CHIEF PROSECUTOR MET WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BIH MISSING PERSONS INSTITUTE, INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON MISSING PERSONS AND OPDAT AND ICITAP WITHIN THE US EMBASSY TO BIH

The process of tracing and indentifying missing persons remains one of the most important priorities of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, noted the Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihović at this meeting.

The meeting was held at the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and it pertained to the process of tracing and identifying persons who went missing during the war in BiH. The meeting was attended by the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, heads of the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, officials of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in BiH and representatives of OPDAT and ICITAP within the US Embassy to BiH.

The Chief Prosecutor informed the attendees that the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH had strengthened its capacities employed in the work on war crimes cases and he stressed that tracing missing persons and their exhumation and identification remained one of the priorities of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH.

The Chief Prosecutor invited the institutions in BiH and international organizations to provide support and assistance in the exhumations process significant for the work on war crimes cases, because identified mortal remains would be valuable evidentiary material in these cases and, at the same time, such process would be of paramount importance for the families of war crimes victims who had been searching for the mortal remains of their dearest ones for more than two decades.   

At this meeting, it was noted that, as ordered by the Chief Prosecutor, all Legal Officers and Investigators from the Special Department for War Crimes would be involved in the work on exhumations, and that staff trainings for such tasks were underway.

For the purpose of a better coordination of field activities, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH will assign a coordinator who will maintain contacts with other institutions involved in the exhumations process.   

The Chief Prosecutor reiterated that the resources projected in the budget of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH for this purpose needed to be increased and that the BiH institutions and international community would have to keep such an important process in mind.

According to some estimates, mortal remains of more than 8,000 persons are still unaccounted for in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their tracing and identification are key to establishing the rule of law, peace and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

All participants of this meeting agreed that Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina should continue assisting the process of exhumations in all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the past year of 2013, employees of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH carried out 114 exhumation orders and had 278 field visits to coordinate processes of exhumations and re-exhumations in all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and  the number of such activities is expected to be increased in 2014.