24 May 2002

Identifying the Dead and Enhancing Human Rights in Former Yugoslavia, May 24, 2002

(State Department Backgrounder)

By T.J. Grubisha and Sara Farinelli Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Department of State

As many as 40,000 people are missing as a result of conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, causing anguish and uncertainty among families with missing relatives. The International Commission on Missing Persons in the Former Yugoslavia (ICMP), an organization supported by the United States, has led the way in identifying remains, thus bringing closure to families in a region bitterly divided by war.

The Commission is perhaps the first such structure of its kind in a post-conflict country. Conceived at the G-7 Summit in Lyon, France, in 1996, ICMP has become a notably successful model under the vigorous leadership of James Kimsey, who was appointed Chairman in May 2001 by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

ICMP approaches its task from three directions: government relations, forensic sciences and civil society initiatives. While the forensic sciences, i.e., DNA identification of remains, may have the highest profile internationally, it is the Commission's work with governments and civil society that will have the profoundest effect on the region.

ICMP hopes to enhance the capacity for fundamental changes in governance by working with regional governments to develop the political will to seek information on the missing and to institutionalize adherence to human rights standards. At the same time, ICMP is working with family associations to help build their ability to influence the decisionmakers and mobilize the interest of the general populace in reconstructing society. Political will and popular interest are crucial not only to attaining meaningful reconciliation, but also to the search for and identification of the remains of the missing.

The aim at the most basic, human level is to identify as many of the missing as possible. To achieve this, ICMP has built new forensics and DNA labs and updated existing ones in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Yugoslavia. To encourage participation of all the affected parties without regard to ethnicity, race or religion, the identification process has been "blinded." That is, neither the remains nor the DNA samples collected from living relatives are identifiable by the technicians conducting the tests.

The ICMP-sponsored labs employ cutting-edge technology -- probably the best of its kind in the world. Indeed, components of the software created by ICMP computer scientists were incorporated into the computer program designed for use in New York to identify remains from the attacks on the World Trade Center towers. The ICMP remains the only institution in the world specifically designed to process and identify thousands of remains.

The Commission receives funding primarily from the United States and the Netherlands, but also received support from Great Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Iceland and the Holy See (the Vatican) in 2001 as well as generous in-kind donations of equipment from several biotechnology corporations. With the arrival of $4.5 million in support from the U.S. government this year, DNA identification has accelerated to a rapid pace. ICMP estimates that the labs will be able to identify the remains of 200-400 persons per month when operating at full capacity, exceeding any other effort worldwide.

The success of this international program holds much promise for the reconciliation and the rebuilding of civil society in other post-conflict countries and regions.