ICRC reports on its activities to assist identification of the human remains of missing persons
29-04-2005 News Release
The following was issued as a press release by the ICRC's Sarajevo delegation on 29 April 2005
The ICRC's head of delegation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Werner Kaspar, has met the Minister of Human Rights and Refugees, Mirsad Kebo, to hand over the ICRC's report on the campaign to collect ante-mortem data of missing persons.
Ante-mortem data has become increasingly important over recent years as a tool used to confirm DNA matches and other presumed identifications of those who went missing during the war. This allows the identification of human remains to be legally confirmed so that families can finally bury their loved ones. So far, 21,430 people have been reported missing to the ICRC in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Only 5,782 cases have been definitively closed.
The ante-mortem data collection campaign lasted from October 2003 to November 2004. Family Associations, the Red Cross of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the ICRC worked together throughout the country to try to reach all families who had not yet provided this information. The data collected includes medical and dental information, as well as information on the belongings the missing person carried at the time of disappearance. Forensic experts compare this data with the findings obtained during exhumations and use DNA analysis to confirm identity.
During the campaign, 4,559 sets of ante-mortem data were obtained in addition to approximately 10,000 sets of data previously collected. The ICRC's report on the data collection campaign specifies that so far forensic professionals have been able to use more than 1,000 ante-mortem data questionnaires, which have contributed to 940 identifications of exhumed human remains.
During the campaign, families opened 419 new requests t o trace missing relatives and made over 500 new reports of people killed in relation to the war. In addition, more than 500 family members were referred for psychological counselling to help them deal with the pain of their loss.
The ICRC report shows that 176 Red Cross staff and volunteers as well as 52 representatives of the Associations of the Families of the Missing took part in the campaign to reach 12,200 family members.
Meanwhile, national Red Cross societies in 16 countries continue to collect ante-mortem data from families who live outside Bosnia-Herzegovina. To date the ICRC has received 423 sets of ante-mortem data from these countries.