Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov and President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic appointed their personal envoys for RECOM who will participate in the Regional Expert Group to review the Draft Statute proposed by the Coalition for RECOM and constitutional-legal options for foundation of the RECOM. The meeting of the personal envoys of the presidents of the states, with the participation of representatives of the Coalition for RECOM, will be held under the auspices of one of the heads of states, without the presence of the media.
President Josipovic appointed Zlata Djurdjevic, professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Zagreb for his personal envoy for RECOM. President Ivanov has delegated Luben Arnaudoski, Deputy Secretary General for legal and organizational affairs within his Office, and President Vujanovic appointed his adviser in the field of human rights and minorities professor Sonja Tomovic-Sundic, who is also the dean of the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Montenegro.
In December 2012, the Coalition for RECOM invited presidents of the states in the region to make a decision on the establishment of RECOM, advocated by the Regional coalition and more than half a million citizens from all post-Yugoslav countries. In a letter to the heads of states, the Coalition for RECOM indicated the significant results of human rights non-governmental organisations in documenting victims of the wars in 90’s, which will help RECOM to more quickly and efficiently fulfill the main task that is related to personalization and public recognition of people who lost their lives or have disappeared in the wars during 1991-2001.
Facts
According to the data of the several independent sources, in the wars and related to these actions at the territories of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia approximately 130,000 people lost their lives or have disappeared.
The war in Slovenia lasted 10 days, from 27 June to 7 July 1991. The total casualties were 75 people, including 10 Slovenian civilians, 8 members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Slovenia (OSRS), 45 members of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and 12 foreign nationals.
The war in Bosnia and Herzegocina (B&H), which lasted from 6 April 1992 to 16 December 1995, took the highest number of human lives. According to the data of the Research and Documentation Centre publicized in The Bosnian Book of the Dead, the total of 95.940 people lost their lives, which is referring to 62.013 of Bosniaks, 24.953 of Serbs, 8,403 of Croats and 571 of other nationalities.
In the war at the territory of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina additional 1.678 persons, citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, members of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, lost their lives or disappeared. Of these, in the war in B&H 669 persons were killed or disappeared, and 1.009 in the war in Croatia.
In the war at the territory of Croatia, between 1 January 1991 and the end of December 1995, some 17,000 Croatian citizens lost their lives or went missing – 11.000 of Croats and 6.000 of Serbs.
A total of 13.527 people were killed or went missing in the war in Kosovo. Only in 1998, a total of 2.065 people lost their lives or went missing, and that includes 1.724 Albanians, 280 Serbs and 61 persons belonging to the Roma, Bosniak, Montenegrin and other communities. Between January 1998 and 10 June 1999, a total of 11.881 people – 10.196 Albanians and 1.685 Serbs and members of other non-Albanian communities – lost their lives. The mortal remains of some of them have not been found yet. A total of 9.816 people lost their lives or went missing in the war in Kosovo from 1 January 1999 to 10 June 1999, including 8.472 Albanians, 953 Serbs and 391 persons belonging to other non-Albanian communities. Upon withdrawal of the Serbian forces from Kosovo and arrival of the international military forces, from 11/06/1999 until 31/12/2000, a total of 1.646 persons – 947 Serbs, 354 Albanians and 345 persons for which nationality was not established – lost their lives or went missing in the events related to the war.
During NATO bombing, at the territory of Serbia (without Kosovo) and Montenegro 266 persons were killed. In the internal armed conflict at the south of Serbia, from January 2000 until 31 May 2001, approximately 60 persons – members of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (OVPBM), Ministry of Interior of Serbia/Yugoslav Army and civilians – lost their lives or went missing.
Available data indicates that in Macedonia, during the internal armed conflict from January until the end of December 2001, approximately 200 people lost their lives.
Contact persons:
Mirela Rebronja, coordinator of the Initiative for RECOM in Montenegro, the Centre for Civic Education (CCE), mirela@cgo-cce.org
Dragoljub Vukovic, member of the Regional Team od public advocates for the Initiative for RECOM, duskov@t-com.me