a minute agoFormer Norwegian diplomat: Removal of the missing is possible, but challenges remain in Kosovo
Periskopi(an hour ago)
(an hour ago)Norway's former Foreign Minister and the chairman of the International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP), Knut Vollebach, in a video presentation at the “Memory Bridges, held in Pristina in June, spoke of unresolved challenges related to missing persons in Kosovo and the importance of continuing to whitewash their fate.
Vollebach stressed that, nearly three decades after the Kosovo conflict, about 1,600 people continue to be extinct, while for their families time has not reduced the pain of uncertainty or the need for answers.
According to him, any unresolved case matters and requires continued institutional, political and scientific commitment.
He praised the role of the International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP) in Kosovo, stressing that through modern identification methods, particularly DNA tests, more than 2,600 missing persons have been helped to whiteen the fate of.
Vollebach called for cases still unresolved to be revised using the most advanced forensic and scientific techniques. He stressed the importance of reviewing previous identifications based mainly on clothing and personal items, as well as further analysis of unidentified mortar remains stored in the respective institutions.
He underlined that strengthening local institutions, including the Kosovo Agency for Legal Medicine and the Government Commission for Missing Persons, as well as continuing regional co-operation, remain essential for completing this process.
“The reading is not about forgetting the past. It has to do with dealing with him in an honest, human way and in accordance with the rule of law”, Vollebach said.
According to him, the conclusion of the process for missing persons would constitute not only the fulfillment of a commitment to families still awaiting answers but also an important step towards strengthening transitional justice and reconciliation in Kosovo.
