UNMIK/PR/401

PRESS RELEASE - 27 October, 2000

SRSG opens Resource Centre on Detainees and Missing persons in Gracanica

Pristina-- SRSG Bernard Kouchner opened today the second Resource Centre on Detainees and Missing Persons in Gracanica. The first Resource Centre was inaugurated in Pristina on 12 October.

At the Resource Centre, residents of Kosovo will enter into contact with the offices and organizations that are able to assist with requests connected to detainees and missing persons.  ICRC, UNMIK Police Missing Persons Unit and OSCE participate in the effort led by UNMIK.

“We want to alleviate as much as possible the suffering of the families. We have opened a Bureau for Detained and Missing Persons in Pristina for the Albanian community. Today, we are opening a bureau for the Serb Community”, said Dr Kouchner to media and members of Serb communities gathered outside the Municipal building in Gracanica. “We will work together to get information on missing persons and to provide families with psychological and eventually economic support”. The SRSG said that with the newly elected president in Belgrade and the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, it will be easier to solve the issue. “This is the milestone on the road of hope, on the road towards a better future for Kosovo”, he added.

Asked about if the two communities, Albanian and Serb, could work together on the issue of missing persons, SRSG said that efforts have been made to get them to co-operate and that UNMIK will continue to work on the initiative.

The Centre is located behind the municipal building. It will be open to the public every Tuesday and Friday from 10.00 to 14.00 hours. For the remaining days, a mobile team will cover other regions throughout Kosovo.