The Institute for Missing Persons of BiH is planning to return at the location of Mandra in Rogatica, where the exhumation started last year, said Lejla Cengic, the spokeswoman for this institute.
She noted that they will also return to the location of Tugovo in Vlasenica, where they found a mass grave with 11 victims in September. She recalled that a total of five mass graves were discovered last year and that they are waiting for the identification of persons whose remains were found. Thus, 86 skulls were found on Koricanske stijene, among a total of 137 remains.
“Mortal remains are not identified yet and we believe that the process of identification will be finalized this year. We have some additional information to check in the area of Srebrenica and Vlasenica. When it comes to the relocation of the International Laboratory for DNA Analysis from Sarajevo to The Hague, we were told that identifications will be continued in a few months. However, we will continue taking bone samples for all the mortal remains we find, which will be sent on the DNA analysis later on,” noted Cengic.
She also adds that they hope that DNA results will arrive for mass graves that were discovered last year, and there was a total of five of them.
She recalled that 750 mass graves were discovered since the end of the aggression on our country, and they were mostly very well hidden.
“When it comes to natural pits, there are large quantities of trash thrown on the victims, as well as mines and explosives, which speaks enough about the intentions of the executor to destroy and hide the remains of the victims. For example, on Koricanske stijene, we found large quantities of stones on the remains. Unfortunately, the largest number of mass graves was found on landfills, with a large amount of garbage thrown on victims. We are still searching for 7,075 victims,” stated Cengic.
“There are still numerous families in BiH that are looking for their loved ones, and we are hoping that conscious will make those who know where the rest of mass graves are to reveal it, and anonymously tell where are their locations. This will bring some peace to victims as well as families who have been searching for them for 25 years,” stated Cengic.
(Source: faktor.ba)