The Missing Persons Institute of BiH held a meeting with associations of families of missing persons in Tuzla, at which they presented problems, plans and results of works of the Missing Persons Institute.
They stated that, according to records, a total of 7,075 persons from the entire territory of BiH are still considered missing.
Since the beginning of the process of search for missing persons, a total of 25,500 remains were found on the territory of BiH, of which 23,500 remains were identified as victims. Other remains are in ossuary facilities all over BiH and they are waiting to be identified.
“This year, the Institute exhumed a total of 305 complete and 10 incomplete bodies. A total of 167 bodies were identified. Our investigators are working on the field every day and they are checking information related to locations of the mass graves. The main problem is the lack of relevant information on the locations of mass and individual graves. Many witnesses died, and the time lag is not helpful either because sometimes it happens that witnesses go to the field, but vegetation has changed and they cannot find the place anymore,” said Marko Juristic, the Chairman of the Collegium of the Missing Persons Institute of BiH.
According to Jurisic, the remaining are cases of the most severe war crimes.
Fikret Bacic, the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute, whose more than 30 close family members, including his wife and children, were killed in the village Zecovi near Prijedor, did not find his loved ones even 25 years after the crimes.
He stated that we need to work more in order to identify as many victims as possible, regardless of their name and surname.
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba)
