Round Table in Foča: Resolving the Issue of Missing Persons is Key to Our Future

(Patria) - A round table organized by the Advisory Board of the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held today in the assembly hall in Foča on the topic "Achievements and Priorities in the Process of Searching for Missing Persons".

The round table was attended by members of associations of families of missing persons, members of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH led by Chairman Nikola Perišić, Srđan Drašković, President of the Foča Municipal Assembly, members of the Advisory Board, as well as representatives of the OSA BiH.

Also present were representatives of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Commission on Missing Persons, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, and the Red Cross of the Federation of BiH and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as religious communities, namely Miralem Hodžić from the Medžlis of the Islamic Community in Foča and Darko Đogo, a priest of the Orthodox Church in Foča.

The meeting was opened with a speech by Drašković, who first welcomed those present, and then stated that losing someone is a great tragedy, but an even greater one is when someone goes missing because until their remains are found, there is no peace for the family.

- I appeal to all those involved in the process to engage maximally because time is not on our side, and to help families find their loved ones and at least get that satisfaction - said Drašković.

At the round table, the results of the work of the Institute for Missing Persons of BiH for the past period were then presented, and it was emphasized that 7,608 persons are still being searched for in our country.

Of this number, it was said, 40 percent of persons are listed as missing in the area covered by the Regional Office East Sarajevo.

Nikola Perišić, Chairman of the Board of Directors, pointed out that these are the most difficult cases and listed the difficulties the Institute faces in the process of searching for missing persons.

Focus was placed on the lack of accurate information about the locations of graves where the remains of victims still being searched for are located.

- In the past 15 days, we had 12 exhumations, and in only one case did we find remains, even though the information was very reliable.

I must emphasize that this is primarily a humanitarian issue, and it is high time that our authorities and society take care of its resolution, that a universal message be sent from the top to compel people to speak up so that our missing can be found, the bodies handed over to families, and they can be buried with dignity.

This is key to our future, and we are also obliged by the Law on Missing Persons, which states that families have the right to know what happened to their loved ones - said Perišić, adding that the Institute is entering new projects that are expected to improve the process itself.

It was also emphasized that resolving the issue of misidentifications using the classical method is of key importance, and an appeal was made for families of those who identified their loved ones in this way to give blood so that such identifications could be checked and any errors corrected.

Families of missing persons repeatedly pointed out during the discussion that there is less and less time for them and that they find it increasingly difficult to bear the word "no".

After the discussion, several conclusions were adopted, one of which clearly requested that institutions make resolving the issue of missing persons the top priority in our country.

It was also requested from associations of families of missing persons to intensify activities in collecting reference blood samples from families of victims identified by the classical method, in order to verify the identities thus established and correct any errors.

One of the conclusions also requested that religious officials in our country speak about the missing in their religious communities and appeal to all those who have any information about graves to come forward.