- International Commission on Missing Persons
The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) addresses the issue of persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, violations of human rights and natural disasters. It is headquartered in
Sarajevo ,Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).History
ICMP was established at the behest of
President of the United States Bill Clinton in1996 at theG7 summit inLyon ,France , to confront the issue of persons missing as a result of the different conflicts relevant toBosnia and Herzegovina , the Republic ofCroatia , and the thenFederal Republic of Yugoslavia from1991 to1995 . ICMP was first chaired by formerU.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance , who was succeeded as Chairman byU.S. Senator Bob Dole . ICMP’s current Chairman is James V. Kimsey (U.S.).Although based in
Sarajevo ,Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), ICMP is currently engaged in a wide-ranging area of operations that include the formerconflict zones in theWestern Balkans and theMiddle East , as well as areas affected by natural disasters, such astsunami affected regions ofSouth Asia and the U.S.Louisiana followingHurricane Katrina . In2001 , at the request ofNew York City Authorities, ICMP also sent two of its leadingforensic scientists to the U.S. following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks on theWorld Trade Center .ICMP currently has three
forensic facilities, two of which focus onhuman remains related to the fall of Srebrenica. These are the Podrinje Identification Project (PIP), and the Lukavac Reassociation Centre (LKRC). The Krajina Identification Project (KIP) is the primaryfacility for remains related to the area ofSanski Most andPrijedor . ICMP has offices in Sarajevo,Tuzla (BiH),Banja Luka (BiH), andPristina (Kosovo).By the end of
2006 , ICMP’s efforts had resulted inDNA -assisted identifications of almost 11,000 individuals from theformer Yugoslavia .Mandate
ICMP works to secure the co-operation of governments and other authorities in locating and identifying persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, other hostilities or violations of human rights, and natural disasters. ICMP also supports the work of other organizations in their efforts, encourages public involvement in its activities and contributes to the development of appropriate expressions of commemoration and tribute to the missing. In addition, ICMP assists governments in meeting their human rights obligations toward victims and their surviving family members, as well as building institutional capacity that promotes long-term public confidence.
tructure
ICMP is governed by the ICMP
Board of Commissioners , which includes James V. Kimsey (Chair since2001 ), Willem Kok, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan,Michael Portillo andRolf Ekéus . Previous chairs included:Bob Dole (Chairperson1997 –2001 ) andCyrus Vance († Chairperson1996 –1997 ). TheDirector-General , Ms.Kathryne Bomberger , was appointed by ICMP's Commissioners in April2004 as the organization's chiefexecutive officer and is responsible for the direction and oversight of all activities and programs in all areas of operation. On June 14, 2007, Bomberger was madeChevalier of theLegion d'Honneur by thePresident of France as “the proof of attention and recognition of theFrench Government for the work of Kathryne Bomberger in her mission and exceptional achievements of ICMP" [http://www.ic-mp.org/home.php?act=news&n_id=220&] .ee also
*
United Nations Human Rights Council
*
*Open Society Institute
*DNA extraction
*Exhumation External links
* [http://www.ic-mp.org Official Site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Ykrhu8K78 Video on YouTube]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2318549118251986836&q=International+Commission+on+Missing+Persons Video on Google Video]
* [http://www.un.org/icty International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]
* [http://www.humanrights.gov.yu/srpski/sektori/humanitarna/index.htm Commission on Missing Persons of the Republic of Serbia]
* [http://www.mobms.hr/page.aspx?PageID=14 Commission of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Missing and Detained Persons]
* [http://www.fbihvlada.gov.ba/bosanski/posebna_tijela/nestali.htm Federation Commission on Missing Persons]
* [http://www.nestalirs.com/en/index.html Office for Tracing Detained and Missing Persons of Republika Srpska]
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