The ICMP appeals to all countries to accept the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and take over responsibility for finding and identifying the disappeared, reads the statement signed by ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger.
Countries in the western Balkans, Latin America and southeast Asia, which are particularly affected by the problem of the search for missing people, have a special responsibility to tackle this problem, the statement reads, adding that additional efforts are being taken to solve the problem institutionally.
The ICMP recalls that its fundamental role is to help governments in the search for people who have disappeared and that it has helped accelerate the identification of victims by DNA analysis.
Currently, the ICMP data base contains genetic samples of 150,000 people from 20 different countries, and DNA analysis has helped identify 18,000 victims.
At the end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, more than 30,000 people were unaccounted for. Currently, 10,000 people are still registered as missing from the 1992-1995 war.