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UN helps set up national centre for missing and disappeared persons in Iraq

UN helps set up national centre for missing and disappeared persons in Iraq

Gathered under United Nations auspices, families of missing persons from all over Iraq, Government human rights officials and international groups wrapped up a meeting today in Amman, Jordan, aimed at setting up a national centre for missing and disappeared persons in the war-torn country.

"The purpose of the centre is to support the survivors of all the persons who have involuntarily disappeared. Its core activity will consist in identifying the missing and disappeared persons that will assist survivors to resume a normal life," the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement.

A transitional committee was formed to implement activities leading to the establishment of the centre. The committee will be composed of members from family associations and the Ministry of Human Rights and will operate in close coordination with and under the supervision of an international monitoring group and a scientific advisory board.

The centre, an independent institution, is being set up in accordance with an Iraqi Government decree of last February and is the result of several months of consultations between families of missing persons, Iraqi government institutions, international organizations and the Ministry of Human Rights under the leadership of UNAMI.