New Book of Missing Persons for Croatia
23-02-2007 News Release
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with the Croatian Government and the Croatian Red Cross has today launched the "Book of Missing Persons in the territory of the Republic of Croatia."
The following was issued as a press release by the ICRC's regional delegation in Budapest.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with the Croatian Government and the Croatian Red Cross has today launched the Book of Missing Persons in the territory of the Republic of Croatia , in Zagreb, at a ceremony attended by Ms.Jadranka Kosor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Family, Veterans'Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity.
This Book of Missing is the result of comprehensive consultations and thorough work done during and after the conflict in Croatia in order to trace and establish the fate of missing persons. It lists the names of 2,384 persons still unaccounted for in relation to this conflict.
The Book is to serve as an important tool for the tracing activities that should ultimately provide the answers as to the fate of these persons. Even though the conflict ended more than eleven years ago, it is important to, yet again, point out that the national authorities of the former parties in the conflict still have the obligation to provide answers to the families of the missing persons.
The ICRC has already published Books of Missing in relation to the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. According to ICRC records, the fate of over 16'000 persons, who went missing during the conflicts in former Yugoslavia, has remained unknown until today.