ICMP Works with Ukraine’s National Police To Enhance Data Management Relevant to Missing Persons Investigations

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) has delivered a week-long data management training program at its Headquarters in The Hague to representatives of the Main Investigation Department (MID) of the National Police of Ukraine (NPU).

The intensive course focused on how to maintain proper chain of custody when locating and investigating large-scale missing persons cases, and focused on the effective use of ICMP's Integrated Data Management System (iDMS).

Speaking to participants, ICMP's Europe Program Director Matthew Holliday emphasized that, "Ukraine is facing an enormous challenge to scale-up investigations to find tens of thousands of missing persons from the on-going conflict." He added that the course will enable NPU experts to use the iDMS in a way that allows them to work confidently with Ukraine's missing persons database.

Igor Kalantay, Head of the MID's Department of Investigation of Crimes Committed in the Armed Conflict, stressed the importance of developing cooperation with ICMP and learning best practice. He emphasized that this collaboration will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the search for missing persons, especially since 90 percent of information concerning missing persons is channeled through the NPU.

ICMP has established cooperation with the MID to facilitate the collection of DNA samples from families residing abroad. This collaboration was made possible through the signing of a Protocol between ICMP and the MID.

In close collaboration with the NPU, ICMP is conducting an outreach campaign to gather data on persons who have gone missing as a result of the Russian invasion, particularly from families currently residing outside Ukraine.

ICMP's Ukraine Program receives support from the Government of Canada, the European Union Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), the German Federal Foreign Office, and the US State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL).

About ICMP

ICMP is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization with Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Its mandate is to secure the co-operation 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.