UNMIK/FR/0052/01
FEATURE RELEASE - 6 July 2001

New Strategy in the Search for the Missing
             
By Sergei Vinogradov

In early July 2001 there were 3,493 reported cases of missing persons in Kosovo,  according to Tony Heinen, Deputy Head, UNMIK Police Missing Persons Unit (MPU).  Of these, 473 cases were "closed"-- persons had either returned home, been located in prisons or elsewhere, or after exhumations relatives had identified their remains. The remainder -- 3,020 cases -- were still unaccounted for.
Bringing to light the fate of those who are missing is a moral obligation. For them the end of the war did not mean an end to their misfortunes.  On the contrary, with every passing day that brings no news about their missing family members the level of anguish intensifies.

Their pain is driving them out onto the streets, compelling to block UNMIK premises where they display banners and posters that read: "We want to know the fate of our loved ones."  They are unable to go on with their lives until they uncover whether their relatives are dead or alive.

UNMIK has been working hard on the issue of missing persons from the very beginning.  The Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC) set up a sub-commission on missing and detained that meets every two
months under KTC and UNHCR auspices.  To perform exhumations at suspected burial sites, UNMIK established a Victims Recovery and Identification Commission (VRIC), which worked closely with investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).  It identified human remains, notified the families concerned, providing them with psychological assistance, issuing death certificates and helping organize burials.

New body to deal with the Missing
Starting from 2 July, the MPU will be responsible for coordinating the entire exhumation programme. The unit has become the focal point on missing persons because it has the required personnel and expertise to perform exhumations, and possesses the manpower and facilities to conduct police investigations, an integral part of the exhumation process.

But more importantly, the new exhumation programme seeks to ensure the active participation of local experts and the local workforce so that the programme continues with minimum international assistance when UNMIK leaves.  More local exhumation specialists will be trained in the near future to secure continuity and effectiveness of the whole process.

"The idea is to pool our resources together," says MPU Deputy Head, Heinen.  "The Bureau for Detainees and Missing Persons, the ICTY, VRIC, OSCE, the International Committee of the Red Cross, KFOR, family associations, as well as the Yugoslav authorities, will all co-operate and give us their inputs. We will conduct exhumations with the help of special teams comprised of local diggers, but under the control of international forensic experts.  The remains will then go to Kosovo's Institute of Forensic Medicine for examination.  The Department of Judicial Affairs will also be involved through provision of legal advice, and the Department of Local Administration will issue death certificates."

Note for editors
The full document may be consulted online in English at http://www.unmik.org/. Albanian and Serbian versions can be provided.

For a selection of photographs, please contact Mr Ky Chung at 038 504-604 ext. 5467