International Commission on Missing Persons

29 August 2005: Family members of persons missing from the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia will join voices with thousands of others across the world tomorrow to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.The problem of disappearances is a global concern, with cases in more than 30 countries around the world. August 30th is recognized as the International Day of the Disappeared, following the custom of marking the day that was started in the early 1980’s by a Latin American federation of associations of families of detained and missing persons. It has since been adopted as a day of commemoration for associations of families of missing persons by international human rights groups around the world.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina this year, the day will be marked by the launch of a new State-level organization, the Missing Persons Institute (MPI), which will search for the missing regardless of their nationality or…

26 August 2005: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) announces that the 30 August 2005 International Day of the Disappeared will be marked throughout the former Yugoslavia with a series of events. These events have been organized in each country by local partners of ICMP to raise public awareness of the missing persons issue and to demand speeding up the process of tracing for missing persons.Due to the thousands of cases of disappearance in the former Yugoslavia, the public is encouraged to join with associations of families of the missing around the world to commemorate this day. Media are invited to attend all events.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Sunday, 28 August 2005, Nevesinje: 19:00, book promotion organized at the Dom Kultura by the Union of Associations of Families of Captured and Missing Persons of Republic of Srpska. For further information please contact Milijana Bojic at +387 65 998 804.

Monday, 29 August…

26 August 2005: Representatives of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and government officials met with family members of the missing in Sarajevo on Thursday to explain how the new State-level Missing Persons Institute will be organized. Along with ICMP, representatives from the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina and entity-level Government commissions on missing persons spoke with 45 representatives of associations of families of missing persons from across the country who attended the meeting.The Missing Persons Institute (MPI) will be officially launched next Tuesday as the State-level authority that will be responsible for addressing the missing persons issue across the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The current Federation Commission for Tracing Missing Persons and the RS Office for Tracing Detained and Missing Persons will be merged into the MPI, which will take over the responsibilities, work, staff and budgets of the current entity bodies. The…

16 August 2005: A multi-disciplinary team of researchers commissioned by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has detected geographic patterns associated with mass graves that will help find hidden graves in the future. ICMP presented the findings of its study this morning at the site of one of the known but as yet unexcavated mass graves in eastern Bosnia that was used in the study.By studying 16 different known mass graves sites in the area, the team of satellite imagery experts, geology experts and forensic archaeologists who visited Bosnia-Herzegovina in May found common characteristics that will help locate other grave sites.

The researchers, from the United States and the United Kingdom, found that mass graves in the area were characteristically in river valleys; in the corner of meadows or agricultural fields; within 100 meters of a road; on a low slope from the road to the site; and colonized…

15 August 2005: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has received a 150,000 Euro contribution from the Government of Germany towards the work of ICMP DNA laboratories in the former Yugoslavia.The ICMP incorporates the use of DNA as a primary tool in post-conflict identifications; this method requires the collection and profiling of DNA from blood samples donated by family members with missing relatives for matching with DNA extracted from bone samples taken from recovered mortal remains.

“DNA informed identifications are the only way to accurately identify large numbers of persons missing from armed conflicts. This contribution will help the work of ICMP laboratories, supplying them with the chemicals crucial for DNA analysis”, said Kathryne Bomberger, ICMP Chief of Staff when the donation was received. “Through the use of DNA, ICMP has provided accurate identifications and thus hopes to have contributed to a sense of closure for family members and…

5 August 2005: The BiH Council of Ministers this morning formally approved the establishment of the Missing Persons Institute (MPI) as a State-level institute to search for missing persons across the country. The MPI will provide BiH with a sustainable national mechanism to address the issue of persons missing as a result of the conflicts in BiH, regardless of their ethnic, religious or national origin.The Missing Persons Institute was originally founded by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in August 2000. Following today’s approval of the Agreement on Assuming the Role of Co-Founders of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of Ministers will become a co-founder of the Institute, along with ICMP.

The official signing ceremony of the Agreement will take place on 30 August in Sarajevo. August 30 is International Day of the Disappeared and it has become customary that on this day victims…

26 July 2005: Following the Srebrenica anniversary, the British Ambassador in BiH, Matthew Rycroft, visited forensic facilities of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Tuzla today. Accompanied by the ICMP Chief of Staff, Kathryne Bomberger, Ambassador Rycroft toured the ICMP Podrinje Identification Project and Identification Coordination Division in Tuzla, and the ICMP Re-association Center in Lukavac. The Ambassador announced that the British Government will donate more than 1.1 million BAM this year as part of their continual commitment to ICMP.
“Today, I witnessed first hand the incredible technological strides that have been made to identify the missing,” said Ambassador Rycroft. “Through the use of DNA, ICMP has provided accurate identifications. These provide irrefutable evidence of a person’s identity, and so give individual family members a sense of closure. This accuracy also provides political neutrality, which is important in a politically charged environment where precise numbers of missing persons…

25 July 2005: The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has received a contribution from the Government of Ireland towards its work in the former Yugoslavia. The 150,000 Euro contribution was the first installment of a two-year commitment made by the Government of Ireland; Ireland has pledged to make a contribution of the same amount in 2006.The Government of Ireland has been a valued supporter of the activities of ICMP, which assists governments in addressing missing persons issues, since 2002.

ICMP is an international organization funded entirely by donor governments and foundations. This financial assistance enables the work of ICMP’s forensic anthropologists and archeologists at mass grave sites, of scientists in the ICMP laboratories extracting DNA profiles from bones and family members’ blood samples for identification of the missing, and of other ICMP programs that assist family members of missing persons and local governments.

ICMP activities are also supported by the…

15 July 2005: A contribution from the Holy See this morning is the latest addition to funding for the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).The Holy See has been a valued supporter of the activities of ICMP, which assists governments in addressing missing persons issues, since 2002.

ICMP is an international organization funded entirely by donor governments and foundations. This financial assistance enables the work of ICMP’s forensic anthropologists and archeologists at mass grave sites, of scientists in the ICMP laboratories extracting DNA profiles from bones and family members’ blood samples for identification of the missing, and of other ICMP programs that assist family members of missing persons and local governments.

“The importance of this support goes well beyond the material value of the donation itself and shows the missing persons’ family members that the international community still attaches significance to the issue of the missing in the region of the…

10 July 2005: Almost 600 victims of the 1995 fall of Srebrenica, recovered from mass graves across eastern Bosnia, will be buried on Monday, July 11, their identities established by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).The memorial ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the fall of Srebrenica will allow family members to bury their dead with dignity, the fate of their missing loved ones finally resolved. Of the 7,789 Srebrenica victims registered on the ICMP database, for whom family members have come forward and given a blood sample for DNA identification, 2,079 have so far been identified. Most have already been buried at the Potocari Cemetery, where they will be joined on Monday by the most recent victims to be identified.

The joint burial will include 581 victims of the 1995 fall of Srebrenica identified by ICMP, as well as some close relatives of those victims who were killed…