Fresh call for probe of Balkan war disappearances
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 29 August 2012 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Fresh call for probe of Balkan war disappearances, 29 August 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5040b02418.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 29, 2012
Children place flowers and balloons on chairs in Sarajevo in April 2012 to honor more than 11,000 children killed in the Bosnian war. Reuters
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged authorities in Balkan states to investigate the fate of some 14,000 people still missing from the region's conflicts of the 1990s and to punish those responsible for forced "disappearances."
The call was made in a statement issued by Amnesty International ahead of International Day of the Disappeared on August 30.
"People living in the Balkans have not closed the chapter of enforced disappearances," the statement cautioned.
Jezerca Tigani, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia deputy program director, called on governments to "ensure that all victims and their families have access to justice."
The statement accused authorities in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo of failing "to abide by their international legal obligations to effectively investigate and prosecute" missing-persons cases.
Based on reporting by AP and RFE/RL
Link to original story on RFE/RL website