Prikazani su postovi s oznakom Transitional Justice. Prikaži sve postove
Prikazani su postovi s oznakom Transitional Justice. Prikaži sve postove

nedjelja, 27. siječnja 2019.

Missing Persons and Models of Trans-border Cooperation, Ana Kron, former Government Relations Coordinator in Serbia, International Commission on Missing Persons

Missing Persons and Models of Trans-border Cooperation


Ana Kron, former Government Relations Coordinator in Serbia, International Commission on Missing Persons


The purpose of this paper is to create an understandable picture of the activities which have been carried out in the countries of former Yugoslavia affected by armed conflicts, regarding the issue of persons who went missing as a consequence of those conflicts, as well as of the efforts undertaken among official state bodies and relevant international organizations in resolving this complex matter.

Addressing injustices of the past, by a variety of means, is crucial for the future of a society. A post-conflict society cannot function without this major humanitarian problem resolved. This paper provides an overview of some of the major acoplishments, as well as some of recent developments regarding the missing persons issue, that could lead toward social and psychological healing and, consequently, to rebuilding lasting peace in the region.

The paper is primarily intended for policymakers, national or international, directly or indirectly involved in the missing persons issue, and secondarily for the wider audience, in order to raise the level of public awareness of the issue itself. 

I Introduction

There are few issues that are more politically complex, technically challenging and emotionally difficult than the issue of persons missing as a result of armed conflic or other crimes against humanity.
1992 UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance describes disappearance as:
... in the sense that persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, thereby placing such persons outside the protection of the law. [1]        
International humanitarian law contains several provisions stipulating that families have the right to know what has happened to their missing relatives and that the warring parties must use every means at their disposal to provide those families with information.[2]

The concept of the right to the truth owed to the victims of human rights violations and their families has taken on increasing importance in recent decades; one only has to look at the work undertaken in Argentina between 1984 and the present day, or June 2006 adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council of the United Nations Draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. This concept finds its roots in international humanitarian law in regard to the right of families to know the fate of their relatives, together with the obligation of parties to armed conflict to search for missing persons. In terms of the human rights violations for which the question of the right to truth arises, international human rights bodies have recognized the right to truth in cases of gross violations of human rights, in particular enforced disappearances. However, the right to truth of victims of human rights violations and their relatives has not generally been explicitly recognized in national legislation. Even though, for many countries the right to truth is implicitly recognized in national legislation. National human rights institutions can play an important role in ensuring the right to truth for victims, their relatives and the society. Truth finding investigations and public reports can contribute to exposing the truth, or sometimes confirming the truth.
Such efforts encourage and assist States in embedding into domestic legal and administrative infrastructures the body of norms and standards articulated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other human rights instruments. For example, the European Court has determined that the suffering of surviving family members who seek information about missing loved ones can be a continuing violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights; i.e. that the suffering of these family members has a dimension and character distinct from the emotional distress caused to relatives of other victims of serious human rights violations. By translating provisions of these human rights instruments that address missing persons into operating legal mechanisms at the state level, States should be encouraged in meeting their obligations toward those who have gone missing as a result of gross violations of human rights and to their surviving family members.
As well as the often huge emotional burden of not knowing the fate of loved ones, families of missing persons face a whole host of other problems, including many economic and financial difficulties.
According to the data of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP)[3], of the 40,000 persons originally missing in the region from the conflicts during the 1990s, it is estimated that as of the year 2006, approximately 20,000 were still unaccounted for, of which 15,000 are unaccounted for in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2,500 are missing in Croatia and 2,500 are missing from the conflict in Kosovo. This, despite the fact that the Right to Know the fate of missing relatives is a fundamental right of the families concerned and should be respected and enacted. The fact that violations of international humanitarian law do occur does not mean that this body of law is inadequate, but because those rules are not observed.


II Regional Overview

1) Republic of Serbia
In Serbia, 1440 persons are still unaccounted for, following the armed conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo.
In the nineties, progress on the issue of missing persons from the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was limited. However, after the September 2000 elections and democratic changes had begun, significant progress was made in clarifying the fate of persons missing not only from the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also from the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. Before 2001, the Commission of the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for Humanitarian Issues and Missing Persons was the only State body responsible of the missing persons issue, with its mandate covering the missing from armed conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2001, Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija of the Federal Government and the Government of the Republic of Serbia was established, and the Bureau for Missing Persons within, addressing missing persons from the Kosovo armed conflict only. There will not be only one State body tackling the complex problem of the missing until 2004, when the SCG Council of Ministers’ Commission on Missing Persons became the successor body to the FRY Commission on Humanitarian Issues and Missing Persons, incorporating later the Bureau of the Coordination Center as well. Mandate of the Commission is completion of the process of recovery, identification and repatriation of mortal remains, including those recovered on the territory of Serbia proper of missing Kosovo Albanians from 1999, as well as citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia from the conflicts from 1991-1995, and citizens of Serbia recovered in UN-administered Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
After the independence of Montenegro in 2006, The Commission on Missing Persons of the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro has been transformed into the Commission on Missing Persons of the Republic of Serbia. These changes do not affect any of the agreements or obligations undertaken.
Documents that form the basis of activities and mandate of the Commission are: Geneva Convention and additional protocols on the protection of war victims, the provisions of the General Framework Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, referring to missing persons, the Agreement on the Cooperation in the Search for Missing Persons, signed on November 17,1995, in Dayton by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Croatia and the Protocol on the cooperation between government commissions for the search for missing persons between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Croatia, signed in 1996 in Zagreb.[4]
The Agreement and the Protocol regulate in detail mutual relations, obligations and the manner of joint work of government commissions, until the final resolution of all cases from the respective lists of both parties.

a)    UN administered Kosovo
The problem of persons missing in relation to the events in Kosovo is particularly complex. It is estimated that 4,400 persons were missing at the end of the conflict in Kosovo. Statistical assessments based on blood collection in Kosovo and DNA matching efforts of the International Commission on missing Persons (ICMP) lead to the conclusion that the mortal remains of at least 1,500 missing persons must still be located and recovered.[5]
A failure to properly address the existence of mass graves and large numbers of persons missing from the Kosovo conflict could pose a fundamental problem for further peace building and reconciliation efforts in the region.  This was noted by Kai Eide in his report to the Security Council of October 2005. 
Kosovo is currently administered by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), while final status of the territory remains to be determined. The UNMIK Office of Missing Persons and Forensics (OMPF) is responsible for managing the missing persons’ operation in Kosovo.
As long as the international community is responsible for the administration of Kosovo and has retained competence for resolving the issue of missing persons, it should ensure that progress is made and that the necessary financial and human resources are available to speed up identification and return processes of human remains and to help the families of missing persons.

2) Republic of Croatia
2,500 persons still missing in Croatia is a considerable number and currently there is a higher number of missing ethnic Serbs.
Office for Detained and Missing Persons of the Republic of Croatia, with several changes over time, has been addressing the issue of missing persons since 1991. Official bilateral agreements have been established between State bodies responsible of missing persons of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia. However, such an agreement is still pending with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Office collects ante-mortem data on missing persons and compiles lists of missing persons, provides legal assistance to families of missing persons and cooperates with relevant State bodies of other countries in the region affected by armed conflicts.
In early 2006 the Republic of Croatia presented a unified list of missing persons. Even though the list is divided into three components (the first part persons missing from 1991-1992, the second part persons who went missing in 1995, i.e. during Operations “Flash” and “Storm,” and the third part citizens of Serbia alleged to have gone missing in Croatia) the provision of such a list from the Government of Croatia is an important step forward. It is also significant that the Government of Serbia and Montenegro accepted and publicly agreed to the list.
Also of note is the fact that the Republic of Croatia is the only country in the former Yugoslavia affected by conflicts where the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) has not issued its Book of Missing.

3) Bosnia and Herzegovina
At the end of the conflict in 1995 an estimated 30,000 persons were unaccounted for in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina the political and constitutional asymmetries created significant problems in the missing persons context. Based on two Entities, the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the end of the conflict, each former warring party maintained a commission on missing persons that investigated cases pertaining to members of its respective ethnic group.
Coordinating the work of the three sides in Bosnia and Herzegovina was essential with a view to achieving progress in the region. In 1998, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) launched the Joint Exhumation Process (JEP) as a collaborative process between the three former warring parties in which each side was allowed to conduct exhumations relevant to their missing persons on the “opposing side’s” territory. As part of the JEP process an average of 1,500 bodies were exhumed annually, excluding exhumations a party conducted on its “own” territory.  From 2001, the OHR role in the JEP was transferred to ICMP.
In 2005, the BIH Council of Ministers officially approved establishing Missing Persons Institute (MPI), with ICMP as a co-founder. The Institute represents an effort to integrate the BIH government into a national structure that represents all three majority ethnic/religious groups in the pursuit of a common goal: to resolve the fate of persons missing from the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzagovina. The MPI is taking over the responsibilities of the BIH entity-level missing persons organizations – the Federation Commission for Tracing the Missing Persons and the Office for Tracing the Missing and Detained Persons of Republika Srpska. It is expected to address the missing persons issue on a political, technical and operational level. It should guarantee that the issue of missing persons is addressed regardless of religious orientation, ethnic origin or gender.
In parallel with the process of establishing the Missing Persons Institute, ICMP, ICRC, as well as the families of the missing and local government and legal institutions assisted the Council of Ministers in drafting a law on missing persons which safeguards the right of families to know the fate of a missing loved ones and assert their rights for effective domestic remedies.
Preparation of the Law on Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina was initiated by the associations of families of missing persons in BIH through the BIH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees. In 2003, a Working group was formed to prepare the Law on Missing Persons, comprising representatives of the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, Federation Commission for Tracing the Missing Persons, Office for Tracing the Missing and Detained Persons of Republika Srpska, Government of Republika Srpska, Government of Brcko District, Government of the Federation of BIH, ICMP and ICRC. The Law on Missing persons was adopted in October 2004, and published in the BIH Official Gazette on November 9, 2004.[6]
This creates a sustainable, independent institution at the State level working on the determination of the fate of all missing persons regardless of ethnicity. The Law on Missing Persons, inter alia, provides for eased evidentiary requirements and access to benefits and adjustment of marital status, all of which was previously not available to family members of the missing. It also mandates the creation and verification of the Central Evidentiary List of Missing (CEN) within the MPI.
By the end of 2006, the UN Human Rights Committee issued its Concluding Observations on Bosnia and Herzegovina, reiterating that BIH “should take immediate and effective steps to investigate all unresolved cases of missing persons and ensure without delay that [MPI] becomes fully operational…. It should ensure that the central database of missing persons is finalized and verified, that the Fund for Support to Families of Missing Persons is secured and that payments to families commence as soon as possible.” [7]
Although the Law has been passed, some secondary legislation, as well as agreement between the Entities to support the financial provisions, has yet to be completed.
The law is the first of its kind in the world, and could prove to be a model for other countries.
Family associations in Kosovo, for example, are keen to put a similar law in place. The law may also provide a template for help in Iraq and in countries affected by the Asian tsunami, as they deal with the missing. Iraqi officials are also looking to the methods used in Bosnia to identify remains from mass graves.

4) The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Although there were only 22 known cases of disappearances from the 2001 crisis, the fate of the missing had proven to be an impediment to building a viable political process through the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement. One of the reasons the issue of the missing was so politicized was that persons at high levels of the crisis-era Government and the former National Liberation Army (NLA) had been implicated in some of the disappearances.
In December 2003 the Government appointed two Coordinators for the issue of the missing, to work in conjunction with ICMP and relevant State authorities. That mechanism continues to function in Macedonia. With the assistance of ICMP, the Government identified nine of the 22 persons.

III International organizations
Among numerous international organizations assisting in different capacities and in different ways in resolving the missing persons problem in the Balkans, there are two key organizations primarily dedicated to this issue: the International Commission on Missing persons (ICMP) and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC).
1)    International Commission on Missing persons (ICMP)
International Commission on Missing persons (ICMP) is an inter-governmental organization that was created in 1996, following the G-7 Summit, in Lyon, France, to address the issue of persons missing as a result of the different conflicts relevant to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro during the time period 1991-1995. Following the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 and the crisis in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in 2001, ICMP expanded its operations to address missing persons’ cases from these areas. ICMP is headquartered in Sarajevo.
ICMP endeavors to secure the cooperation of Governments and other authorities in locating and identifying persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, other hostilities or violations of human rights and to assist them in doing so.
ICMP also supports the work of other organizations in their efforts, encourages public involvement in its activities and contributes to the development of appropriate expressions of commemoration and tribute to the missing.[8]
In the former Yugoslavia, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the work of ICMP has made it possible to locate gravesites, identify recovered remains and commemorate thousands of victims, thereby opening the path to eventual closure and reconciliation for those war-torn societies. 
The processes set in motion have been significantly enhanced by ICMP’s technical ability to deploy scientifically accurate forensic analysis including DNA on a large scale. To the population of the region, that ability means that certainty regarding the fate of the missing can eventually be obtained. To local authorities it means, inter alia, that misidentifications or retention of information regarding the fate of the missing will be exposed with equal certainty.
DNA provides a level of precision regarding who was killed and the number of persons that were killed and recovered from mass graves that would not have been imaginable a decade ago. Because it provides irrefutable evidence of identity it is a very powerful political tool in the context of conflicts in Balkans.
The work of ICMP as a whole can be seen as a significant factor that contributes to the process of States moving towards truth, justice and reconciliation. Using sound, internationally recognized forensic science as a human rights tool to resolve cases of disappearances has been successful not only in bringing individual closure to families of the missing, but in accurately documenting crimes against humanity, in other words producing an historical record that can not be manipulated for political goals.
2)    International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance. It directs and coordinates the international relief activities conducted by the Movement in situations of conflict. It also endeavors to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles. Established in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.[9]
Prior to the drafting of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the parties negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, in autumn 1995, the United States consulted the main humanitarian organizations. With the ICRC it discussed the release of detainees and the tracing of missing persons. The first of these issues is dealt with in the Annex on Military Aspects of the Peace Settlement, and the second is covered in the Framework Agreement's provisions pertaining to civilians. Thus Article V, Annex 7, of the Agreement stipulates that: "The Parties shall provide information through the tracing mechanisms of the ICRC on all persons unaccounted for. The Parties shall also cooperate fully with the ICRC in its efforts to determine the identities, whereabouts and fate of the unaccounted for". The terms of this Article take up and confirm the core principles of international humanitarian law.
Efforts of the ICRC include: bringing the different authorities together to discuss the problem and to exchange information, collecting the ante-mortem data on missing persons and compiling the lists of missing persons, providing legal assistance to families of missing persons and raising awareness among local authorities and the general public of the problems faced by these families, as well as by providing psycho-social support to these families and support to family associations.
Some 32 542 people have been reported missing to ICRC as a result of armed conflicts in the Balkans.



IV Trans-border cooperation


Trans-border cooperation can be defined as bilateral, multilateral or through the assistance of international organizations. In the period immediately following the armed conflicts in the region, the main part of any cross-border cooperation between states, being bilateral  or multilateral, was carried out with the assistance and/or supervision of international organizations involved in the missing persons issue. They played an outstanding role in bringing together parties in conflict to discuss matters as important as the missing persons issue. In the subsequent transitional period, bilateral agreements between States have been established, with some of them still pending, and a joint effort has been put into resolution of this major humanitarian problem.

There has been some progress in recent years, including the recent adoption of a State Law on Missing Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, there is still a lot to do and a real need for improvement in the field of cooperation among states and other entities concerned regarding the exchange of information related to the missing, and speeding up of the process of exhumation, identification and return of human remains.

i.              The bilateral agreement and protocol on cooperation exist between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia. These documents define obligations of each party and include inter-state exhumation monitoring of sites of interest and use of DNA technology for the purpose of identification of mortal remains. Bilateral talks have resulted in concrete results: continuation of exhumations on both the territories of Serbia and Croatia and repatriation of mortal remains.

ii.            Identification of victims missing from armed conflict and enforced disappearance is an extremely difficult process not only because of the time that has elapsed, but because in many cases the perpetrators removed mortal remains from one location and hid them in another in an attempt to conceal evidence of war crimes, thus leaving a trail of disarticulated skeletal remains. Government and other political bodies who have committed acts of enforced dissappearences are reluctant to come forward with information. The lack of information on the locations of individual and mass graves presents the major problem. However, information relevant to war activities on the territory of the Republic of Croatia has been de-classified.

iii.           Montenegro has become an independent state in 2006. As the Republic of Croatia is interested in cases of missing persons related to both Croatia and Montenegro, mechanisms need to be established, and appropriate authorities determined on the Montenegrin side.

iv.           In February 2002, three protocols were signed establishing collaboration between UNMIK and then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on cross-boundary repatriation of identified remains, exchange of forensic expertise and joint verification teams on hidden prisons. The exhumations were monitored and aided by ICMP.

v.            The Working group on people missing in Kosovo was set up in March 2004 to find out what happened to persons still unaccounted for in connection with the events in Kosovo between January 1998 and December 2000 and to address the needs of their families. It meets under the auspices of the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Kosovo and is chaired by the ICRC in its capacity as a neutral intermediary.

vi.           For this process to achieve further results, it is essential that both the Belgrade and Pristina delegations to the Working group receive explicit and concrete support from their authorities at the highest level, as well as from the international community. ICMP supports increased dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade and has been working to promote capacity building of the Government Commission on Missing Persons in Kosovo.


The importance of the missing persons issue between Belgrade and Pristina is recognized and included recently in the Comprehensive proposal for a Kosovo status settlement:


Article 5
Missing Persons

5.1 Kosovo and Serbia shall, in accordance with domestic and international norms and standards, take all measures necessary to determine and provide information regarding identities, whereabouts, and fates of missing persons, in full cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other relevant international partners.

5.2 Kosovo and Serbia shall continue to take part meaningfully, effectively, and without undue delay in the Working Group on Missing Persons established in the framework of the “Vienna Dialogue,” and chaired by the ICRC, or a similar successor mechanism as may be established.  Kosovo and Serbia shall strengthen their respective governmental institutions charged with contributing to this effort with the legal mandate, authority, and resources necessary to maintain and intensify this dialogue, and ensure the active cooperation of all administrations concerned.

vii.          There is still no bilateral agreement on the missing persons issue between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia has recently initiated the creation of such an agreement at the government level. Apart from the non-existence of an agreement, the relations function on the basis of the Amsterdam Agreement (1999), regarding exhumations and repatriations.

viii.        Serbia is also awaiting the drafting and signature of an agreement and/or protocol on cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ix.           The International Conference on the Missing that was hosted by the ICRC in Geneva in February 2003 laid the groundwork for a concerted international effort to address the issue of the missing.

x.            The Joint Project between the Government of Croatia, Ministry of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity and the ICMP was signed in 2004. The objective of the project is to jointly resolve outstanding cases of missing persons using a DNA-led system of identifications, through the exchange of biological samples and DNA profiles. The project should result in the closing of a significant number of cases of missing persons in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

xi.           In 2001, ICMP signed an agreement with the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija, at that time relevant to missing persons from the Kosovo conflict. This agreement also called for a DNA-led identification process and allowed ICMP forensic archaeologists and anthropologists to assist in the excavations in Serbia proper (between 2001 and 2002) of persons missing from the Kosovo conflict. In 2002 the Agreement on Cooperation between the ICMP and the Commission of the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for Humanitarian Issues and Missing Persons Concerning the Fate of Persons Unaccounted for from the Armed Conflicts in territories of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995 was signed.

xii.          In December 2006, ICMP and ICRC organized the second meeting on regional cooperation on the missing persons issue between representatives of the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia. The meeting provided a forum for multilateral discussions and an exchange of information regarding a variety of issues including recovery and identification operations, funding issues and support to family associations representing missing persons from the conflicts.
The participants agreed: (1) to take continued action in support of the creation of protocols between Croatia and BIH and Serbia and BIH regarding cooperation on missing persons issues; (2) to support the establishment of a Commission on Missing Persons in Montenegro; (3) to prioritize multiethnic activities of associations of families of the missing; and (4) to improve communication among the attendees by organizing Regional Cooperation Meetings three times yearly.

xiii.        The ICRC Working Group on the missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina plans its last session for 2007. The Working Group will become irrelevant as most of its members are to cease their work: the Office of the High Representative (OHR) is expected to be replaced by the Special Representative of the EU, the entity Ministries of Defense have been replaced by the State level Ministry, and the entity commissions on missing persons are to be replaced by the MPI.


V Recommendations


  1. Create the agreement between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, regarding cooperation on missing persons issues; 
  2. Create a similar protocol between the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina;
  3. Establish a Commission on Missing Persons in Montenegro
  4. Increase support for the establishment of the Kosovo Commission on Missing Persons/Persons Unaccounted for; 
  5. In Kosovo, increase the capacity and responsibility at local level for the missing persons issue with a strong international oversight;
  6. Depoliticize issue of missing persons, considering it primarily as a humanitarian problem, to which all authorities should give priority;
  7. Create legal measures in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia to address the problem of missing persons by adopting a state law on missing persons, introducing the legal status of “missing person”;
  8. Provide families of missing persons with the right to an effective remedy, including compensation;
  9. Raise public awareness of the problem of missing persons as a fundamental concern of international humanitarian law and human rights law;
  10. Encourage international organizations, in particular ICMP and ICRC, to transfer their expertise to national institutions;
  11. Set up and develop national capacities specialized in forensic and training expertise;
  12. Encourage family networks and associations and their capacities to manage information;
  13. Encourage associations of families of the missing to engage in joint activities across national/religious lines;
  14. Set up effective national witness protection programs.


VI Conclusion
Enforced disappearances infringe upon an entire range of human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other regional instruments, including the European Convention on Human Rights. Such disappearances have severe consequences not only for the victims, but also their relatives, which can involve violations of civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights.
Progress in this major humanitarian issue is slow and, as such, jeopardizes efforts in building a lasting peace in the region. This fact can only add to the bitterness between the communities affected and obstruct reconciliation. Besides, there is an ongoing systemic denial of any wrongdoing in the past.
Nevertheless, clear progress, however slow, has been made in the cross-boundary cooperation in addressing the missing persons issue. The increasing cooperation between official bodies, often at an informal level, is a promising development.

The issue of the missing persons remains a burden not only for their families but also for the society as a whole. If a stable and progressive society that would have undergone full recuperation is desired, the resolution of this matter is of crucial importance. Post-conflict reconstruction encompasses social, physical and political reconstruction. Social reconstruction entails rebuilding the human interactions that allow a society to function. The post war society cannot be completely repaired with this major problem left unresolved.
Therefore, the importance of shedding light on the fate of thousands of missing persons in the Balkans must remain a priority for the States in the region.


[1] General Assembly resolution 47/133, 1992
[2] . Articles 15, 16 and 17 of the First Geneva Convention of 1949; Articles 122 and 123 of the Third Convention; Articles 26 and 136 to 140 of the Fourth Convention; and Articles 32, 33 and 34 of Additional Protocol I of 1977.

[3] www.ic-mp.org
[4] www.humanrights.gov.yu
[5] www.ic-mp.org
[6] Official Gazette of BiH No. 50/04
[7] CCPR/C/BiH/CO/1
[8] The mandate, www.ic-mp.org
[9] The Mission, www.icrc.org

petak, 18. siječnja 2019.

FENA - September, 2004 (deployment of troops to Iraq, NATO membership, Srebrenica victims, IFAD)

090104 am
SA5203: 31.08.2004 09:14
MORNING SERVICE
SESSION OF THE COMMISSION FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY POLICY
SARAJEVO, August 31 (FENA) – The Joint Commission for Defence and Security Policy and
Monitoring of Defence and Security Structures at State level on Tuesday considered the Bill on
participation of members of the BiH Armed Forces, state officials and other employees in
peacekeeping missions and other activities abroad.
The Acting Chair of the Commission, Bosko Siljegovic, told the press that codifying the final
proposal of the said law, which will regulate the matters on participation of BiH Armed Forces in
peacekeeping missions abroad, has been postponed for seven days.
- The Commission has suggested the working group, which comprises representatives of BiH
Defence and Security Ministries, to prepare the text of the bill that will also include the matter of
participation of police officials in peacekeeping operations, explained Siljegovic, expressing hope
that this law would be on the daily agenda of the next session of the BiH House of
Representatives, scheduled for September 7.
Deputy Chair of the Commission Sefik Dzaferovic said that today’s meeting also included
considering the Bill on the State Border Service (DGS) and the Bill on Monitoring and Controlling
State Border Crossings, which was proposed by BiH Council of Ministers.
The adoption of these laws, he said, is a commitment BiH has taken over within the 16 priority
conditions for opening the negotiations on Stabilization and Association with the EU.
According to the Commission Deputy Chair, Branko Zrno, the daily agenda of today’s session
also included the Report on occupied posts in the BiH Defence Ministry, which currently functions
at the level of 28 percent.
Noting that personnel occupancy in this ministry is a precondition for accessing Euro-Atlantic
integration, Zrno expressed hope that the situation in this field would be improved in the next
month.
In response to a journalist question on the grounds of which law BiH Presidency has issued the
Decision on deploying BiH soldiers to Iraq, i.e. whether they can be deployed to this country
without passing the said law, officials of the Commission said that BiH Presidency, in accordance
with the Law on Defence BiH, is authorized for making such a decision, and that “it would be
logical” to issue a relevant law before enforcing it, which would also treat the matters of
organizational and technical nature (the matters of withdrawing from the mission, eventual
compensations for damages, etc.).
(Fena) gk
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FSA5206: 31.08.2004 09:19
MORNING SERVICE
REMAINS OF 20 VICTIMS FROM SREBRENICA DISCOVERED AT MASS GRAVE BLJECEVA
BRATUNAC/SARAJEVO, August 31 (FENA) – The experts for exhumations on Tuesday have
discovered the remains of some 20 victims from Srebrenica in the mass grave Bljeceva in

Municipality Bratunac. The bodies were not exhumed today because the works are still in
progress on opening the grave.
According to the Chief of Tuzla Department of the FBiH Commission on Missing Persons, Murat
Hurtic, the grave is over 20 metres deep, and approx. 4 metres wide.
(Fena) gk
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FSA5208: 31.08.2004 09:35
MORNING SERVICE
MIKEREVIC MEETS IFAD DELEGATION
BANJA LUKA, August 31 (FENA) – RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic and Minister of
Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Rodoljub Trkulja on Tuesday held talks with a
delegation of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The Fund is currently crediting its third project in RS and BiH titled “Development of cattle-
breeding and rural financing”.
Director of the IFAD Sector for Near East, North Africa and South-east Europe Abdulmajed
Slama informed Prime Minister Mikerevic about the previous projects of IFAD in BiH, and
underlined the excellent cooperation this organization has with the RS Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Water Economy in implementation of the mentioned ongoing project, was
announced by RS Government’s Bureau for Public Relations.
The IFAD delegation also briefed Mikerevic that the Fund, within this project, through the Italian
Government, has provided US$ 328.000 for supporting establishment of a network for collecting
milk and its products in the area of municipalities Rogatica, Kalinovik, Nevesinje and Berkovici.
Mikerevic underlined the significance of IFAD projects for improving the overall social situation in
BiH, and expressed hope that the Fund would continue investing in development of agriculture in
RS, which has substantial resources in this field.
(Fena) gk

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FSA5207: 31.08.2004 09:25
MORNING SERVICE
REMAINS OF 56 VICTIMS DISCOVERED IN MASS GRAVE STARI KEVLJANI
PRIJEDOR/SARAJEVO, August 31 (FENA) – The remains of five victims were exhumed on
Tuesday from the mass grave Stari Kevljani in Municipality Prijedor, told Fena representative of
the FBiH Commission on Missing Persons Jasmin Odobasic.
Since August 13, when the exhumation at this location was launched, to date the remains of 56
victims have been exhumed. The experts have also discovered documents indicating that the
victims were inmates of detention camp Omarska.
The remains are being moved to the Sejkovaca hall in Sanski Most, where they will undergo
anthropological processing and autopsy. DNA analysis will be performed for all the bodies.
Exhumation at this location will resume Wednesday.

(Fena) gk
----------------------------
FSA5209: 31.08.2004 09:45
MORNING SERVICE
DOKIC AND CHO ON ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWAY DOBOJ-TUZLA-ZVORNIK
SARAJEVO, August 31 (FENA) – BiH Minister of Communications and Transport Branko Dokic
on Tuesday received the General Director of company DAEWOO, M.G. Cho, who informed Dokic
about the degree of preparing the feasibility study, on which the Korean Government is working
through this company, which concerns electrification of railway Doboj-Tuzla-Zvornik.
This study is a donation of the Korean Government as a contribution to development of the
railway sector in BiH, was announced by BiH Ministry of Communications and Transport.
Cho informed Dokic that the study would be completed in two months the latest. In addition, he
expressed the preparedness of the Korean Government to credit the electrification of railway
Doboj-Tuzla-Zvornik with very advantages conditions.
BiH Minister of Communications and Transport expressed gratitude for the offer and requested
that the Korean Government forwards the official proposal for crediting so that the Council of
Ministers could consider it.
The meeting was also attended by the General Director of the BiH Railway Corporation, Borka
Trkulja, and Deputy General Director for Infrastructure Ivan Knezovic.
(Fena) gk
----------------------------
_
<
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MARKETING - tel/fax: 033 445 346; mob: 061 200 527; e-mail: marketing@fena.ba IT FENA - e-
mail: otprema@fena.ba; fena-info@fena.ba

MAC report on Regional Reconciliation in the ex-YU area - The Path to Reconciliation in the Balkans: A Mere Message to Europe or a Real Step Forward in Regional Politics? From Ljubljana to Sarajevo, the Road to Reconciliation in Former Yugoslavia, June, 2010

MAC report on Regional Reconciliation in the ex-YU area - The Path to Reconciliation in the Balkans: A Mere Message to Europe or a Real Step Forward in Regional Politics? From Ljubljana to Sarajevo, the Road to Reconciliation in Former Yugoslavia, June, 2010


četvrtak, 10. siječnja 2019.

Pozivnica na okrugli stol "Sedmice/tjedna izgradnje mira i vjerskog dijaloga (06/2013) - donatori: CRS i USAID

[bhfront2003] Pozivnica na Okrugli sto o izgradnji mira i vjerskom dijalogu - Sedmica/tjedan izgradnje mira i vjerskog dijaloga [2 Attachments]
Yahoo/Inbox
  • Goran Bubalo <bubalo_goran@yahoo.com>
    To:bhfront2003@yahoogroups.com
    Jun 4, 2013 at 1:44 PM
    [Attachment(s) from Goran Bubalo included below]
    Catholic Relief Services i Caritas BK BiH Vas pozivaju na okrugli stol u okviru
     
    „Sedmice/tjedna izgradnje mira i vjerskog dijaloga“
    05.juni/lipanj, 2013.
    11.30 sati,
    Kriterion Sarajevo
     
    Gosti okruglog stola fra Ivan Šarčević, dr. Samir Beglerović i mr. Stojan Šljuka će govoriti o vjerskom dijalogu i toleranciji i tome koliko je iskorišten potencijal vjerskih zajednica u promociji i izgradnji mira u Bosni i Hercegovini.
     
    Međureligijski dijalog je u principu jednostavan koncept: osobe različitih vjera razgovaraju o razlličitim temama. Ali ovaj dijalog nije debata. U dijalogu se sugovornici slušaju i pokušavaju razumjeti poziciju druge osobe. Međuvjerski dijalog je ključ uspjeha izgradnje mira, on donosi izgradnju ljudskog društva. Saznajući o drugoj religiji radimo i na izgradnji mira. Predrasude o članovima/icama drugih vjerskih grupa, diskriminacija prema drugim i različitim, manjinama, sve to dovodi do podizanja tenzija, što može biti kobno posebno u kontekstu BiH.  
     
    Čitav svijet ili naš život ne mogu biti zasnovani na takmičenju i polarizaciji najjačih zemalja, nacija, osoba. Svijet ne može biti izgrađen samo na osnovama nauke, tehnologije i medija. Svijet ne može biti zasnovan na trijumfalizmu islama, kršćanstva/hrišćanstva, jevrejske ili bilo koje druge tradicije. Svijet ne može biti zasnovan na strahu i sumnji. Svijet treba biti zasnovan na dijalogu, povjerenju, stvaranju odnosa, zajedničkoj izgradnji mira svih tradicija i sviju nas pojedinačno.
     
    Kroz ovu sedmicu želimo pokazati da je drugačiji i bolji svijet moguć i da BiH i svi mi možemo biti nosioci promjena, da posebno osobe iz vjerskog konteksta mogu dati značajan doprinos izgradnji dugoročnog i održivog mira.
     
    Uvodničarka okruglog stola će biti Zlatiborka Popov – Momčinović, profesorica na Filozofskom fakultetu u Istočnom Sarajevu.
     
    Za više informacija molim kontaktirajte:
     
    Zlatiborka Popov – Momčinović                                                                         Goran Bubalo
    pozlata75@gmail.com                                                                          goran.bubalo@crs.org
    065 367 130                                                                                                          061 211 079
     
    Više informacija na www.mreza-mira.net
     
    Projekt Izaberimo mir zajedno u suradnji provode CRS i Caritas BK BiH
    uz podršku Američke agencije za međunarodni razvoj
    (USAID).
     
    Goran Bubalo
    Choosing Peace Together
    Project Director
    CRS Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Zagrebacka 18, Sarajevo
    Phone: +(387 33) 812 401
    Fax: +(387 33) 812 403
    Mobile: +(387 61) 211 079