Fate of nearly 12,000 missing in Balkans still unknown

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that families of over 11,800 people who went missing in the wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia are still waiting for answers. One-third of the disappeared, totaling 11,859 in number, are Serbs.Representatives of the Coordination of Serb Associations of Families of Missing Persons from the Territory of Former Yugoslavia Friday called for opening all archives, launching serious and efficient investigations and prosecuting the organizers and perpetrators of war crimes.At a press conference held on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, August 30, they demanded that everything concerning the allegations about trafficking in organs taken from over 350 Serbs kidnapped and missing in Kosovo during the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict be effectively investigated.President of the Serbian government's Commission for Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic said that Amnesty International “has finally opened its heart” and forwarded to the UN Security Council a document containing records of testimonies by families of Serb victims in Kosovo.EULEX: 1,726 missing persons in Kosovo.The EULEX mission in Kosovo released on Friday that a total of 1,726 persons are reported as missing in Kosovo and that it will continue investing efforts in closing the cases of missing persons.To mark the International Day of the Disappeared, acting EULEX head Joelle Vachter underscored that EULEX will continue assisting judiciary bodies in the investigations in the time to come.The International Day of the Disappeared aims to raise the awareness of the authorities, the media and the public about the sufferings of missing persons and their families worldwide, Vachter said and added that this is a very important issue which afflicts thousands of families in Kosovo and bears exceptional importance for EULEX.She noted that EULEX is helping Kosovo's efforts in the search for the missing persons through a team of forensic experts, and added that 46 operations in the field were carried out this year, and remains of 43 individuals have been discovered.Vachter said that EULEX should provide additional assistance to the Department of Forensic Medicine next week in the mode of up-to-date equipment, technical training and long-term mentorship.