E UNITED NATIONS Economic and Social Distr. Council GENERAL E/CN.4/1997/55 15 January 1997 Original: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty­third session Items 8 (c) and 10 of the provisional agenda QUESTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS SUBJECTED TO ANY FORM OF DETENTION OR IMPRISONMENT QUESTION OF ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES Special process on missing persons in the territory of the former Yugoslavia Report submitted to Mr. Manfred Nowak, expert member of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, responsible for the special process, pursuant to Commission resolution 1996/71 GE.97­10159 (E) E/CN.4/1997/55 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page List of acronyms .................. 3 Introduction .................... 1 ­ 6 4 I. MANDATE AND METHODS OF WORK .......... 7 ­ 10 6 II. ACTIVITIES OF THE EXPERT ........... 11 ­ 73 7 A. Visits and consultations ......... 11 7 B. Communications relating to individual cases of missing persons ............ 12 ­ 17 7 C. Coordination with other relevant institutions active in Bosnia and Herzegovina ..... 18 ­ 48 8 D. Fund­raising ............... 49 ­ 52 16 E. Facilitating the exhumation of mortal remains 53 ­ 73 17 III. SITUATION OF MISSING PERSONS IN CROATIA .... 74 ­ 85 22 IV. SITUATION OF MISSING PERSONS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ................ 86 ­ 103 25 A. Historical background .......... 86 ­ 90 25 B. Number of missing persons ........ 91 ­ 97 26 C. Dates and places of disappearance .... 98 ­ 103 28 V. ROOT CAUSES OF THE DISAPPEARANCES ....... 104 ­ 106 30 VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........ 107 ­ 123 31 Annexes I. Map of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina II. Programme of forensic activities to assist in determining the fate of missing persons in the former Yugoslavia: budget proposal (12 months) E/CN.4/1997/55 page 3 List of acronyms AMBD Ante­mortem database BIM Association for the Promotion of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute FRY Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) HOS Croatian Defence Forces HVO Bosnian Croat forces ICMP Internationl Commission on Missing Persons in the Former Yugoslavia ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia IFOR (multinational military) Implementation Force IPTF International Police Task Force JNA Yuguslav National Army MAC (United Nations) Mine Action Centre OHR Office of the High Representative OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe PHR Physicians for Human Rights SFOR (multinational military) Stabilization Force UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNMIBH United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina UNPA United Nations Protected Areas UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force UNTAES United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium E/CN.4/1997/55 page 4 Introduction 1. More than one year after the end of the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the signing of the Basic Agreement on Eastern Slavonia and the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, daily life seems to be gradually normalizing even in those regions of the former Yugoslavia that were most affected by the war and the policy of "ethnic cleansing". On 21 June 1996, the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) announced that the demilitarization of this region was successfully completed. On 23 August 1996, the Agreement on the Normalization of Relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was signed, and on 14 September 1996, elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina which were considered fair and free by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). On 1 October 1996 the United Nations Security Council, by resolution 1074 (1996), lifted the economic sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republika Srpska. The economic reconstruction of the region is now under way, and the international community is slowly preparing to withdraw from the region. 2. At the same time, the full truth about the horrible crimes against humanity committed between 1991 and 1995 can no longer be concealed. It is still difficult to believe that, exactly 50 years after the Nazi holocaust, another genocide could occur in Europe as a result of a similar ideology based on nationalism, racial and religious hatred and the obsession of creating "ethnically pure" States. While the international community was watching without taking proper action, the systematic policy of "ethnic cleansing" operations, planned and carried out by nationalistic politicians, military and paramilitary groups as well as civilians who were themselves victims of racist propaganda, resulted in the mass exodus of more than 2 million refugees and internally displaced persons, in the death of more than 200,000 human beings, in the economic destruction of vast areas of the region, and in the most horrendous acts of torture, systematic rape and similar expressions of barbarity. The great majority of the victims of the second European genocide of the twentieth century were civilians of Muslim origin. 3. If one compares this with the 25,000 persons who are still missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, the phenomenon of disappearances seems to be of minor importance. If, however, one views this figure in the context of the some 50,000 cases of disappearances in more than 60 countries in different parts of the world which the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has registered since 1980, it appears that, at the present time, the number of cases of missing persons registered and unclarified in the former Yugoslavia is among the highest in the world. 4. Moreover, the experience with disappearances in other countries shows that a solution to the problem of missing persons is a major precondition for reconciliation and a lasting peace based on justice. We cannot change the facts which occurred in the past. However, the families of the missing persons have the legitimate right to know the truth and to get their loved ones back, alive or dead. They also have a right to compensation, and to E/CN.4/1997/55 page 5 provide their deceased relatives with a decent burial. Finally, they have the right to demand that those who are primarily responsible for the disappearance, torture or arbitrary execution of their loved ones are brought to justice. 5. There is no doubt that those who started to incite racial and religious hatred and those who waged the war and carried out the “ethnic cleansing” operations bear the main responsibility for all the suffering that followed. But among the civilian population, and in particular among the families of the missing persons, there is a strong tendency to blame the international community, above all their fellow Europeans, for not having protected them. At a time of universal consensus that the international protection of human beings against gross and systematic violations of their basic human rights is no longer considered as interference with the sovereignty and internal affairs of “the State”, we also have to recognize the legal, moral and political responsibility of the international community, above all the powerful States in the region, to prevent acts of genocide and to protect the population against other gross and systematic violations of human rights. Notwithstanding the many well-intended actions taken, we must admit that the international community ­ above all the Europeans ­ did not live up to its responsibility towards the people of the former Yugoslavia. Since the past cannot be changed, in the present all efforts should be made to relieve the suffering of those who survived the genocide. To assist the families of missing persons in their desperate search for the truth is a small contribution which the international community, if the political will existed, could easily provide. The Dayton Peace Agreement and other relevant sources of international law provide a sufficient legal framework to act. We only need the political will, and the necessary financial resources to implement it. 6. The present report, which is the third report on the special process dealing with missing persons in the former Yugoslavia, 1/ covers the expert's activities during the period under review and analyses the situation of missing persons and the phenomenon of disappearances in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the past year the expert concentrated his efforts primarily on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This decision was based on several factors. First, the continuing non-cooperative attitude of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a serious obstacle to his efforts to clarify the fate of the missing persons in Croatia; secondly, owing to the present political situation, there seemed to be a greater need in Bosnia and Herzegovina than in Croatia to facilitate the tracing activities, to prepare the exhumations and to establish coordination mechanisms; and finally, his election to the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe provided the expert with the opportunity to travel regularly to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1The first report is contained in document E/CN.4/1995/37 and the second in E/CN.4/1996/36. E/CN.4/1997/55 page 6 I. MANDATE AND METHODS OF WORK 7. Owing to the extraordinary nature, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, of the problem of missing persons in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the fact that the mandate of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances does not cover cases resulting from international armed conflicts, in 1994 the Commission on Human Rights established the special process as a joint mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the territory of the former Yugoslavia and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.