International Commission on Missing Persons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

International Commission on Missing Persons

Type	Intergovernmental organization
Founded	1996
Location	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Leaders	James V. Kimsey, Chair Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General
Field	Human Rights, Forensic Sciences, Government Relations, Relief Efforts
Purpose	Assistance to governments in exhumation of mass graves and DNA identification of missing persons; support to family associations of missing persons; assistance to governments in creating strategies and institutions to search for missing persons.
Staff	170, January 2007
Website	www.ic-mp.org

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).

Contents 1 History 2 Mandate 3 Structure 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

ICMP was established at the behest of President of the United States Bill Clinton in 1996 at the G7 summit in Lyon, France, to confront the issue of persons missing as a result of the different conflicts relevant to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995. ICMP was first chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who was succeeded as Chairman by U.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 former conflict zones in the Western Balkans and the Middle East, as well as areas affected by natural disasters, such as tsunami affected regions of South Asia and the U.S. Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. In 2001, at the request of New York City Authorities, ICMP also sent two of its leading forensic scientists to the U.S. following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

ICMP currently has three forensic facilities, two of which focus on human 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 primary facility for remains related to the area of Sanski Most and Prijedor. ICMP has offices in Sarajevo, Tuzla (BiH), Banja Luka (BiH), and Pristina (Kosovo).

By the end of 2006, ICMP’s efforts had resulted in DNA-assisted identifications of almost 11,000 individuals from the former Yugoslavia.

In June 2008, the Philippines was struck by Typhoon Frank that caused over 1,000 persons to lose their lives. In an effort to assist the the Philippines in identifying persons who perished as a consequence of this tragedy, Interpol invited ICMP to work together with them to provide assistance, thus invoking for the first time an agreement[1] that was signed between ICMP and Interpol in November 2007 to jointly respond to disaster situations.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Structure

ICMP is governed by the ICMP Board of Commissioners, which includes James V. Kimsey (Chair since 2001), Willem Kok, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Michael Portillo and Rolf Ekéus. Previous chairs included: Bob Dole (Chairperson 1997–2001) and Cyrus Vance († Chairperson 1996–1997). The Director-General, Ms. Kathryne Bomberger, was appointed by ICMP's Commissioners in April 2004 as the organization's chief executive 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 made Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by the President of France as “the proof of attention and recognition of the French Government for the work of Kathryne Bomberger in her mission and exceptional achievements of ICMP"[2].

Following ICMP's and Interpol's joint efforts on Typhoon Frank victim identification, on February 5, 2009, a Presidential citation^[1] was given to Kathryne Bomberger, ICMP Director General for "her exceptional commitment to and outstanding achievements in locating and identifying persons missing as a result of natural or human-induced disasters"[3][4].

[edit] See also

• United Nations Human Rights Council
• Portal:Human rights
• Open Society Institute
• DNA extraction
• Exhumation

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Video on YouTube
• Video on Google Video
• Interpol official website
• International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
• Commission on Missing Persons of the Republic of Serbia
• Commission of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Missing and Detained Persons
• Federation Commission on Missing Persons
• Office for Tracing Detained and Missing Persons of Republika Srpska

Coordinates: 43°52′00″N 18°24′33″E / 43.86653514316151°N 18.409282565116882°E / 43.86653514316151; 18.409282565116882

[edit] References