7,000 people still listed as missing in BiH

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls on domestic institutions to intensify efforts to shed light on the fate of nearly 7,000 people still missing as a result of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, the ICRC appeals to all those who have information about possible locations of individual and mass graves to contact the competent authorities, reports the Patria News Agency.

In the two decades since the end of the conflict, authorities have managed to find nearly 15,400 missing persons, mostly through the process of exhumation and identification of mortal remains. However, according to ICRC records, 6,955 people are still listed as missing. The biggest obstacle to finding them currently is the lack of new information about the locations of individual and mass graves.

- Under international humanitarian and human rights law, families have the right to know what happened to their missing family members. This right must be respected, said Željko Filipović, Head of the ICRC Delegation in Sarajevo.

 

-Twenty years have passed, and finding the missing is more important than ever.

States have the primary responsibility to find missing persons and provide support to their families. In accordance with its mandate and Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the ICRC, through engaged dialogue, reminds the authorities and institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina of their duty. The ICRC also expresses concern about the lack of progress related to the establishment of the Fund for Financial Support of Families of Missing Persons, which is prescribed by the BiH Law on Missing Persons.

The ICRC continues to monitor the process of searching for missing persons and provides support to institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as the Institute for Missing Persons. It also strives to ensure the full implementation of the Law, as well as the creation of a legal framework that would enable families to exercise their rights throughout the country without discrimination.

Together with its partners, especially the Red Cross Society of BiH and associations of families of missing persons, the ICRC is also intensifying psychosocial support for the families of the missing and highlighting their needs, the ICRC announced.