“Disappearances” have been only one part of the human rights tragedy which has engulfed the former Yugosalvia since fighting broke out four years ago. They have been carried out by the hundreds and thousands. Families and loved ones of the “disappeared” are left unable to continue their own lives or to begin grieving for those they have lost. Many of those who are missing relatives are themselves refugees, which makes the task of of finding out what has happened even harder. One of the earliest cases of mass “disappearance” came after the fall of Vukovar in Croatia in 1991; one of the most recent was in July 1995, after the fall of Srebrenica in Eastern Bosnia. In this document, AI calls on all parties to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, as well as the international community, to take effective action to ensure that the fate of the “disappeared” and missing is clarified and that those responsible are brought to justice.
