Association of missing persons in Kosovo and Metohija and the Association of missing Albanians have agreed with the families to seek together all disappeared.
This was after the meeting, “Non-governmental associations for Missing Persons – Example of best practice and cooperation between communities”, in Pristina, said the coordinator of the Association for missing persons in Kosovo, Milorad Trifunovic.
Trifunovic told BETA that the policy remains the major obstacle to resolving the fate of missing Serbs and Albanians.
“We believe that there are still some who are protecting criminals. Some criminals are sitting on the highest places in the state institutions on both sides and I think the time has come to clarify things with them,” Trifunovic said.
In addition, he expressed his belief that the international community and the factors in individual countries “have their own interests in the continuation of hiding the truth about the missing”.
In this way, according to him, persons who committed the crimes are being kept.
He said that he visited with the President of the Association of missing Albanians, Bajram Qerkini, several locations for which is suspected to contain remains of missing Serbs and Albanians.
He pointed out that the Serbian side has provided EULEX with data, but that information on missing and killed Serbs in Kosovo they did not receive nor from EULEX, UNMIK, or KFOR, although data on the locations were provided.
– We have a variety of reports. Many people would say the truth, but they are afraid. So, finally the competent should protect witnesses. It’s been four years, and that EULEX has not started to dig any location, for which is suspected to have remains of Serbian victims – Trifunovic said.
Bajram Qerkini stated for Beta that he and Trifunovic visited and marked some locations and that they were talking about possible places where Serbs could be buried, adding that there are major obstacles to determining the fate of missing persons, especially in the Serbian enclaves in northern Kosovo.
“We do not have access to the enclaves so that we could work on clarifying the fate of missing because, as we are told in EULEX, it is not safe to go there and investigate,” he said, adding that KLA was asked to open the archives of the missing, but that they were told that such archives do not exist.
He said that Brussels and the UN Security Council should do more, and to exercise more pressure on politicians to resolve the fate of missing persons in Kosovo.
A representative of the Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG) Mario Buil – Merce told Beta that this gathering is expected to gather some concrete recommendations that could be used in solving the problem of missing persons.
Asked whether in resolving the fate of missing persons in Kosovo could help archives of UNMIK, KFOR and EULEX, Buil-Merce said he was not sure he could answer this question, and that answer should be sought from his colleagues in UNMIK.
