Prishtina, 30 August, 2023
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo joins the democratic world and the calls of family members from all over Kosovo to clarify the fate and location of all missing persons, it was said at the opening of the table organized by the Governmental Commission for Missing Persons.
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, at the table co-organized with the Coordinating Council of the Family Associations of the Disappeared of Kosovo (CCFADK) there was a discussion on the current state of the processes of clarifying the fate and location of all the forcibly disappeared during the war in Kosovo and the following steps. The dedication and commitment of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo to the truth, to all those who disappeared by force during the war in Kosovo, was reiterated. It was emphasized that this issue continues to be a special priority, focusing on the families of missing persons.
From this table, GCMP and CCFADK appealed to Serbia to open the archives, since forced disappearances during the war were crimes committed by the Serbian state, as well as to allow excavations in marked locations in Serbia.
The chairman of the Governmental Commission for Missing Persons, Andin Hoti, emphasized the lack of cooperation on the part of Serbia. He reiterated the necessity of the commitment of the international factor for the implementation of the Declaration adopted for persons forcibly disappeared during the war.
The chairman of the GCMP recalled that with the adoption of the Declaration on missing persons on May 2, 2023, after 24 years, Serbia for the first time agreed through an official document to ensure full access to information, including those that have the status classified, which help to find and identify missing persons. He also mentioned the letter sent to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, where he asks him to open the archives, especially the classified documentation, but not limited to it, for the Command of the 37th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army, which is responsible for a multitude of massacres in the Drenica region. Although it has been almost four months since the adoption of the Declaration and three months since the letter sent to Mr. Vucic, there is still no response from Serbia.
In recognition of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance, in the care of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, the Governmental Commission for Missing Persons and the Coordinating Council of the Family Associations of the Disappeared in Kosovo, in the morning tributes were paid and flowers were placed at the memorial dedicated to those forcibly disappeared during the war in Kosovo.
Last modified: September 1, 2023