Institutional cooperation of BiH, Serbia and Croatia in finding missing persons

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Chairman of the Collegium of Directors of the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nikola Perišić, and President of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Veljko Odalović, signed today in Sarajevo the Working Rules and Procedures for the implementation of the Protocol on Cooperation in Searching for Missing Persons between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Also, the Chairman of the Collegium of Directors, Perišić, and the Assistant Minister of Veterans for Missing Persons of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Sučić, signed the Rules of Procedure between the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of Croatian Veterans of the Republic of Croatia for the implementation of the Protocol on Cooperation between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Republic of Croatia in searching for missing persons.

After the signing, addressing the attendees, the Chairman of the Collegium of Directors, Perišić, stated that the signed rules further regulate the procedure for exchanging available information and documentation relevant to resolving the issue of missing persons, as well as the procedure for determining the existence of graves, processes of joint exhumations and identification of mortal remains, their handover, investigations, and joint marking and financing of all activities. He emphasized that without an institutional framework and cooperation, it would be impossible to find mortal remains, and that without the involvement of all actors in the process, the goal will certainly not be achieved.

“I hope that today’s signing is a small, but actually a big step towards our goal, which is finding missing persons,” Perišić said.

Odalović emphasized that bilateral cooperation is an irreplaceable mechanism in the entire process.

“Today is a confirmation that we are regulating our relations at that level. Behind us are tens of thousands of resolved cases, but also nearly 12,000 still unresolved. As long as one person is considered missing, we will be engaged in searching within our mandate,” Odalović said. He also stated that families are not too concerned about where someone comes from, but their demands are clear.

“We are all searching, and everyone is searching for us,” Odalović said, adding that they are all committed to prosecuting all those who committed crimes against those whose mortal remains are being searched for today.

The Assistant Minister of Veterans for Missing Persons of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Sučić, reminded that 1,892 people are still being searched for in Croatia.

“The issue of missing persons is a humanitarian issue. The issue of missing persons must be separated from all open issues in interstate cooperation between Croatia and BiH, and primarily with Serbia,” Sučić said.

Matthew Field, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to BiH, also attended today’s formal signing of the rules of procedure.

“Searching for and identifying missing persons is of key importance for all of us, but especially for those who are still searching for their 12,000 loved ones. This is a matter of justice and humanity,” Field said.

Incidentally, regarding the countries of the former Yugoslavia and the victims of the past war, 12,000 people are still being searched for. At the same time, there are over 4,000 unidentified remains stored in facilities in the former Yugoslavia.