INO BiH and Azerbaijani Commission for Missing Persons Sign Memorandum of Understanding

(Patria) - The Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina today signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Baku with the State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Memorandum was signed within the framework of a three-day conference on missing persons held in Azerbaijan under the title "Baku Dialogue on Missing Persons - Uniting Efforts and Strengthening Cooperation in Resolving the Issue of Missing Persons".

The Memorandum was signed by Marko Jurišić, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ali Naghiyev, Chairman of the State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons of the Republic of Azerbaijan, at a ceremonial event organized as a special occasion within the aforementioned conference.

The Memorandum more precisely defines mutual cooperation, which will be realized through the exchange of experiences, acquired knowledge and practices in the processes of searching, exhuming and identifying missing persons who are victims of armed conflicts in both countries, as well as through the establishment of secure databases related to missing persons.

The goal of these joint activities is to facilitate and accelerate the process of searching for the missing, as well as to provide necessary assistance to the families of missing persons.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina has very significant experience in searching for missing persons and we are confident that it can greatly help Azerbaijan, especially the families of the missing in that country, in shedding light on the fate of missing persons.

We hope that the signing of this Memorandum will lay the groundwork for the exchange of experiences and capacity building needed to achieve our common goals - said Naghiyev, wishing success in the work to both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Azerbaijan.

Jurišić emphasized that the signing of this Memorandum represents a formal framework for cooperation between the two institutions in the process of searching for missing persons.

- Our countries have the same or similar experiences related to the destruction that resulted in the disappearance of a large number of innocent people. We believe that our cooperation, through the exchange of experiences and best practices, will contribute to the process of searching for missing persons in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Azerbaijan, and that we will find as many missing persons as possible in order to hand over their remains to their families - stated Jurišić.

In addition to Jurišić, members of the Advisory Board, as part of the Institute's delegation, are also participating in this conference and will address those present, namely delegations from 43 participating countries and five international organizations.

Within the framework of the conference, participants will also visit the Karabakh region, as well as graves with the remains of victims recently discovered in that area.