MEETING OF OFFICIALS OF BIH PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE, ENTITY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICES, BRČKO DISTRICT PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE, BIH MISSING PERSONS INSTITUTE AND BIH ICMP HELD

Central topic of the meeting pertained to the completion of the process of revision of mortal remains in ossuaries throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and continuation of the activities pertaining to the reassociation of the identified mortal remains, handing over of the identified mortal remains to the families and burial of the identified mortal remains.  

A working meeting was held on the premises of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was attended by the Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić and her associates, as well as by the representatives of the prosecutor’s offices from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska and the Brčko District of BiH, respectively, and the officials of the BiH Missing Persons Institute and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At this meeting, there were discussions about the completed process of revision of mortal remains in ossuaries and mortuaries throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, and about further activities in taking care of the found and identified mortal remains.

In the period to follow, the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina will forward to the prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina a letter regarding the realization of the ICMP instructions, defining further handling of mortal remains, so that the identified mortal remains could be reassociated and buried with dignity, whereby the number of the found mortal remains which are being kept at several locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina would be reduced.

Every process that leads to the identification of mortal remains is a significant step forward, as there are mortal remains which have been found, but have not yet been identified.

Finding and identification of mortal remains is an extremely important process, not only for the victims’ and missing persons’ families, but also for prosecutor’s offices, because identified mortal remains represent significant evidentiary material in war crimes cases.