Eastern Europe: further efforts to account for people missing in connection with 1992-1993 conflict

Geneva (ICRC) – Abkhaz and Georgian participants in a coordination mechanism set up last December to tackle the issue of people unaccounted for in connection with the 1992-1993 conflict met again on 28 July under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The purpose of the meeting, which took place in the ICRC office in Gali, was to discuss the composition and procedures of the forensic working group the participants had agreed to create last May in order to clarify the fate of missing persons.

"This was the second meeting in just two months, which shows the determination of all the participants to start making real progress," said Eva Puhar, an ICRC delegate chairing the forensic working group. "The aim of the meeting was to discuss steps that need to be taken over the coming months in preparation for the identification of human remains. Maintaining momentum is the key to speeding up the process of determining what happened to those who went missing. We all hope that some of the families will soon receive long-awaited answers."

The ICRC, which convened the meeting, is serving as a neutral intermediary in accordance with its mandate under the Geneva Conventions. The organization is facilitating the exchange of information between all those concerned, providing support for family associations and assisting them with data collection.