The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), whose DNA Laboratory was moved from BH to The Hague will start with profiling of the cases from the Western Balkans already in the upcoming month, when the new laboratory system is fully functional, as confirmed by Sasa Kulukcija, the spokesperson of ICMP.
To recall, the new laboratory was moved to The Hague at the end of December last year.
When asked whether something will be changed after the laboratory was moved to The Hague for families that are still searching for their beloved ones, or, whether they will have to wait longer for DNA analysis, Kulakcija noted that the actual search for mass graves represents the largest obstacle in the process of search for missing persons since 2009.
“We found more than 75 % of 30,000 missing persons, and finding new mass and hidden graves is now more difficult. The ICMP program for the Western Balkans closely cooperates with associations of families of victims, in the same way as it did more than two decades ago. It will continue to do it in the future period as well,” said Kulukcija.
Last year, five mass graves were discovered in our country and we are waiting for more than 100 identities.
“The Missing Institute submitted DNA samples from these graves to the ICMP, and ICMP will start with profiling of cases from the Western Balkans already in March, when the new laboratory system is fully functional. Two samples were submitted from Sase mine, five from Miljevina, 25 from Vlasenica, 10 from Ilovaca and maximum 100 from Koricanske stijene,” stated Kulukcija.
Lejla Cengic, spokesperson of the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH, stated that this year’s exhumations will most probably start in late March, if the weather conditions are favourable for excavations.
(Source: faktor.ba)
