Red Cross updates names of Kosovo missing

BELGRADE -- Friday – More than 3,200 people in Serbia’s UN-governed province Kosovo are still missing, according to figures released today by the International Committee for the Red Cross.

The third edition of the “Book of Missing in Kosovo” was published today in Belgrade and Pristina, and contains the names of 3,272 people missing since the end of the war in the province in 1999.

The number of missing has grown by 378 since the second edition of the book was published in 2000. Seventy-nine people have been found alive over the four years.

The head of the Red Cross delegation to Serbia-Montenegro urged the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina to do all they can to produce answers, which, he said, were long overdue. “They will be found with the political will of the interested parties,” said Geoff Loane.

Seventy-nine people have been found alive over the four years.

It does not say how many were found dead, who they were, where they were found and how they died. Considering that the numbers didn't change much, it doesn't appear that many of the missing have been found dead. I know for certain, that a few kidnapped Serbs, fully named, have been found dead.

I wonder if we can find a list of those who were found alive, where they've been, why it took so long to find them, etc. The case of those missing, who were found alive would be clues to what happened to many of the missing and how they stay "missing" so long.

more info:

The ICRC is launching the third edition of the Book of Missing Persons in Kosovo today.

After more than a decade of armed conflict in the Balkans, thousands of people are still reported missing in connection with the hostilities – over 24,000, according to lists drawn up by the ICRC.

The third edition of the Book of Missing Persons in Kosovo contains 3,272 names of people who were reported missing to the ICRC directly by their close relatives and whose fate has still not been ascertained. Their families have the right to know what happened to them. This right is recognized under international humanitarian law, as is the obligation of the authorities to provide the families with the information they need.

The book is primarily meant to help families find answers to their questions. However, it also serves as a reminder that thousands of people still carry the emotional burden of not knowing what happened to their loved ones. In addition, these people are continuously faced with legal and administrative difficulties arising from the unsettled status of their missing relatives. Many of those who went missing were also breadwinners and their families have to cope with the basic problems of daily existence.

So far, in most of the cases of missing persons that have been solved, the necessary information has been obtained through the identification of human remains found in mass and individual graves in Kosovo and Serbia proper. However, a number of bodies will probably never be located. This makes it all the more important for the authorities to fulfil their obligation to provide answers.

The information contained in the Book of Missing Persons in Kosovo is available on the following website: www.familylinks.icrc.org

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