prijava
SARAJEVO, September 22 (FENA) - The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is in the process of concluding a Cooperation Agreement with the authorities of Ukraine, which will enable ICMP to use the entire spectrum of its assistance to Ukraine in finding missing persons, said the Director-General of ICMP Kathryn Bomberger in an interview with FENA.
Bomberger emphasized that, at the request of the Ukrainian authorities, ICMP experts have assisted Ukraine in several cases of missing persons. In July, ICMP provided Ukrainian authorities with the first DNA match report that allowed them to accurately identify a Ukrainian citizen who was killed in the Kyiv region earlier this year.
"In cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities, the identification process of several more remains is currently underway," she added.
ICMP's guiding principle is to assist countries in establishing an effective and sustainable process for tracing missing persons, which is indispensable in advancing the rule of law and supporting the human rights of survivors, Bomberger notes.
An integrated system, says Bomberger, which combines the establishment of special domestic institutions and the adoption of legislative regulations to solve the issue of missing persons, an approach based on the rule of law, the engagement of the families of the missing persons and modern scientific methods, enables the successful search for a large number of persons who went missing in conflicts.
"ICMP's experience, especially in the Western Balkans, has shown that a large number of missing persons can be found and identified through a systematic and continuous process based on the law. The same principles apply to Ukraine.
Although we are already working in this manner, it will be possible to use our laboratory, experts and all tools to the full extent as soon as the Cooperation Agreement with Ukraine is signed," Bomberger emphasized.
The Ukrainian authorities have officially requested ICMP's help in searching for missing persons and after the signing of the Cooperation Agreement, ICMP will establish its office in Ukraine, said the Director-General.
Bomberger reminded that more than 40,000 people disappeared in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the period from 1991 to 1999, and so far more than 70 percent of the missing have been found thanks to the joint work of the local authorities and ICMP with the large participation of the families of the missing.
"However, there are still more than 7,000 missing persons from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 11,000 in total from the whole region, so ICMP will continue with its mandate to ensure the cooperation of governments, to maintain their efforts to find and identify persons who are still registered as missing," said Bomberger.
When asked how much the identification process has helped in the reconciliation process in this region, Bomberger pointed out that the only way to achieve reconciliation is to establish a true and factual narrative about what had happened during the conflict, and a key part of that process is to achieve justice for all victims of war.
ICMP's work, especially the scientific evidence procedure that establishes the identity of victims in the conflicts of the 1990s, has contributed to an indisputable narrative about war crimes, including the Srebrenica genocide, Bomberger underlined.
"That evidence contributed to convictions in numerous court cases. ICMP has secured expert evidence and other specialized forensic capacities, forensic reports and testimonies, in more than 30 cases around the world," ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger concluded in an interview with FENA.
(FENA) S. R.
