Regional Conference on Missing Persons

Regional Conference on Missing Persons was organized in Sarajevo by the Regional Coordination of Association of Families of Missing Persons from area of former Yugoslavia, with financial support of the International Commission for Missing Persons and the Balkan Trust for Democracy.

Chairman of the Governing Board of the Regional Coordination Ljiljana Alvir told FENA the aim of the Conference is to try and find a model to solve the issue of missing persons or at least speed up the process, given that families of the missing persons are extremely unhappy with the slow process.

”Associations of Albanians from Kosovo are not part of the Regional Coordination due to different legal and other problems. However, given we all have a joint problem and joint aim and that issue cannot be solved separately, they are participating in these significant conferences as well”, said Alvir.

Asked how can they speed up the process of search of missing persons, she answered the solution is actually very simple, and it seems so complicated.

”Solution is politics. Namely, on the one hand we want politics to be removed from this issue, political trade and similar things, and on the other we want for politics to be the one which will solve this issue. We will support initiative of ICMP at this Conference as well, which is for the Republic of Croatia, BiH and Serbia to sign a declaration on missing persons at the highest level which would oblige the countries to follow the agreements”, said Alvir.

She reminded there are agreements on missing persons between the countries, but they are not being followed. Some new agreements and contracts need to be drafted.

Assessing the cooperation between countries of the region, Alvir said that institutions which are directly dealing with the issue of missing persons, commissions in Croatia and Serbia and the Missing Persons Institute in BiH, constantly say in their reports there is cooperation, that they do cooperate.

”However, the fact is that those are state institutions which also depend on politics. Given there are constantly some political earthquakes in countries of former Yugoslavia, it is clear that issue is not being solved enough”, said Alvir.

She added that families in BiH complain that there is no money for some basic things, for exhumations for example. We have seen people collecting money for digging, etc. “which is disappointing”.

She emphasized that things can be solved, adding they are aware they cannot solve the issue of all missing persons, that some posthumous remains are permanently destroyed, that some witnesses died.

”However, there is solution for the greater part, in archives, in drawers, which is not being solved due to politics”, said Alvir.

Regional Conference launched the initiative for declaring 2014 the missing persons year. Alvir said that “again depends on political will and interpretation and initiative from policies, states”.

”We launched the initiative, we also adopted a plan at level of Regional Coordination, where associations members, each in their state, lobby for that issue with support of others”, said Alvir.

She added they have written support from the President of the Republic of Croatia Ivo Josipović, they have support in principle of the Chair of the BiH Presidency Bakir Izetbegović and have “no response from President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić“.

”We agreed that we as the Regional Cooperation support the declaration in every state, regardless of what state will support it”, said Alvir.

(Source:Fena)