This event was held virtually as a Zoom webinar and streamed via YouTube Live.
Please join us for a discussion with Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), moderated by Tanya Domi (SIPA/Harriman Institute).
The International Commission on Missing Persons endeavors to secure the cooperation of governments and other authorities in locating persons missing as a result of conflicts, human rights abuses, disasters, organized violence and other causes and to assist them in doing so. ICMP also supports the work of other organizations in their efforts, encourages public involvement in its activities and contributes to the development of appropriate expressions of commemoration and tribute to the missing.
Kathryne Bomberger has worked in the field of international relations, human rights, politics and conflict prevention for the last twenty years. Since 1998, she has led the development of ICMP, which is today the world’s leading human rights and rule of law organization dedicated exclusively to helping governments address missing persons issues arising from war, human rights violations, migration, organized crime, natural disasters and other causes. She was appointed ICMP Director-General in 2004. Since its creation in 1996, ICMP has been transformed from an ad hoc mechanism tasked with assisting countries emerging from the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia to a treaty-based international organization with global reach. Bomberger has consistently sought to ensure that the global challenge of missing persons is addressed by governments as an urgent priority, in a manner that is modern, effective and based on the rule of law.
Bomberger has worked in conflict and post-conflict areas as well as in areas affected by disasters and by organized crime (including the Western Balkans, Cyprus, Armenia, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Ukraine, Mexico, Colombia, Haiti, and the Philippines), helping governments, courts, prosecutors, NGOs, scientists, academics and others to build capacity to address the cross-cutting issue of missing persons, including through the development of effective institutions and legislation. She has spoken on the issue of missing persons at countless public forums, including the United Nations and the US Congress, and she has been interviewed by the BBC, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Economist and many other media outlets, as well as participating in TV and film documentaries. Her numerous awards include recognition by the President of France as a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.
See below for downloadable files, including:
Kathryne Bomberger’s presentation slides (PDF)
Info packet from ICMP:
- International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
- ICMP Treaty
- ICMP Factsheet
- Annotated version of the ICMP Paris Principles
- Declaration on the Role of the State in Adresssing the Issue of Persons Missing as a Consequence of Armed Conflict and Human Rights Abuses
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Stocktaking report
- Kosovo Stocktaking report
- Srebrenica Infographic
- Report on the Policy Process with Syrian Civil Society Organizations and Families of the Missing
- Links to relevant Press Releases and Op-eds
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- Universal Declaration on Human Rights
