Brammertz: Regional cooperation and search for missing persons are priority

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There are hundreds of war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina yet to be processed, chief prosecutor for the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) Serge Brammertz said in Sarajevo on Wednesday, reminding that the country has not adopted yet the National War Crime Strategy.

Brammertz arrived in Sarajevo ahead of the presenting of his regular report before the UN Security Council in December this year.

The necessity of regional cooperation in solving the war crime cases as well as the search for missing persons will be in focus of the report, he announced.

“Of course, with the end of the work of the International Criminal Tribunals for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the main responsibility now lies on the national authorities. We will resume the excellent cooperation with the chief prosecutor (in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordana Tadic),” Brammertz said during the history class at one of the Sarajevo high schools.

“When it comes to regional cooperation, some of those who committed the war crimes are still in the neighbouring countries, and it is very difficult to work on those cases without an agreement on extradition. We obviously have to mention the missing persons issue as well, which is one of the priorities on our agenda,” said Brammertz.

The Chief Prosecutor also held a series of meetings with local officials and foreign representatives in Bosnia, discussing the war crime processing and search for the missing persons.