ICMP (International Commission on Missing Persons)
Definition
The international organisation that has led DNA-based identification of missing persons from the former Yugoslavia since 1996, working from a laboratory in Sarajevo. Has issued more than 7,000 identifications of Srebrenica victims. Now headquartered in The Hague.
- Headquarters
- The Hague
- Operating laboratory
- Sarajevo
- Primary identification method
- DNA-based matching
- Srebrenica identifications
- Over 7,000 victims
Common questions
What does ICMP do in forensic investigation?+
ICMP is an international organization that specializes in DNA-based identification of missing persons. Since 1996, it has identified thousands of victims from mass graves, particularly from conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The organization operates laboratories and maintains the world's largest forensic kinship database to match remains with families.
Where is ICMP located and what is its most significant work?+
ICMP is headquartered in The Hague with a major laboratory in Sarajevo. Its most notable achievement is the identification of over 7,000 Srebrenica victims through DNA analysis, making it central to documenting losses from that conflict.
Why does ICMP maintain a kinship database?+
The kinship database helps match recovered human remains to family members by comparing DNA profiles. This is essential in mass casualty situations where remains are commingled or degraded, allowing investigators to provide families with answers and support accountability for mass crimes.
Related terms
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- Commingled Remains
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- DVI (Disaster Victim Identification)
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- EAAF (Equipo Argentino De Antropologia Forense)
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- ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia)
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- Epiphyseal Fusion
- The obliteration of the cartilaginous growth plate and bony union of the epiphysis with the diaphysis. Fusion sequence and timing form the...
- ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)
- The United Nations ad hoc tribunal established in November 1994 to prosecute the organisers of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Operated from Arusha,...
- ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia)
- The United Nations ad hoc tribunal established in 1993 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed in the former...
- Minimum Number of Elements (MNE)
- The minimum number of complete skeletal elements represented by all fragments of a given element type. Used to assess assemblage completeness and...
- Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)
- The smallest number of distinct individuals required to account for all skeletal elements present in an assemblage. Determined by identifying the element...
- Most Likely Number of Individuals (MLNI)
- A maximum-likelihood estimate of the true number of individuals in a commingled assemblage, proposed by Adams and Konigsberg (2004). Uses pair-matching data...
Explained in these topics
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