COMMEMORATION HELD FOR MISSING SERBS OF SARAJEVO-ROMANIJA AREA

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 22 /SRNA/ – The Day of Missing Serbs of the Sarajevo-Romanija region was marked today by the Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Istočno Sarajevo, drawing attention to the painful fact that the fate of 301 persons of Serb nationality from the areas of Sarajevo and its surroundings, as well as Višegrad and Goražde, remains unresolved.

The President of the Republika Srpska Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians Isidora Graorac said this is a sad day, not only for the Sarajevo-Romanija region but for the entire Serb people, who remember the events of the 1990s.

She emphasized that the families who are still searching for the remains of their loved ones are particularly affected.

"The list of missing persons in Republika Srpska includes 1,614 individuals. Today we also remember and pay tribute to the fallen soldiers of the former JNA, who were executed by members of the criminal Muslim special police unit 'Ševe' in Veliki Park in Sarajevo on April 22, 1992", Graorac told reporters.

She appealed for the remains of these Serb fighters, as well as all missing Serb victims, to be found, identified and buried with dignity.

According to her, institutions and families from Republika Srpska are not satisfied with the work of the BiH Missing Persons Institute.

Graorac believes that the stagnation in the search process could be resolved by establishing a Missing Persons Institute of Republika Srpska.

The President of the Istočno Sarajevo City Assembly Boško Jugović said the city supports non-governmental organizations dealing with missing persons of Serb nationality.

"A systemic solution is needed to accelerate the process of searching for missing persons at the level of Republika Srpska, because only in this way is it possible to ease and partially heal the wounds of families who do not know the fate of their loved ones", Jugović said.

According to the latest data of the Organization available to SRNA, the remains of missing Serb persons from Federation municipalities are still being sought: two from Vogošća, four from Hadžići, one each from Ilidža and Ilijaš, five from Vareš, 168 from Novo Sarajevo, Novi Grad and Stari Grad, eight from Dobrinja, and 82 from Goražde.

From Pale municipality, three missing Serb persons are still being searched for, from Rogatica eight, from Sokolac three, from Višegrad three, and 13 from Trnovo.

Of 965 reported missing persons, 664 have been identified, while the fate of 301 persons of Serb nationality is still unknown.

Members of the Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians said they also wished to remind of the suffering of Serbs in Sarajevo, describing it as a Serb place of suffering, a site of individual, mass, and relocated Serb graves and a symbol of the mass exodus of the Serb population who were forced to leave their homes after the war.

They are particularly concerned by the fact that last year the BiH Missing Persons Institute did not identify a single missing person of Serb nationality from the Sarajevo-Romanija region.