Croatia urged to reveal fate of missing Serbs

BELGRADE Families of the missing persons and the Serbian government's Missing Persons Commission have called on Croatia to reveal the fate of 2,000 missing Serbs. The 2,000 Serbs went missing during the Operation Storm in 1995. Croatia urged to reveal fate of missing Serbs “We do not know why victims that were exhumed ten years ago in Croatia have not been identified yet, even though there are all necessary samples and data. It is time for Croatia, which is about to join the EU, to show its democracy in fulfillment of humanitarian tasks,” said Cedomir Maric, a member of the Association of the Families of the Missing and Killed Suza. He told a press conference in Belgrade that the biggest problem was the fact that the victims of the Operations Storm and Flash had not been exhumed from 359 registered locations and that 350 killed Serbs, whose remains are kept at the Forensics Institute in Zagreb, had not been identified yet. Croatian military and police forces’ Operations Storm and Flash targeted the country's ethnic Serb areas in 1995. Maric added that the families of the murdered Serbs “do not have a legitimate right” to erect monuments at locations in Croatia where their loved ones had been killed, which showed Croatia’s attitude toward the Serbian victims. Serbian government’s Missing Persons Commission President Veljko Odalovic said that he had requested from the Croatian authorities to exhume and identify all the remains. He assessed that it was a priority issue in Croatia, adding that the victims’ families would no longer accept excuses. “Unfortunately, Serbia cannot decide when and where exhumations will be done in another state, but even if they identified all of the 350 remains that are at the Institute in Zagreb and victims from 369 registered grave sites, it would only be a half of the total number,” he pointed out. Odalovic noted that there were around 13,000 missing people in the region, adding that the stabilization of the entire region depended, among other things, on the resolution of the issue. He said that preparations for a regional summit on the missing persons were underway. When asked to comment on apologies of the Serbian officials to Croatia for the crimes and the fact that Croatia has not apologized to Serbia for the Operations Storm and Flash, he said that “everybody is responsible for the things they do during their mandate”. “As far as the Commission is concerned, we have no dilemma that the crimes were committed and we request that every crime be condemned and several criminals have ended up in prison thanks to our work. We must not stop at words and apologies, criminals need to be convicted, no matter what country they come from, and families need to know the fate of their loved ones,” Odalovic pointed out. He noted that there were about 900 unidentified bodies in Croatia, around 3,000 in the Bosnian towns of Tuzla, Sarajevo and Visoko, around 600 in Banja Luka while there were around 400 unidentified bodies in Kosovo. (Beta) Beta

Croatia urged to reveal fate of missing Serbs

“We do not know why victims that were exhumed ten years ago in Croatia have not been identified yet, even though there are all necessary samples and data. It is time for Croatia, which is about to join the EU, to show its democracy in fulfillment of humanitarian tasks,” said Čedomir Marić, a member of the Association of the Families of the Missing and Killed Suza.

He told a press conference in Belgrade that the biggest problem was the fact that the victims of the Operations Storm and Flash had not been exhumed from 359 registered locations and that 350 killed Serbs, whose remains are kept at the Forensics Institute in Zagreb, had not been identified yet.

Croatian military and police forces’ Operations Storm and Flash targeted the country's ethnic Serb areas in 1995.

Marić added that the families of the murdered Serbs “do not have a legitimate right” to erect monuments at locations in Croatia where their loved ones had been killed, which showed Croatia’s attitude toward the Serbian victims.

Serbian government’s Missing Persons Commission President Veljko Odalović said that he had requested from the Croatian authorities to exhume and identify all the remains. He assessed that it was a priority issue in Croatia, adding that the victims’ families would no longer accept excuses.

“Unfortunately, Serbia cannot decide when and where exhumations will be done in another state, but even if they identified all of the 350 remains that are at the Institute in Zagreb and victims from 369 registered grave sites, it would only be a half of the total number,” he pointed out.

Odalović noted that there were around 13,000 missing people in the region, adding that the stabilization of the entire region depended, among other things, on the resolution of the issue. He said that preparations for a regional summit on the missing persons were underway.

When asked to comment on apologies of the Serbian officials to Croatia for the crimes and the fact that Croatia has not apologized to Serbia for the Operations Storm and Flash, he said that “everybody is responsible for the things they do during their mandate”.

“As far as the Commission is concerned, we have no dilemma that the crimes were committed and we request that every crime be condemned and several criminals have ended up in prison thanks to our work. We must not stop at words and apologies, criminals need to be convicted, no matter what country they come from, and families need to know the fate of their loved ones,” Odalović pointed out.

He noted that there were about 900 unidentified bodies in Croatia, around 3,000 in the Bosnian towns of Tuzla, Sarajevo and Visoko, around 600 in Banja Luka while there were around 400 unidentified bodies in Kosovo.