13.000 PERSONS ARE STILL MISSING IN BOSNIA

NOVI VINODOLSKI, Croatia (October 26,2007) – Tens of thousands of persons in the region are considered missing. There are about 13.000 persons to be found. 30.000 persons were considered missing at the end of the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia.

The Bosnian Human Rights Minister Safet Halilovic emphasized at a conference he attended yesterday in Novi Vinodolski,Croatia,that the precondition of the sustainable system of search for the missing persons and identification of the number of the missing persons in Bosnia would be passing of the law on the missing persons, formed at the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

”Law on Missing Persons was an instrument for formation of the Institute for Missing Persons, which is a unique and independent institution, acting in accordance to the Bosnian Law on the Missing Persons”, Halilovic said.

He added that the constitution of the Managing Board, which took place June this year, created preconditions for the initiation of the Institute’s actions.

Significant activities are to be taken in the field of formation of a unique database of the missing persons, which requires additional efforts not only of the Institute for Missing Persons, but also of all other institutions including the International Commission for the Missing Persons.

Halilovic emphasized that the issue of forming a fund for support to the missing persons’ families remains unsolved.

”Situation in the sector is very complex because the issue of forming a family support fund has been halted because of the long process of reaching an agreement with the entity representatives who have the jurisdiction over the social support to the war victims. It is not possible to form the Fund without their consent. Related to the buringin issues, the bosnian Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees has offered concrete solutions to the issue several times but the joint solution remains to be reached in the following few days. We hope that it will bring equal protection to all the families of missing persons in Bosnia”, Minister Halilovic said.