Nearly 7,600 people still missing 3 decades after Bosnian War

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Some 7,580 people are still missing three decades after the 1992–1995 Bosnian war, the country’s Institute for Missing Persons said on Wednesday, warning that time is running out to resolve many cases.

Marking its 20th anniversary at a press conference in Sarajevo, the institute's officials said the majority of unresolved disappearances involve Bosniaks who were targeted by Serb forces.

At the joint press conference, Human Rights and Refugees Minister Sevlid Hurtic expressed hope that the process of determining the fate of the missing would be completed within two to three years.

Nikola Perisic, chairman of the institute’s board of directors, said the mission remains to find and identify all victims without discrimination.

"Still, 7,580 people are missing. The majority of the most difficult cases occur because the perpetrators attempted to destroy evidence. Time has passed, and the deaths of witnesses and close relatives have complicated our work," he said.

Authorities issued another appeal for anyone with information about mass grave sites to come forward.

The Bosnian War began on March 1, 1992, when Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia. Serb forces, backed by the Yugoslav army and paramilitary units, launched an ethnic cleansing campaign against Bosniak Muslims.

On December 14, 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement brought the conflict to an end, after more than 100,000 people were killed and approximately 2 million were forced to flee their homes.