Red Cross Presses Serbia, Kosovo Over Missing Persons

Unsuccessful search for a mass grave in North Mitrovica in Kosovo in February. Photo: BIRN.

Serbia and Kosovo have made very little progress in ascertaining the fate of 1,658 people who went missing during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, and the search has slowed down considerably, said the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC.

“Authorities on both sides must step up their efforts, as per their obligations, and do everything possible to obtain all the information necessary,” said Christine Beerli, vice-president of the ICRC, at a round-table discussion in Geneva on Wednesday.

Beerli added that the international community must do more to support the humanitarian efforts of the authorities of both countries.

In order to help resolve the cases of missing persons, a working group chaired by the ICRC, with delegations from Serbia and Kosovo, was established in 2004. Through its efforts, over 1,800 cases have been resolved so far.

The working group convened the round-table in Geneva on Wednesday in order to revive the issue and discuss what must be done next with representatives from Serbia and Kosovo.

“One of the key issues is the lack of information on potential grave sites, the obtaining of which should have to be in the focus of the delegations of Belgrade and Pristina,” said Gordana Milenkovic from the ICRC office in Serbia.

Milenkovic told BIRN that both delegations need support from state institutions in order to have the necessary material and human resources.

“Judicial cooperation is also important in order to use the information regarding potential grave sites could be used to find missing persons by the delegations of Belgrade and Pristina,” Milenkovic added.

The families of missing persons also need help and support, and the authorities should assist them, both in solving administrative and legal issues and by including them in the ongoing processes, she said.

Nobody was available to answer BIRN’s questions at the Serbian Committee for Missing Persons.

The phone operator said that only four volunteers were staffing the office, while everybody else was “away on official business”.

Kosovo government’s Commission on Missing Persons was also unavailable for comment.

At the working group meeting in Geneva, Beerli warned that the passage of time does nothing to ease the pain of the families, many of whom are “growing old and frail”.

“They have a right to know what happened to their relatives. Their suffering must not be ignored,” Beerli said.