The CED called on Serbia to condemn any denial of the genocide in Srebrenica and other war crimes and to prosecute and sanction actions that glorify convicted war criminals. According to the data from the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 800 missing persons are still being sought from the UN-protected area of Srebrenica, while the data from the International Committee on Missing Persons (ICMP) listed around 11,000 people missing from the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
Based on the YIHR’s recommendations, the Committee called on Serbia to include enforced disappearances in domestic legislation as a separate criminal offence that would not be subject to the statute of limitations. Additionally, the Committee calls on the authorities in Serbia to amend the Law on the Rights of Combatants, War Disabled Persons, Civil War Disabled Persons and their Family Members to ensure recognition of all victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination.
The CED appealed to Serbia to adopt the draft Law on the Rights of Missing Persons and Their Family Members, to ensure the full participation of civil society organizations, and associations of families of missing persons in the process of adopting the draft law. Also, the Committee emphasized the importance of transparency of state archives when investigating cases of disappearance. During the mandate of the previous Government of Serbia, the working group for drafting the law on the rights of missing persons and their family members adopted the text of the draft law on February 5, 2025.
One of the recommendations from the report refers to the cooperation between Serbia and Kosovo in overcoming the difficulties which prevent the implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons from May 2023, the text which was agreed upon by President Vučić and Prime Minister Kurti. The committee emphasized the importance of witness protection and demanded that Serbia ensure security and initiate proceedings against those responsible for intimidation. The committee expressed concern about the lack of memorialization of non-Serb nationality victims of enforced disappearances in Serbia. Consequently, the CED recommended to the authorities in Serbia that museum displays, exhibitions and memorials about the wars of the 1990s should be inclusive, by representing the experiences of all victims of enforced disappearances, regardless of their nationality or ethnicity. The Committee received information from official authorities regarding memorialization efforts, such as the Museum of Genocide Victims, which is partnering with victims’ associations, including the Roma community, in memorialization projects. However, the Committee is concerned that these efforts do not equally represent all victims of past enforced disappearances.
YIHR’s recommendations addressed to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances from March 12, 2025, in English are here.
The CED report with the recommendations for Serbia published on April 4, 2025, in English is here.
