The Center for Civil Liberties presented the monitoring report, initiating the important discussion aimed at analysing the current situation regarding the search for missing persons and identification of unidentified victims of the armed conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

 

"Public authorities, voluntary initiatives, and international organizations have different statistics of missing people in the anti-terrorist operation zone. However, it is not about statistics, but about human destiny, which is not a number, but a person with a name and a character, who is much awaited at home. The report offers an overview of problems faced by relatives of missing persons and recommendations for the state to humanize and improve the efficiency of existing search procedure," said Oleksandra Matviychuk, Chairperson of the Center for Civil Liberties.

 

In order to prepare the document, experts examined the activities of various state bodies that are responsible for these matters, communicated with voluntary initiatives, made several visits to the liberated territories, and interviewed relatives of missing persons on both government-controlled and occupied territories.

 

The roundtable discussion brought together relatives of the missing military personnel and civilians, representatives of prominent voluntary initiatives - People's Memory NGO (Black Tulip mission), Prisoners of War UA Project, Volunteer Chonhar initiative, South group, Union of combatants, veterans, and disabled of the antiterrorist operation and warfare" - as well as MPs, government officials, representatives of the General Prosecutor, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Security Service, and Ministry of Defence.

 

Visiting the round table on the first day of his appointment as a Head of the Joint Coordination Centre for search, release of persons deprived of their liberty unlawfully and hostages, and finding missing persons in the anti-terrorist operations zone, Yurii Kachanov stressed that the Coordination Center needs to establish close cooperation with voluntary initiatives.

 

The participants criticized public authorities for the lack of coordination with voluntary initiatives, as well as among themselves. The search for missing persons is performed by several state agencies with their own lists, tools, and methods. In practice, it translates into the situation when one public body tells a mother that her son is in captivity, and a month later another state agency informs her that the soldier disappeared and his whereabouts cannot be set. "What is it if not torture?" volunteers outraged over it. In addition, the investigation procedure is too bureaucratic and does not take into account the specificity of the armed conflict. Often, the first and only contact of relatives with an investigator is the moment of submitting a request for tracing a missing person.

 

The long-term experience of overcoming the issue of human losses was presented by Slaven Rašković, Research and Documentation Programme Coordinator at the Documenta - Center for Dealing with the Past (Zagreb, Croatia). In particular, he described the procedure for DNA examination, which is the most effective method of identification, and creation of a unified list of disappeared persons. Although the armed conflict in the Balkans ended about 10 years ago, Slaven with volunteers are still searching for approximately 1,500 missing people.

 

"Every family has the right to know the fate of their relatives and it is the state's responsibility to ensure this right, particularly in light of the recently ratified International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The search for missing persons and identification of bodies becomes more complex, the more time passes from the time of disappearance. That's why, this issue should be the state's priority," summarized Oleksandra Romantsova, Coordinator of the Monitoring Human Rights Violations in eastern Ukraine and Crimea Project at the Centre for Civil Liberties.

 

Participants complemented the report's recommendations with another important issue. To effectively perform its duties, the Joint Coordination Centre should be authorised by the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution, not less. Otherwise, the situation with the lack of coordination and the reluctance of government agencies to work together will get its continuation.