Signing of the Agreement on the Status and Functions
of the International Commission on Missing
Persons
The Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in The Hague, Mr Elpidoforos
Economou, signed, on behalf of the Government, the Agreement on the Status and
Functions of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), during a
ceremony hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, on 14
December 2015.
The Republic of Cyprus is thus one of the eight original signatories
states of the Agreement, which has also been signed by Chile during the same
ceremony, and previously by the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the United
Kingdom, Sweden and El Salvador.
The Agreement establishes the ICMP as an international organization
with full international legal personality and tasked with assisting countries in
their efforts to address cases of missing persons. It does not create new
international obligations for signatory states. The ICMP was created in 1996 and
was successful in accounting the fate of numerous missing persons in the
countries of the Western Balkans. It has also cooperated with the Committee on
Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) in making DNA-based identifications of Cypriot
missing persons during the period 2012-2014.
In his address, Ambassador Economou stressed, inter alia, that “painful national experiences have helped us
appreciate the importance of enhancing international cooperation and exchanging
best practices for the cause of missing persons globally”. He also assured that
“ICMP can count on Cyprus’ support in the global effort to promote justice and
to alleviate the suffering of the missing persons and their families”.
ICMP Director-General, Mrs Kathryne Bomberger, warmly welcomed the
Republic of Cyprus and added that she “looks forward to working with Cyprus to
explore options to enhance its efforts to account for missing persons and to
secure the rights of families of the missing to truth and justice”.
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16/12/2015
