GRAORAC: COMMISSION SHOULD BE FORMED TO SEARCH FOR MISSING PERSONS IN SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 14 /SRNA/ - Isidora Graorac, president of the Republika Srpska Organisation of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians, pointed to a standstill in efforts to locate missing Serbs and called on Republika Srpska institutions to jointly establish an office at the entity level to deal with this difficult issue.

A "Steps of Remembrance" walk from the National Theatre to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, held under a banner reading "Where are the missing?," highlighted the slow pace at which the issue is being resolved on the Day of Killed and Missing Persons.

Graorac stressed that in the 18 years since the establishment of the BiH Missing Persons Institute, the remains of only 83 people have been found and identified.

She stressed that Republika Srpska is still searching for 1,608 missing persons, including 351 women and 10 children, a total of 975 civilians and 608 honourable Serbian soldiers whose remains are hidden in mass and individual graves or whose whereabouts remain unknown.

"This is a day when families remember their loved ones, and when it is up to us to keep the issue of the missing in the spotlight and, together with those who can help us, find a solution," Graorac said.

Earlier, representatives of the Republika Srpska Organisation of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians laid a wreath at the ossuary at the New Cemetery on the occasion of the Day of Killed and Missing Persons of Republika Srpska.

Marko Grabovac, a member of the organisation, said that the process of searching for missing persons was slow and stressed that Republika Srpska was least responsible for this, and that the institutions at the BiH level bore the greatest responsibility.

Although the Serb side is actively working to resolve this issue and is urging the judiciary to speed up the process, Grabovac said there has been no progress in recent years because the process depends on the BiH Prosecutor’s Office and the BiH Missing Persons Institute.

On the occasion of the Day of Killed and Missing Persons in Republika Srpska, a memorial service was held at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, followed by the laying of wreaths at the central monument to those killed in the Defensive-Patriotic War.