Odalovic: Serbia in the most complex situation in the search for the missing, unable to monitor the implementation of the Convention in Kosovo

The President of the Commission on Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia, Veljko Odalovic, emphasized today at the session of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances in Geneva that Serbia is facing the most complex situation in the search for the missing since establishing relations with the relevant institutions responsible for searches in the former Yugoslavia.

The reasons for this, according to Odalovic, include the fact that requests for searching for missing persons have been sent to multiple parties in the region, as well as the significant passage of time since their disappearance. Odalovic, who led the Serbian delegation—including representatives from the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue—presented Serbia's Second Periodic Report on the Implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in Geneva.

Odalovic particularly pointed out that the Republic of Serbia is unable to monitor the implementation of this convention in Kosovo, as the administration of that territory was entrusted to UNMIK under UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

He also highlighted the current situation, the living conditions, and the repressive measures imposed on the non-Albanian population, particularly members of the Serbian community in Kosovo, who, as he stated, are deprived of their rights, subjected to ethnically based discrimination, and face systemic and institutional violations of civil and political rights, according to the statement.

Representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Justice pointed to the constitutional reform and ongoing judicial processes in recent years, particularly in terms of alignment with EU legal standards and amendments to the Criminal Code, which would classify enforced disappearances as a separate criminal offense.

Representatives of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue emphasized that Serbia has a well-established legal framework regulating public participation, including the involvement of civil society organizations in the legislative process and public policy formulation.

The Chair of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, Olivier de Frouville, stated that the issue of enforced disappearances remains a serious societal problem until the missing are found and represents an obstacle to inter-state cooperation.

He stressed the necessity of political cooperation and the development of an institutional and legal framework to resolve enforced disappearances.

He noted that the issue of missing persons remains relevant even 35 years later and continues to be a potential source of conflict in the region.

The participants agreed on the need to intensify efforts to locate missing persons and resolve the issues that continue to burden societies in the region.

The Serbian delegation, led by Veljko Odalovic, included State Secretary of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Rejhan Kurtovic, representatives of the Commission on Missing Persons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the Public Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes, and the Red Cross of Serbia.