CMP Optimises Operational Structure to Expedite Identifications
Release Date: Jun 06, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
(Nicosia, 06 June 2011) – In order to effectively address new challenges and changes brought by time and varying circumstances that make all phases of the CMP’s Project on the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons ever more complex, the Committee is currently optimizing its operational structure and procedures, in order to further expedite the process of identification while preserving scientific quality.
First of all, the CMP Anthropological Laboratory (CAL), located in the United Nations Protected Area next to Nicosia Old Airport, is being extended. This will enable the CMP to increase the number of scientists working there, thus speeding up the laboratory’s rate of analysis of remains, a very time-consuming process aimed at reconstituting the remains and making the final identifications.
Secondly, the CMP’s working methods have been reviewed by various international forensic experts over the past months and CMP will now proceed with their recommendations. A scientific advisory group composed of international experts from various scientific disciplines will be created to help both the CMP Anthropological Laboratory (CAL) and the Laboratory of Forensic Genetics (LabFoG) of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) to implement the agreed upon procedures, to adhere to established deadlines and to meet successfully any unexpected challenges of any complexity.
The extension of the CMP Anthropological Laboratory and the accompanying increase in the number of scientists should be completed by the end of July. Soon after, the CMP will convene the scientific advisory group composed of experts in anthropology, genetics, statistics and other relevant sciences to assist in the identification process, in order to provide answers more quickly to the grieving families about the fate of their missing loved ones.
The CMP will also appoint an Identification Coordinator, whose major task will be to manage the entire identification process between both the anthropological and the genetic laboratories, always in an effort to strive to expedite the identification process while preserving it from mistakes.
Last but not least, the CMP will also try to secure funding for the purchase of much needed software for the genetic laboratory of the CING which will speed up the processing and the statistical analysis of very complex scientific data.