National Day of Missing Persons 

“Remembering the victims is a step towards restoring dignity”

By Bekim Blakaj, Director of the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo 

Upon the ending of the war in Kosovo, the International Committee of the Red Cross compiled the first list of persons missing as a result of the conflict. In May 2000, this list contained around 4,500 names. During the first years after the war, this number began to decrease significantly thanks to the exhumation of mass graves in Serbia and the identification of the remains of the victims. However, the families of the missing, in their full right, continued to demand that Kosovo have a national day dedicated to missing persons.

On April 27, 2006, by decision of the Government of Kosovo, this day was officially marked as the National Day of Missing Persons. At that time, the list contained around 2,400 names. The date of April 27th was chosen because of the massacre committed by Serbian forces on April 27, 1999, in the villages of Meja and Korenica in the municipality of Gjakova/Ðakovica, where 374 civilians were killed. Most of their bodies were moved to mass graves in Serbia, while in Kosovo they were reported missing. This day has been chosen to remember and honor all those who are still considered missing as a result of the war in Kosovo (1998–2000). Activities include tributes, awareness-raising events, and calls for justice and clarification of their fate.

Today, 26 years after the war, around 1,600 persons still remain missing. Unfortunately, in recent years there has been no significant progress in finding and identifying their remains. Due to the lack of reliable information, the localisation of mass and individual graves still remains the biggest challenge. Although an agreement has been reached within the framework of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, and a joint statement has been issued by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vučić, in which they pledged to treat this issue as a humanitarian and not political matter, this has not actually happened. The measures foreseen in the declaration – such as the opening of archives and regular meetings of the joint commission – have not yet been implemented, and the first meeting of this commission has not even taken place. Under such circumstances, the European Union must be more proactive and do everything within its mandate to guarantee the implementation of the agreement.

Since 2000, I have joined the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), engaging in interviewing the families of the missing and killed in order to document every life lost. The HLC and HLC Kosovo have conducted over 20,000 interviews with family members and eyewitnesses, and have collected various evidence and documents – from primary sources such as state institutions, archives, local and international courts, but also from secondary sources such as NGO reports, media, publications and books.

This work has continued for more than 25 years and has resulted in the creation of a database where all this data has been processed and a file has been produced for each person missing or killed during the war. The files contain information on the victims and the circumstances of their disappearance or murder.

In July last year, the HLC and HLC Kosovo published the second edition of the Kosovo Book of Remembrance, entitled “Dignity for the Missing”, which included accurate information of the disappearance of 1,636 people during the period January 1, 1998 – December 31, 2000. So far, some of these people have been identified and the current number of missing has been reduced to around 1,600.

The creation of a collective memory based on facts and evidence is essential on several levels. Remembering the victims is a step towards restoring dignity for them and their families. Documentation helps fight impunity and historical revisionism. The truth about the painful past is a necessary condition for building a peaceful future and achieving reconciliation. Therefore, this is an institutional and social obligation, to which every official and citizen must contribute.

Now is the time for us as a society not to allow the pain of the families of missing persons to remain just a sad memory of the past. We must continue to seek the truth persistently, standing by the families of the victims in their struggle for justice and dignity. Institutions, both in Kosovo and in Serbia, have a moral and legal responsibility to be transparent, to open archives, and to cooperate sincerely. The failure to implement agreements and the lack of concrete actions is a wound that deepens by the day. The search for truth is not only a legal obligation, but a human and social responsibility that belongs to us all – for justice, for peace, and for a future that honors human dignity.