In a significant step towards strengthening the process of locating and identifying missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Delegation of European Union to BIH and Embassy of Sweden to BIH have donated essential equipment to the Missing Persons Institute of BiH as part of its continued support to the Institute and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). This donation reflects the EU commitment to supporting the Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ICMP in its efforts to locate and investigate the disappearance of missing persons from the conflicts of the 1990s in line with the rule of law.

Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH Ambassador Johann Sattler visited the BiH Missing Persons Institute today to officially hand over the Integrated Data Management System (iDMS), a cutting-edge software solution developed by the ICMP in close cooperation with the Missing Persons Institute of BiH. The ultimate objective was to customize the iDMS to match the Institute’s specific needs and the challenges encountered in safeguarding the Central Record of missing persons as well as ensuring analyses of large amounts of personal and forensic data.

The European Union has so far provided 16 million euros to support the ICMP and the BiH authorities to strengthen their capacities in the search and identification of mission persons in BiH.  In addition, with the objective of transferring all the processes to the national authorities, the EU has equipped the DNA state level laboratory and will finance specialized training for the laboratory staff.

Furthermore, with EU financial assistance, the ICMP has developed a Case Management database to streamline the processing of unidentified human remains cases in mortuaries across BiH. The Case Management database, a pioneering initiative by ICMP, serves as a central repository for all active NN cases. It is populated with data meticulously gathered during the review of NN cases that was carried out in BiH mortuary facilities from 2013 to 2018. The database not only consolidates this critical information, it facilitates the implementation of recommendations outlined in the NN Review Report, another crucial project funded by the European Union.  It is expected that these efforts will significantly enhance the efficiency of the BiH Missing Persons Institute and the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, leading to the resolution of a higher number of cases and consequently reducing the overall number of missing person cases in BIH.