CHIEF PROSECUTOR AND EMPLOYEES OF BiH PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE PARTICIPATE IN EXPERT SEMINAR ON SEARCH FOR MISSING PERSONS

Employees and investigators of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, the Missing Persons Institute (MPI) and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) are attending the expert seminar the central topics of which relate to the search for mass grave sites and to the carrying out of exhumations as evidentiary actions.

In her key address, Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić talked about the importance of the process of searching for missing persons for the prosecution of war crimes cases, as well as about the processes of exhumation and identification of missing persons, which are key processes for the final identification of mortal remains found.

Chief Prosecutor Tadić pointed out that the process was very important because BiH was still searching for around 7,000 missing persons and that information and evidence of the found and identified persons were very important evidentiary materials in war crimes cases.

Participants in the seminar, which is being held with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the UK Embassy to BiH, will have an opportunity to exchange practical experiences on the processes of searching for and exhumation of individual and mass graves, the very process of making preparations for the exhumation process, as well as to discuss about the legislative framework in this area, the cooperation between institutions, the taking of DNA samples and other important issues from practice the employees of these institutions come across when searching for and identifying the remains of missing persons.

During one calendar year, the employees of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, on average, participate in more than 100 processes of searching for mass and individual graves and exhumations taking place throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.