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Serbian, Croatian committees for missing persons to hold two-day meeting
Belgrade,
14 March 2007
Representatives of the Serbian and Croatian committees for missing persons during a two-day meeting in Belgrade agreed to continue cooperation in finding and registering missing persons as well as to provide exhumations in new locations in both countries.
Ivan Grujic and Veljko Odalovic
Author:
Fonet
President of the Serbian committee for missing persons Veljko Odalovic said that the meeting focused on problems of missing persons in armed conflicts on the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
He stated that exhumations in Serbia will take place in cemeteries in Smederevo, Pancevo and Kovin as well as in Apatin if necessary.
The Croatian side demanded exhumations in Sremska Kamenica and Sremski Karlovci, he said adding that the decision on this will be made upon visits to local cemeteries if there are unidentified persons buried there.
President of the Croatian office for captivated and missing persons Ivan Grujic said that exhumations in Croatia will take place in the region of Banija and Petrinja.
He explained that for safety reasons he cannot specify locations for the time being.
Grujic outlined that it was jointly stated that a major step forward has been taken through these two-day talks regarding the solution to the problem of missing persons, since besides quality exchange of information, agreement has been reached on updating the lists of missing and kidnapped persons, in which the relevant criteria used is the same which is used by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In future teams which search for missing persons will be able to conduct joint monitoring on new locations, and it is envisaged that when new graves are discovered members of both teams will visit and examine these sites together and agree upon further procedure, explained Grujic.
Odalovic and Grujic said that all this, as well as the handing over of remains of bodies exhumed in Zitnik and in the Novo Bezanijsko graveyards, speaks of the mutual trust which has been established and the determination to thoroughly clear the matter of missing persons up as soon as possible.
Grujic recalled that a total of 1800 persons were registered as missing in Croatia during the war, and currently the number is 1244, adding that these are citizens of Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, of varying ethnic origin.
Thus far 84% of victims have been identified, which is equal to the world average, Grujic stressed and explained that in some cases this process is slow because it is difficult to obtain blood samples of family members which are necessary for DNA analysis.
He stated that exhumations in Serbia will take place in cemeteries in Smederevo, Pancevo and Kovin as well as in Apatin if necessary.
The Croatian side demanded exhumations in Sremska Kamenica and Sremski Karlovci, he said adding that the decision on this will be made upon visits to local cemeteries if there are unidentified persons buried there.
President of the Croatian office for captivated and missing persons Ivan Grujic said that exhumations in Croatia will take place in the region of Banija and Petrinja.
He explained that for safety reasons he cannot specify locations for the time being.
Grujic outlined that it was jointly stated that a major step forward has been taken through these two-day talks regarding the solution to the problem of missing persons, since besides quality exchange of information, agreement has been reached on updating the lists of missing and kidnapped persons, in which the relevant criteria used is the same which is used by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In future teams which search for missing persons will be able to conduct joint monitoring on new locations, and it is envisaged that when new graves are discovered members of both teams will visit and examine these sites together and agree upon further procedure, explained Grujic.
Odalovic and Grujic said that all this, as well as the handing over of remains of bodies exhumed in Zitnik and in the Novo Bezanijsko graveyards, speaks of the mutual trust which has been established and the determination to thoroughly clear the matter of missing persons up as soon as possible.
Grujic recalled that a total of 1800 persons were registered as missing in Croatia during the war, and currently the number is 1244, adding that these are citizens of Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, of varying ethnic origin.
Thus far 84% of victims have been identified, which is equal to the world average, Grujic stressed and explained that in some cases this process is slow because it is difficult to obtain blood samples of family members which are necessary for DNA analysis.
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