Adopting Presidential Statement of Concern over Reported Surge in Missing Persons during Armed Conflict, Security Council Urges Advanced Steps to Reverse Trend

Expressing concern about the reports of a dramatic increase in missing persons in armed conflict, the Security Council today unanimously adopted a presidential statement aimed at reversing the trend by advancing measures set out in a resolution adopted five years ago.

Through the text (to be issued as document S/PRST/2024/4), the 15-member organ noted that this month marks five years since the adoption of resolution 2474 (2019) on persons missing as a result of armed conflict and called for its effective implementation.

The Council also noted that this year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the twenty-fifth anniversary of its progressive consideration of “the protection of civilians in armed conflict” as a thematic issue.  It then acknowledged “the enduring need” for the Council and Member States to redouble efforts to strengthen the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

Furthermore, the Council called on parties to armed conflict to “take all appropriate measures to actively search for persons reported missing, to enable the return of their remains, to account for persons reported missing without adverse distinction and to put in place appropriate channels enabling response and communication with families on the search process”.  In doing so, the parties were called upon “to pay the utmost attention to cases of children reported missing as a result of armed conflict and take appropriate measures to search for and identify those children”.

The Council then urged the parties to “collect, protect and manage all relevant data and documents on missing persons as a result of armed conflict while respecting privacy, consistent with applicable national and international law”.

Further, it called on States to take appropriate measures to “ensure thorough, prompt, impartial and effective investigations and the prosecution of offenses linked to missing persons” under national and international law, with a view to full accountability.

Also by the text, the Council stressed the critical role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its Central Tracing Agency in addressing the issue of missing persons, the need to include humanitarian elements in peace negotiations and agreements, and the role of truth, justice and accountability mechanisms in reconciliation and conflict resolution processes.