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A:
Fate of 15,655 persons from region still unknown
Belgrade,
28 August 2009
President of the government’s Committee on Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic today said that around 16,000 persons in the region are still regarded as missing since the wars in former Yugoslavia ended, stressing the seriousness of this issue.
Author:
Фонет
At a press conference on the occasion of August 30, the International Day of the Missing, Odalovic said that there have been no exhumations in Croatia for two years, or in Kosare in Kosovo-Metohija where it is known for certain that the bodies of unidentified Serbian and other soldiers are buried, adding that the situation is the same in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In certain areas there is not enough willingness to continue exhumations. Serbia accepted every obligation it was presented with and we are entitled to ask others in the region to do the same, Odalovic noted.
He said this year the Committee received 12 unidentified bodies from Kosovo-Metohija.
However, it is especially worrying that we had only three individual exhumations although we provided a lot of data on the locations where the bodies of the murdered are most likely to be buried, Odalovic stressed.
We received 72 bodies from Croatia, he said, adding that there are 500 known graves containing unidentified persons in Croatia that should be exhumed.
According to the Red Cross data, out of 34,372 persons who went missing throughout the region, the fate of 15,655 of them is still unresolved.
Head of the Red Cross delegation to Belgrade Paul-Henri Arni voiced his deep concern over the slow pace of the process of finding and identifying the missing.
Arni said that last year answers to and the bodily remains of only 1,149 persons were found, mostly in Bosnia-Herzegovina, adding that the number of cases being solved after the conflicts in Croatia and Kosovo-Metohija is rapidly decreasing.
He said that governments of the region must do much more than they have done so far to help the families of the missing by providing them with answers about their loved ones.
Miroslav Stojkovic from the Association of the Missing and Kidnapped during the War in Kosovo-Metohija voiced his displeasure at the fact that 380 bodies in the Pristina morgue have remained unidentified for years.
President of the Coordination Council of Associations of Families of Missing Persons from Former Yugoslavia Cedomir Maric appealed to the city authorities in Belgrade to provide a location for a monument to be raised to the missing persons, adding that unlike past years, when flowers were laid at an improvised plaque in the city centre, this year the families of the missing will lay their wreaths in front of the Belgrade City Assembly.
In certain areas there is not enough willingness to continue exhumations. Serbia accepted every obligation it was presented with and we are entitled to ask others in the region to do the same, Odalovic noted.
He said this year the Committee received 12 unidentified bodies from Kosovo-Metohija.
However, it is especially worrying that we had only three individual exhumations although we provided a lot of data on the locations where the bodies of the murdered are most likely to be buried, Odalovic stressed.
We received 72 bodies from Croatia, he said, adding that there are 500 known graves containing unidentified persons in Croatia that should be exhumed.
According to the Red Cross data, out of 34,372 persons who went missing throughout the region, the fate of 15,655 of them is still unresolved.
Head of the Red Cross delegation to Belgrade Paul-Henri Arni voiced his deep concern over the slow pace of the process of finding and identifying the missing.
Arni said that last year answers to and the bodily remains of only 1,149 persons were found, mostly in Bosnia-Herzegovina, adding that the number of cases being solved after the conflicts in Croatia and Kosovo-Metohija is rapidly decreasing.
He said that governments of the region must do much more than they have done so far to help the families of the missing by providing them with answers about their loved ones.
Miroslav Stojkovic from the Association of the Missing and Kidnapped during the War in Kosovo-Metohija voiced his displeasure at the fact that 380 bodies in the Pristina morgue have remained unidentified for years.
President of the Coordination Council of Associations of Families of Missing Persons from Former Yugoslavia Cedomir Maric appealed to the city authorities in Belgrade to provide a location for a monument to be raised to the missing persons, adding that unlike past years, when flowers were laid at an improvised plaque in the city centre, this year the families of the missing will lay their wreaths in front of the Belgrade City Assembly.
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