[ZAGREB] Nine exhumed victims of the war in Croatia were identified on Monday by their families in Zagreb, leaving a total of 1,768 missing persons yet to be found in Croatia.
Victims identified yesterday at Zagreb Judiciary medicine institute were exhumed in the Vukovar and Sisak areas of Croatia as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ten families were invited to identification, but one did not come.
Five of the identified men were Croatian soldiers during the war. The status of the other victims wasn't revealed, nor it was explained what happened to those exhumed in Bosnia.
Croatian veterans minister Predrag Matic was at the identification, expressing condolences to the families. "We won't leave off until we have found the last missing person," Matic said.
"All hopes that your relatives could be found alive have vanished, but you have bravely carried that burden. The government and war veterans ministry will support you in all your difficulties. We are here to help you," Matic said.
Of a total of 1,768 missing from the war in Croatia, 984 disappeared in the second half of 1991 and first half of 1992, when Serb forces were expelling Croatians from their homes. Most of those missing are of Croatian nationality.
From the period May to August 1995, when the Croatian army retook Serb-controlled territories, 784 persons, mostly Serbs, remain missing. For years Croatia didn't recognize those people as equal victims, but that has changed in recent years under international pressure.
According to the war veterans ministry, at the climax of war in 1991, about 18,000 people were missing in Croatia. Today, the fates of more than 16,000 have been solved one way or another.
Until today, from 143 mass graves and more than 1,200 individual graves 3,780 victims of the war in 1991/1992 have been exhumed, of whom 3,189 victims were identified.
In addition, 809 victims from Croatian army operations Flash and Storm in 1995 have been exhumed, out of which 489 were identified.
14 February 2012
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/nine-missing-war-victims-identified-in-zagreb
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