I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4344 

To authorize the Secretary of State to assist the International Commission 

on Missing Persons to establish a permanent and international legal 

status with the immunities required for operations globally, to continue 

the financial support of the United States of the ICMP in their work 

to assist governments and other authorities in locating and identifying 

persons missing as a result of conflicts or natural or man-made disasters, 

to support the investigation of genocide and mass atrocities, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2012 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. TURNER of Ohio, Mr. MCINTYRE, 

and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of State to assist the International Commission on Missing Persons to establish 

a permanent and international legal status with the immunities required for operations globally, to continue 

the financial support of the United States of the ICMP 

in their work to assist governments and other authorities 

in locating and identifying persons missing as a result 

of conflicts or natural or man-made disasters, to support 

the investigation of genocide and mass atrocities, and 

for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Commis5 sion on Missing Persons Assistance Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The issue of persons missing from war, vio9 lations of human rights, natural disasters, and other 

10 involuntary reasons represents a global challenge 

11 that affects the United States. Every year an esti12 mated 150,000 persons go missing from natural dis13 asters alone, and globally there are currently over a 

14 million reported cases of persons missing from wars 

15 and violations of human rights. In addition there are 

16 thousands of reported cases a year of persons miss17 ing from trafficking, drug related violence, and other 

18 causes. 

19 (2) There continues to be a need, therefore, for 

20 an organization with a global reach to assist govern21 ments in locating persons who are missing for a 

22 myriad of involuntary reasons. The International 

23 Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is the only 

24 organization in the world that has been developed to 

25 meet this global need. It has 15 years of experience 


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1 in assisting governments locate persons missing from 

2 wars, human rights abuses, and natural disasters, 

3 and there is an increasing demand for ICMP to as4 sist in other missing persons’ scenarios, such as, for 

5 example, trafficking and drug related violence. 

6 (3) Since the ICMP was created at the initia7 tive of the United States in 1996 at a G–7 Summit 

8 to address the issue of persons missing from the 

9 conflicts of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, the 

10 ICMP has developed a unique, DNA led process that 

11 has led to the identification of over 18,000 individ12 uals. 

13 (4) At the ICMP’s founding, the Department of 

14 State facilitated obtaining a headquarters’ agree15 ment with Bosnia and Herzegovina that provided 

16 ICMP with privileges and immunities so that it 

17 could carry out its work, which was to secure the co18 operation of governments in locating and identifying 

19 missing persons from the conflicts. In its head20 quarters’ agreement, ICMP is recognized as an orga21 nization equivalent to an inter-governmental organi22 zation. 

23 (5) ICMP’s model requires governments to take 

24 responsibility for clarifying the fate of missing per25 sons via governmental and rule of law mechanisms. 


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1 In doing so, governments build public trust in rule 

2 of law institutions, seek to account for all regardless 

3 of their status or role in conflicts, and fulfill their 

4 obligations to surviving families of the missing. 

5 (6) ICMP works closely with associations of 

6 families of missing persons, developing their capacity 

7 to take an active role in the missing persons’ proc8 ess, including holding governments to account and 

9 encouraging cooperation across ethnic or sectarian 

10 divisions. 

11 (7) ICMP’s work in post-conflict societies sup12 ports efforts to prevent future conflict and directly 

13 contributes to truth and reconciliation. ICMP also 

14 provides evidence including testimony in courts pros15 ecuting war crimes. 

16 (8) ICMP also assists countries facing large 

17 scale loss of life following natural or manmade disas18 ters. With the highest throughput identification lab19 oratory system in the world and unparalleled experi20 ence in the management of mortal remains, ICMP 

21 has become INTERPOL’s primary partner in Dis22 aster Victim Identification (DVI). 

23 (9) ICMP’s operational success has exceeded all 

24 expectations and its law-based approach that in25 cludes the judiciary and affiliated domestic legal 


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1 services has been extended to Colombia and Iraq. 

2 ICMP has also provided technical assistance to Chile 

3 and South Africa on conflict and human rights’ 

4 cases and the United States, Thailand, and the Phil5 ippines following natural disasters, such as Hurri6 cane Katrina. 

7 (10) In the intervening years there has also 

8 been increased demand for ICMP’s work to address 

9 other cases of missing persons, including persons 

10 missing from trafficking, drug related violence and 

11 to other missing persons’ scenarios. 

12 (11) Currently ICMP, through an agreement 

13 facilitated by the Department of State in 1997, has 

14 such a status in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus, for 

15 example, allowing it to maintain and protect a data16 base that contains 150,000 genetic profiles. In two 

17 years’ time, ICMP will experience a situation of di18 minishing resources on its assistance in the Balkans, 

19 which could have continued political consequences on 

20 its work if it maintains its headquarters and capac21 ities in that region. However, moving ICMP’s head22 quarters and technical capacities from Bosnia and 

23 Herzegovina would have immediate consequences on 

24 ICMP’s ability to maintain some of its current core 

25 technical activities. 


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1 (12) ICMP is not incorporated under the do2 mestic law of any country, and is by implication not 

3 a nongovernmental organization. In order to carry 

4 out its work, ICMP has been granted the status of 

5 a quasi-international organization with international 

6 legal capacities in Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, and 

7 Serbia. However, that status is not universally rec8 ognized, which has led to an unclear legal situation 

9 outside these countries. 

10 (13) Certain immunities are required for oper11 ations considering that ICMP operates on sovereign 

12 territory in crime scenes (such as mass graves) and 

13 holds considerable quantities of confidential genetic 

14 information relating to victims of human rights’ 

15 abuses and their surviving relatives. 

16 (14) A series of meetings convened by the 

17 ICMP during 2002 and 2004, with government rep18 resentatives from the United States, Denmark, the 

19 Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, reviewed the 

20 ICMP’s work and its need for a permanent and 

21 internationally recognized legal status. The rep22 resentatives produced a draft framework agreement, 

23 which remains unratified, but the government rep24 resentatives did agree to expand ICMP’s work, thus 

25 allowing it to work globally in assisting governments, 


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1 and the representatives also stipulated that ICMP 

2 should extend its activities to include assistance to 

3 governments in locating persons missing from nat4 ural disasters, as well as from wars and violations of 

5 human rights. 

6 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) the United States should continue to sup9 port the work of the International Commission on 

10 Missing Persons (ICMP) to— 

11 (A) clarify the fate of persons missing as 

12 a result of conflict and natural and man-made 

13 disasters; and 

14 (B) collect and maintain sensitive genetic 

15 information for victim identification; 

16 (2) the United States should continue to sup17 port the expansion of the ICMP’s mandate to in18 clude assistance to governments in locating all per19 sons missing for involuntary reasons; 

20 (3) the President should enunciate a clear pol21 icy of assisting the ICMP in establishing a perma22 nent and internationally recognized legal status to 

23 carry out its mandate globally; and 

24 (4) the Secretary of State shall make every ef25 fort to advance this proposal at the United Nations. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

2 Not later than one year after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 

4 Congress a report on the activities carried out in accord5 ance with section 3. 

Æ 


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