4 June 2009: The government of the Czech Republic has further demonstrated its commitment to The International Commission on Missing Persons and to reinforcing stability, security and democracy in the Western Balkans by making a further grant to ICMP of 50,000 euros.
15 April 2009: Funding from the German government has enabled the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to purchase state-of-the-art technical equipment which will enhance its high-throughput DNA identification system.
Visiting ICMP’s Identification Coordination Division and the Podrinje Identification Project in Tuzla, H.E Joachim Schmidt, German Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, praised ICMP’s DNA-assisted identification system and the improvements made to it by the recent German donation.
8 April 2009: A delegation of six Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot scientists working for the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) attended a training course provided by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia Herzegovina. The purpose of the visit was to provide the bi-communal team of Cypriot scientists with the opportunity to broaden and enhance their existing forensic and anthropological skills.
27 March 2009: A delegation of eight geneticists from three Colombian forensics institutions working on the issue of enforced disappearances visited and received training at the operational centers of the International Commission on Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 8th to 21st March, 2009.
25 March 2009: Kosovo’s authorities and The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) deepened their cooperation and furthered their determination to resolve the issue of missing persons in Kosovo as Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Rame Manaj visited ICMP’s facilities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The delegation also included Mr. Prenk Gjetaj, Head of Government Commission on Missing Persons and Dr. Arsim Gerxhaliu, Head of the Office on Missing Persons and Forensics.
6 March 2009: A 5th meeting on regional cooperation between governments concerning the issue of persons missing from the armed conflicts of the 1990’s was hosted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Sarajevo.
5 February 2009: The efforts of INTERPOL, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), Philippines law enforcement authorities, local and national government authorities as well as the wider international community in identifying the victims of Typhoon Frank have proved an outstanding example of international co-operation, said Philippines Secretary of Defense Gilbert Teodoro.
At an official ceremony in Cebu City to mark the handover of the process of victim identification from the ferry disaster of June 21, 2008, the work of the INTERPOL Incident Response Team (IRT) and the ICMP was also recognised by a Presidential Citation for the services rendered to the Philippines for their role in helping the national law enforcement authorities to identify hundreds of…
12 December 2008: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) provided a special, in-depth presentation of its work to a high-level delegation of 20 national and International Prosecutors from the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutors’ Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The objective of the ICMP seminar was to provide prosecutors with an overview of the technical assistance that ICMP provides to governments in locating, recovering and identifying the mortal remains of persons missing from armed conflict, crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights. Given that ICMP assistance in this regard is also relevant to criminal prosecutions, it is also important that prosecutors understand the scope of ICMP’s work and the type of assistance it…
10 December 2008: ICMP commends Bosnia and Herzegovina for marking the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights by holding a special session of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Rights of the Child, Youth, Immigration, Refugees, Asylum and Ethics of the Parliamentary Assembly.
During the special session Ms. Kathryne Bomberger, the Director-General of ICMP, noted, “There are still over 13,000 persons missing from the armed conflicts that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This fact constitutes one of the biggest human rights issues facing Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region today.”
A high-level delegation of 19 experts working on the issue of enforced disappearances in Colombia visited the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) at its headquarters in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 20th to 25th November, 2008.
The Colombian delegation received in-depth presentations of ICMP experiences and expertise, in strengthening institutional capacity, creating viable legislation and enhancing the technical means to locate, recover and identify missing persons. In addition, ICMP stressed the importance of including civil society in all aspects of the process and ensuring that family associations of the missing in particular are fully educated and informed about the process.
