Office on Missing Persons and Forensics (OMPF) Mandate

UNMIK’s forensic specialisms are combined with the missing persons’ operation under one co-ordinated central body.

The fate of several thousand missing persons from all communities remains unexplained after the conflict in Kosovo. UNMIK has assumed the responsibility of determining, to whatever extent possible, the fate of those persons. This collaborative effort is a key part of the reconciliation process and in building confidence between communities.

OMPF’s mandate requires that the whereabouts of missing persons, regardless of location or ethnicity, are determined to whatever extent possible and that remains are identified and returned for re-burial to the families of missing persons. Families have the right to know the fate and whereabouts of relatives missing as a result of conflict.

As forensic medical experts provide their services to courts, not to patients, forensic services were transferred from the Ministry of Health and consolidated under the Department of Justice. OMPF has the dual responsibility of providing forensic examinations that meet international standards, while developing both institutional and staffing capacities at a local level.