The project was envisaged as a record of all war crimes victims, soldiers killed in combat and persons that disappeared during, or in connection with the conflict. According to a number of independent assessments, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia led to more than 130,000 deaths. According to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) records – as of August 30, 2012, the remains of 12,656 persons have yet to be recovered. The remains of 1,762 disappeared have been located (but not exhumed), while the fate of 10,894 persons remains unknown.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 8,603 individuals are still listed as missing. The Republic of Croatia is still searching for 2,282 persons that disappeared between 1991 and 1995. According to the ICRC, during the Kosovo conflict, a total of 1,771 persons disappeared, although the Humanitarian Law Center’s records set that number at 1,842. The HLC’s records also show that, among the disappeared were 1,326 ethnic Albanians and 516 from other ethnic groups, mainly Serbs and Roma.
The process of listing all individuals killed or who disappeared during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia is being conducted as a regional project, involving the HLC, its Kosovo branch (HLC Kosova), the Center for Research and Documentation (CRD) and Dokumenta. The CRD completed its list of persons killed or missing during the war in B&H in August of 2012. According to its records – more than 95,000 citizens of B&H were killed or went missing between 1992 and 1995 in connection with the war in Bosnia.
