Four countries sign Declaration on missing persons

MOSTAR - Leaders of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and Montenegro signed in Mostar on Friday the Declaration on missing persons which aims to encourage the search for missing persons and define the responsibilities and role of states in the search for a solution to the problem.

The Declaration was signed by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Chair of the BiH Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic.

By signing the document, the states confirmed their commitment to the search for a solution to the issue of people gone missing in armed conflicts or violation of human rights, in the context of the obligation of the state to ensure lasting peace and improve cooperation and reconciliation in democratic societies which support and protect human rights.

The gathering on the search for the missing persons was opened by Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons Thomas Miller, who said that around 70 percent of the 40,000 people gone missing in armed conflicts in the territory of former Yugoslavia during the '90s have been exhumed and identified until now.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic specified that 11,000 people in the region are still reported as missing, noting that the list of the Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, around 1,751 Serbs are still reported as missing in Croatia.

He underscored that Serbia will never renounce the search for the missing or the requests for prosecution and sanctions against responsible individuals.

For the problem of missing persons, there can be no obsolesce that entails oblivion, Nikolic said and underscored that Serbia will do all it can to...