Missing persons from the Kosovo conflict and its aftermath: A stocktaking, 2017

This is ICMP’s third stocktaking report on Kosovo, following the publication of reports in 2005 and 2010. The ICMP continues to view with concern the fact that there has been very little progress for over a decade in finding missing persons. The underlying reasons for the lack of progress in finding more missing persons and exploring the potential problem of misidentifications have not been adequately explored. Furthermore, efforts to ensure that domestic institutions in Kosovo take a leading role in this process have thus far been minimal, which does not bode well for the future sustainability of the missing persons process.

This report examines the institutions and the evolving context in which the search for the missing has taken place; it contrasts the different approaches to addressing missing persons in Serbia and Kosovo; it reviews legislation in Kosovo pertinent to missing persons; it considers the important role of families of the missing; it looks at data systems used to manage and process missing persons cases; it reviews the use of DNA analysis for the purpose of identifying the missing from the Kosovo conflict; and it concludes with recommendations to carry the process forward.