Hoti in Geneva: The issue of the missing must not depend on political will

Andin Hoti, acting minister for Labor, Family and the Values of the Liberation War, announced that during his visit to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, he addressed the issue of persons forcibly disappeared during the Kosovo war.

In a Facebook post, Hoti said that today he met with representatives of the secretariat of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

According to him, the delegation called for greater involvement by the international community in efforts to clarify the fate of those who continue to be considered missing.

Hoti stressed that Serbia, as a state party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, must be held accountable for implementing the obligations arising from this Convention.

The UN representatives were also handed an official request for increased international efforts to secure information and documentation that could help locate the missing, clarify the circumstances in which they disappeared, and advance justice.

The acting minister said that the fate of forcibly disappeared persons must not continue to be conditioned by the passage of time or political will. He underscored that families deserve to learn the truth, while justice and accountability cannot be limited by time.

Alongside Hoti, the delegation included Mirishahe Limani Hiller, founder of the “Dora d’Istria” Cultural Association in Geneva; Lisa Mazzone, president of the Swiss Green Party; Sebastien Gricourt, a former member of the ICRC; as well as representatives of the Albanian and Ukrainian communities.