Pristina, April 26, 2024 – The Ombudsperson on the occasion of the National Day for Missing Persons, which is held every April 27th, recalls the obligations of the state to guarantee the victims and families of missing persons the right to know, the truth about the fate of their family members, who disappeared with force and to guarantee justice for the victims, so that war crimes do not go unpunished.

More than 25 years since the end of the war in Kosovo, the fate of around 1,600 missing persons is still unknown. This is a disturbing fact and injustice for the victims, therefore the Ombudsperson calls on the local institutions and the entire international community, without compromise, to exert pressure to the responsible authorities to provide all the support and data they have to clarify the fate of the missing persons.

Ombudsperson also recalls the positions expressed in the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, in resolution 47/133, dated December 18, 1992, which states that :

– ” Any act of enforced disappearance is an offence to human dignity. It is condemned as a denial of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and as a grave and flagrant violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed and developed in international instruments in this field.”

– “Enforced disappearances render their perpetrators and the State or State authorities which organize, acquiesce in or tolerate such disappearances liable under civil law, without prejudice to the international responsibility of the State concerned in accordance with the principles of international law.”

– ” Acts constituting enforced disappearance shall be considered a continuing offence as long as the perpetrators continue to conceal the fate and the whereabouts of persons who have disappeared and these facts remain unclarified.”

It also recalls the obligations arising from the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which, among other things, determines that “The widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity…”

The provision of information on the disappeared, the trial and punishment of those responsible and those who have committed these crimes, should be an obligation and condition for each responsible party, as determined by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and other international instruments.

Refusal, non-cooperation and reluctance to provide data and evidence about the fate of missing persons is unacceptable and represents a denial of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Putting the political dialogue on the table and aiming to reach a compromise with the fate of the missing persons is unacceptable, if it is not set as a clear request for the parties and imposed as an obligation and precondition of any other initiative, considering it as a priority that it is not allowed to pass.

Also, reiterating that any attempt to establish other conditions of the obligation to clarify the fate of the disappeared, their circumstances and location, is a continuation of war crimes and an action contrary to the accepted principles of universal rights defined by the Declaration Universal of Human Rights and other instruments that guarantee the right of forcibly disappeared persons as well as constitutes a denial of crimes against humanity, as defined in international law.

Ombudsperson recognizing the contribution of everyone who is engaged in building peace, respecting the mechanisms of transitional justice, recognizing and supporting the institutional efforts for the establishment of the Institute for the investigation of war crimes and the design of strategies and policies that address these mechanisms, I will continue to be a strong voice in support of the demands of the families of missing persons, supporting every institutional initiative that contributes to fulfilling the obligations that the state has in relation to transitional justice mechanisms. I will continue to have close cooperation with the civil society, which in many cases has been the only voice that has influenced that the injustices with the victims have been brought to the attention of the institutions, reminding them of their obligations.