(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders Tuesday announced that Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain signed, on 15 December, a Framework Agreement that grants a new legal status to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).
This renders it a treaty-based International Organisation, seated in The Hague. It addresses the issue of missing persons, as a result of armed conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organised crime and other causes, he said in a statement here tonight.
ICMP was established in 1996 to ensure the cooperation of governments in the effort to account for the estimated 40,000 people who went missing during the conflicts in former Yugoslavia.
It subsequently expanded its mandate and sphere of activity in recognition of the global nature of the missing persons problem. Yesterday's Agreement reflects a new international consensus on the issue of missing persons, a humanitarian issue that has become a systemic global challenge requiring a coherent response. The Agreement is now open for signature by all states.
Reynders stressed that ICMP fulfills some of Belgium's foreign policy priorities on promoting reconciliation, ending impunity, preventing genocide and strengthening international humanitarian law and human rights law.
He underscored the urgency of finding missing persons, ascertaining the circumstances of their disappearance and their fate. Urgent identification of the remains of missing persons is also key.
In addition, accurate witness testimonies are indispensable and the ICMP can play a role in encouraging witnesses to come forward. It could also facilitate unrestricted access to all possible burial sites and help mobilise resources for timely excavations and identification of remains.
The ICMP's advanced forensic methods and standards can assist with holding accountable those responsible for disappearances, added the statement.
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