As the world observes International Day of the Missing, families in Kosovo and international officials are once again raising their voices for justice. The day is marked by ongoing accusations and appeals for resolving the fates of over 1,600 missing persons from the Kosovo conflict, despite last year’s Declaration aimed at addressing these issues.
The most recent figures indicate that from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2000, a total of 6,065 people went missing in connection with the Kosovo conflict. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 1,613 individuals are still listed as missing, with an additional 23 whose disappearances have yet to be reported. Among the missing are 1,487 civilians, including 272 elderly individuals over 70 years old, 120 minors under 18, and 72 people with disabilities.
The Humanitarian Law Center (FHP) has highlighted the need for blood samples for DNA identification for over 150 missing persons, noting that there are insufficient samples for more than 50 others. The FHP’s „Kosovo Memory Book“ project reveals that between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2000, 10,093 civilians lost their lives or went missing in Kosovo—8,645 Albanians, 1,013 Serbs, 262 Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, 84 Bosniaks, and 203 people of other nationalities.
The ICRC reports that since the onset of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991, there are still 9,969 people unaccounted for. Out of approximately 35,000 missing persons from the conflicts of the 1990s, 1,968 remain unaccounted for in Croatia, 1,630 in Kosovo, and 6,371 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Calls for Action and Accountability
Yesterday, as part of International Day of the Missing observances, the EULEX team for forensic medicine, in collaboration with the Institute for Forensic Medicine, visited the site in Novi Pazar. This visit included delegations from both Belgrade and Pristina’s Missing Persons Commissions.
Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti also announced the commencement of excavations at another site in the region, Kožlje. During a roundtable organized by the Kosovan government, Kurti called on Serbian authorities and sought international support to open the archives of the Yugoslav Army’s 37th Motorized Brigade. He emphasized the need for transparency, given that the brigade was implicated in numerous massacres in Kosovo, particularly in the Drenica region.
Kosovan President Vjosa Osmani echoed these sentiments, attributing the lack of progress to Serbia’s refusal to open archives and its denial of the truth. „By keeping archives closed, Serbia is violating agreements and obscuring the truth,“ she stated. Osmani stressed that Serbia remains „asleep on mass graves of innocent civilians“ and urged international actors to pressure Belgrade to change its stance.
Families Demand Answers
In Gračanica, members of the families of the missing and Serbian associations gathered to mark the day, expressing their frustration with the lack of political will to resolve the issue. They lamented that despite 25 years since the conflict’s outbreak, their search for answers has been met with broken promises.
Silvana Marinković, coordinator of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons, criticized the perceived discrimination against Serbian victims and the failure of EULEX to uphold its commitments. She accused the mission of betraying the families’ trust by passing confidential information to the investigative police in Pristina.
Families are calling for the opening of archives, verification of potential mass grave sites, and prioritization of the missing persons issue in negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.
International Response and Support
EULEX has reiterated its commitment to supporting the Institute for Forensic Medicine and other institutions in providing answers to families of the missing. They emphasize the importance of transparency and accountability regardless of the missing persons’ ethnic, religious, or national backgrounds.
On this International Day of the Missing, several ambassadors, including the American Jeffrey Hovenier and French representatives, laid flowers at the memorial in Pristina. They renewed their calls for all relevant actors to work together to resolve the cases of the missing.
REKOM’s Latest Publication and Forum
In Pristina, the Forum on Transitional Justice was held by the Humanitarian Law Center (FHP) and the Kosovo branch (FHPK). The forum featured peace activists and high-ranking officials, including Norway’s Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Hakon Blankenborg, and former EU Office in Kosovo Head Tomas Sunjog. The forum presented the second edition of the „Kosovo Memory Book,“ titled „Dignity for the Missing,“ which provides detailed accounts of missing persons based on over 2,000 family statements and international reports.
As International Day of the Missing draws to a close, the quest for truth and justice remains paramount. Families, activists, and international stakeholders continue their fight to ensure that the missing are not forgotten and that the truth about their fates is brought to light.
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