ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96112204.WWE
DATE:11/22/96
TITLE:22-11-96  TEXT: DOD REPORT ON U.S.-RUSSIA COMMISSION OF POW/MIA AFFAIRS

TEXT:
(Summarizes work done by U.S. side from 1992-1996) (690)

Washington -- The Defense Department released a report on the
U.S.-Russia Joint Commission of POW/MIA Affairs, which was established
by the presidents of the United States and Russia in 1992.

The report summarizes the work done by the U.S. side of the Commission
between 1992 and 1996.

The Commission focused its work on three primary objectives: to
determine if any Americans are being held against their will in the
former Soviet Union; to determine the fate of unaccounted-for
Americans who may have been on the territory of the former Soviet
Union; and to clarify facts and provide information about missing
Soviet military personnel, particularly from the war in Afghanistan.

Following is the text of the Defense Department November 22
announcement.

(Begin text)

The Department of Defense announced today the release of the report of
the U.S. side of the United States-Russia Joint Commission of POW/MIA
Affairs. Established by the respective presidents of each country in
1992, the Commission is chaired on the U.S. side by Ambassador Malcolm
Toon.

The U.S. members of the Commission have compiled the findings
summarizing their work between 1992 and 1996. The report is the
written record of the work which has been done to date. The Commission
continues its work researching and analyzing information related to
U.S. missing servicemen. The 13th Plenum of the Commission was held
Sept. 24-25 in Moscow.

The nine commissioners who comprise the U.S. side of the Commission
include two members of the U.S. Senate: Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and
Sen. Robert Smith, R-N.H.; two members of the U.S. House of
Representatives: Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, and Rep. Pete Peterson,
D-Fla; two senior executives from the Department of Defense: A. Denis
Clift, the president of the Joint Military Intelligence College, and
James Wold, the deputy assistant secretary of defense of POW/MIA
affairs; two senior executives from the Department of State: Kent
Wiedemann, the deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs, and John Herbst, the principal deputy coordinator, Russia and
the Caucasus; and a senior executive from the U.S. National Archives:
R. Michael McReynolds. The executive secretary of the U.S. side of the
Commission is Norman Kass of the Department of Defense Office of
POW/MIA Affairs.

The Commission has focused its work on three primary objectives. The
first has been to determine if any Americans are still being held
against their will in the former Soviet Union. Russian President
Yeltsin and senior Russian officials have stated that there are no
American citizens held against their will on the territory of Russia.
Archival research and interviews conducted by the Commission to date
have produced no information which disputes these statements.

The second objective has been to determine the fate of unaccounted-for
Americans who may have been on the territory of the former Soviet
Union or about whom the Russian government may have information. One
of its most significant accomplishments, however, was the repatriation
of the remains of U.S. Air Force Capt. John Dunham, lost in the
shootdown of his B-29 in the Soviet Far East in 1952.

The Commission's third objective has been to clarify facts and provide
information about missing Soviet military personnel, particularly from
the war in Afghanistan.

During its investigations, the commission has received approximately
12,000 pages of Russian documents, many of which were once highly
classified. The documents were screened by Department of Defense
analysts, and more than 4,000 pages were translated into English.
Copies of the original documents, screening reports and translations
have been forwarded to the Library of Congress and the National
Archives. Documents relating to a specific serviceman are provided to
family members.

Ambassador Toon presented the report on the Commission's work to
President Clinton on August 6, 1996. The report, as released today to
the public, has been edited to comply with the provisions of Public
Law 102-190.

(End text)
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