ICMP, with EU Support, Continues to Assist Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Authorities’ Work to Find Missing Persons and Secure Rights of All Families

يشارك

[:en]Sarajevo, 13 November 2020 – The European Union will continue their support to International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) ongoing assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) authorities in it’s work to locate and identify persons who are still missing from the 1990s conflict. Under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, the European Union is providing €3 million to enable continuation of ICMP work over the next three years.

The new funding will enable ICMP to conduct a policy dialogue with the BiH authorities and families of the missing with the goal of building BiH capacities in DNA testing.  ICMP will also continue to assist BiH with forensic expertise, including the recovery of mortal remains from mass and clandestine graves and support in conducting DNA-based identifications.

“The EU’s continuous assistance to the ICMP aims to support their efforts in addressing unresolved fates of missing persons as well as in helping the authorities to fulfil their obligations towards the families of the missing. The families have right to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives. This is not only our common moral duty but it would also contribute to strengthening the rule of law, peace and stability in the country,” said Ambassador Johann Sattler, Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH.

The EU and ICMP will continue assisting the BiH Missing Persons Institute and the Prosecutors’ Office in addressing NN cases and possible misidentifications through additional reference sample collection and technical forensic anthropological assistance in mortuaries, in cooperation with the regional governments.

“The funds from the European Union will enable ICMP to help BiH authorities to fulfil their legal obligation to investigate cases of missing persons from the conflict resulting in finding the highest number of persons in a post-conflict scenario. Thousands remain missing and efforts to account for them must continue. In addition, BiH has obligations under domestic and international law to secure the rights of the families of the missing that must be met, including full implementation of the BiH Law on Missing Persons”, said Matthew Holliday, Head of ICMP Western Balkans Program.

ICMP-led efforts have made it possible to account for more than 70 percent of the estimated 40,000 people who were missing at the end of the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

About ICMP

ICMP is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization with Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Its mandate is to secure the cooperation of governments and others in locating missing persons from conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration and other causes and to assist them in doing so. It is tasked exclusively to work on the issue of missing persons.

For more information, please contact:

Sasa Kulukcija by email: [email protected] or phone: +387 33 280 800[:bs]Sarajevo, 13. novembra 2020 – Europska unija nastavit će pružati podršku Međunarodnoj komisiji za nestale osobe (ICMP) koja vlastima Bosne i Hercegovine pomaže pri pronalaženju i identificiranju osoba koje se još uvijek vode kao nestale u sukobu iz 1990-ih. U okviru Instrumenta za pretpristupnu pomoć, Europska unija je osigurala tri miliona eura kako bi omogućila nastavak ICMP-ovog rada tokom naredne tri godine.

Nova sredstva omogućit će ICMP-u da vodi politički dijalog s vlastima u BiH i porodicama nestalih s ciljem izgradnje kapaciteta BiH u testiranju DNK. ICMP će nastaviti podržavati BiH i svojom forenzičkom ekspertizom, uključujući pomoć pri ekshumacijama masovnih i pojedinačnih grobnica kao i podršku u provođenju identifikacija zasnovanih na analizi DNK.

„Stalna podrška Evropske unije ICMP-u ima za cilj podržati njihove napore u rješavanju nepoznatih sudbina nestalih osoba, kao i pomoći vlastima da ispune svoje obaveze prema porodicama nestalih. Porodice imaju pravo znati sudbinu svojih nestalih srodnika. To nije samo naša zajednička moralna dužnost, već doprinosi i jačanju vladavine zakona, mira i stabilnosti u zemlji“, rekao je ambasador Johann Sattler, šef Delegacije EU i specijalni predstavnik EU u BiH.

EU i ICMP nastavit će pomagati Institutu za nestale osobe BiH i Tužilaštvu u rješavanju NN slučajeva i mogućih pogrešnih identifikacija putem dodatnog prikupljanja referentnih uzoraka i tehničke forenzičke antropološke pomoći u mrtvačnicama, u saradnji sa regionalnim vladama.

„Sredstva Evropske unije omogućit će ICMP-u nastavak pružanja pomoći vlastima BiH da ispune svoju zakonsku obavezu provođenja istrage o slučajevima nestalih osoba, što je do sada rezultiralo pronalaženjem najvećeg broja osoba u postkonfliktnim područjima. Hiljade ljudi i dalje se vode kao nestali i napori da se oni pronađu moraju biti nastavljeni. Pored toga, BiH je domaćim i međunarodnim zakonima obavezana osigurati prava porodica nestalih, uključujući punu primjenu Zakona o nestalim osobama u BiH“, rekao je Matthew Holliday, šef ICMP-ovog Programa za zapadni Balkan.

Napori koje je predvodio ICMP omogućili su pronalaženje i identificiranje više od 70 procenata od oko 40.000 osoba čije je nestanak prijavljen po okončanju sukoba u bivšoj Jugoslaviji 1990-ih.

O ICMP-u

ICMP je sporazumom utemeljena međunarodna organizacija sa sjedištem u Hagu u Nizozemskoj. Njegov mandat je osigurati saradnju vlada i drugih organa vlasti u pronalaženju osoba nestalih usljed sukoba, kršenja ljudskih prava, nesreća, organiziranog kriminala, ilegalnih migracija i drugih razloga te pružiti im pomoć u tim procesima. ICMP radi isključivo na rješavanju pitanja nestalih osoba.
Za više informacija kontaktirajte:

Saša Kulukčija na email: [email protected] ili telefon: +387 33 280 800

 [:]

Scroll to Top