and toured the organizations’ main laboratory where ICMP performs DNA extraction and genetic profiling of samples from mortal remains and of blood samples from surviving relatives.

28 October 2010: Principal Deputy High Representative H.E. Ambassador Roderick Moore visited the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) facilities in Tuzla today. In his first visit to ICMP, the PDHR toured ICMP’s Identification Coordination Division (ICD) and the Podrinje Identification Project (PIP).

Accompanied by ICMP’s Chief Operating Officer, Adam Boys, the PDHR first visited PIP, which was specifically created to assist in the identification of persons missing from the 1995 fall of Srebrenica, and where mortal remains of these victims are examined and stored until final identification. The PDHR saw first-hand how ICMP forensic experts conduct ante-mortem and post-mortem data comparisons, and assist domestic authorities in making a final determination of identity so that families can bury their…

30 September 2010: During a visit to the facilities of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Tuzla today, the Ambassador of the Republic of France to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Roland Gilles praised ICMP’s work, especially the technical assistance that ICMP is providing to governments.

28 September 2010: Microsoft announced the donation of software to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) at a press conference held in ICMP’s headquarters in Sarajevo today. The commercial value of Microsoft software donation is 224,938 US dollars.

The software will enable ICMP to improve its operational systems and to continue its vital work in assisting governments to address the issue of missing persons, including the provision of DNA analysis to assist in the identification of persons missing from armed conflict, violations of human rights, or persons missing from natural disasters.

8 September 2010: The German Government has announced that it will provide funds for the work of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) for the year 2010. The donation amounting to 300,000 Euros will support ICMP’s DNA-based identification program in the Western Balkans, which has already helped in accurately identifying 15,682 persons missing from the armed conflicts of the 1990’s.

On this occasion, the German Embassy chargée d’affaires ad interim Christiana Markert and ICMP Director General Ms. Kathryne Bomberger signed a donation agreement in ICMP’s international headquarters in Sarajevo.

2 September 2010: According to the National Network of the Missing, there are 45,248 registered cases of disappearance in Colombia; therefore it is a priority to support the state strategy to strengthen the search and identification process of missing persons in Colombia. For that reason, the National Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) with support provided by ProFis Project: Support to the peace process in Colombia within the context of the Law on Justice and Peace – an example of transitional justice, executed by GTZ at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, will organize on the 6^th, 7^th and 8^th of September, Advancements in the process of human genetic identification with emphasis on mtDNA.

“Forcibly Disappeared and Missing Persons is a Continuing Global Problem”

ICMP Appeals to States to Join the Convention on Enforced Disappearance

30 August 2010: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) would like to use the opportunity of the International Day of the Disappeared to note that the issue of missing persons from armed conflict, crimes against humanity and violations of human rights continues to be a global problem. ICMP appeals to States to join the Convention on Enforced Disappearance and to take responsibility for locating and identifying missing persons, for building appropriate rule of law institutions to search for the missing and…

9 July 2010: 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 revealed the identity of 6,481 persons missing from the July 1995 fall of Srebrenica. Of this, 775 DNA-identified victims will be buried on July 11^th in the Potočari Memorial Center, Srebrenica.