Bosnian minister: Issue of missing persons must be above political interests

The issue of missing persons must be placed above politics, divisions, and any political interests, Sevlid Hurtić, Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said at the 4th International Conference within the Baku Dialogue on Missing Persons, Report informs.

Hurtić stressed that discussions on missing persons are not only about those who disappeared, but also about families who never stopped waiting and the fundamental right of every individual to know what happened to their father, mother, child, or sibling.

According to him, Bosnia and Herzegovina knows this issue not merely through statistics, reports, or international documents.

"We know it through the empty chairs at family tables, the photographs families still preserve today, mothers who grow old waiting for answers, and children who never had the opportunity to know their parents or say goodbye to them one last time," he said.

The minister recalled that tens of thousands of people went missing during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that each of them had a name, a family, a life story, and loved ones still waiting for answers.

"For a family still searching for a missing relative, that person is not a number. For a mother waiting for her son, this is not a statistic. For a child who never knew a parent, this is not simply an unresolved case. It is a wound that lasts for decades," Hurtić added.

He noted that the issue of missing persons is not a matter of the past but one of human rights, dignity, and responsibility toward the future.

"The right of families to know the fate of their missing relatives is one of the fundamental humanitarian principles and must remain at the center of our efforts. This right should not depend on political circumstances, the passage of time, state borders, or individual interests," the official emphasized.

Hurtić highlighted that when searching for a missing person, "we are not looking for our person or their person, we are looking for a human being."

The minister also pointed out that Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress in the search for and identification of missing persons, noting the importance of institutional cooperation, international support, forensic methods, DNA analysis, information-sharing, and the determination to continue investigations even when all traces appear to have disappeared.

"Technology alone is not enough. DNA analysis can confirm identity, but only people can restore dignity to families," he said.

Hurtić further mentioned that continued investment is needed in forensic capabilities, modern technologies, databases, specialists, and institutions dealing with missing persons.