UNMIK/PR/917
Monday 03 February 2003

Office of Missing Persons and Forensics gives latest missing statistics

A review of the activities, achievements and goals of the Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, Department of Justice.

Exhumations

· Since 1999, 4019 bodies of victims of the conflict have been recovered and approximately 2212 have been identified.
· By the end of 2002, OMPF with the support of the Missing Persons Unit of UNMIK Police exhumed 80% of previously unknown sites where the remains of missing persons were buried.
· During 2003 OMPF will undertake the exhumation of all remaining previously unknown gravesites in Kosovo.
· A generous estimate for the mortal remains still unaccounted for and to be recovered during this year in Kosovo, would be between 500 and 700. However, a number factors such as the intentional and unintentional physical destruction of the remains should be taken into account and could substantially lower this estimate.
· About 1000 bodies, previously exhumed by ICTY, are to be re-exhumed this year to collect samples for DNA testing, this is because at the time of exhumation teams did not collect DNA samples, or the samples were simply misplaced and/or lost.

Identifications

· During 2002 OMPF performed a total of 399 autopsies.
· At present ICMP has received a total of 1195 samples, 601 samples from UNMIK and 594 samples collected by the ICTY-British Forensic Team during year 2000 (from the University of Glasgow). Currently over 300 bone samples await collection.
· To date OMPF has received 109 DNA results of which, 85 were positive matches, 17 negative matches and 7 duplicates.
· Since the creation of the Office, a total of 141 persons were identified, 56 through traditional methods, 85 through DNA testing. Of the latter 29 cases were corroborations of identifications by traditional methods.
· During the weekend OMPF organised, in collaboration with the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija (CCKiM), the ICRC, ICMP and with the logistical support of UNMIK and KFOR, an exhibition of clothes and personal effects from 32 Serbian victims exhumed last year from the Orthodox cemetery in Prizren.
· As a result of this effort 7 persons have been positively identified.

Albanian bodies in Serbia

· Based on an exhibition of photographs of clothing and personal effects in Skenderaj (24-25 September 2002) from mortal remains exhumed in Petrovo Selo (Serbia) and presumed to belong to victims from the Izbice massacre in April 1999, 8 bodies were identified by OMPF and corroborated by forensic specialists at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Nis (Serbia). Subsequent to this identification the eight bodies were repatriated to Kosovo. On December 19th ICMP informed OMPF that two of the results were negative (i.e. misidentifications).
· The re-examination of one of the remains claimed to be a female and a male according to DNA testing was undertaken. The conclusion of OMPF experts corroborates previous findings by Serbian pathologists indicating that the body is that of a female and not a male. Moreover, individuating features of this body, the clothes and the personal effects corroborate the initial identity of this female.
· ICMP has informed OMPF of 34 DNA matches handed over to the Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija from remains found in mass graves at Batajnica. However, neither confirmation of the identifications nor repatriation of the bodies has yet taken place.

Consolidated List

· According to the latest version of the Consolidated List of Missing Persons, 4233 persons are still reported as missing, of which 164 are considered dead (but the body has not yet been recovered).
· According to the list, 3324 victims would be Albanian and 909 non-Albanians.

Medical Examiners

· A breakthrough in the negotiations to bring the local forensic doctors to work for the new Medical Examiner’s office is expected to be achieved soon.
· The composition of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Medical Examiner’s Office is underway.
· OMPF shall also establish an international academic certification program in forensic medicine to improve the credentials of the future medical examiners.

Projected Activities

· OMPF shall multiply the exhibitions of clothing and personal effects throughout Kosovo in order to trigger further identifications.
· OMPF shall multiply its efforts to promote information exchange between parties. It is expected that a Hotline through phone, email and post, shall be implemented soon in order to allow parties to provide information regarding the whereabouts of missing persons in condition of anonymity.