Tomorrow, 14 years ago, three days after the fall of the Žepa UN Safe Area, the commander of the Bosnian Government forces, Colonel Avdo Palić, went to the UN Protection Forces compound in Zepa to negotiate the evacuation of the remaining inhabitants of the enclave. When he arrived at the compound, he was taken by Bosnian Serb forces and was never seen again. Avdo Palić has been officially registered as a missing person ever since, although an RS investigative commission later ascertained he was killed, the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.
More than eight years ago the Human Rights Chamber of BiH and the BiH Constitutional Court obliged Republika Srpska authorities to locate and return the remains of Colonel Palić to his family. Despite various high-level promises and stalled efforts, the obligation remains unfulfilled and is now a matter before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
On this anniversary day, the OHR calls upon the RS government to re-engage in the matter, use its many contacts with Serbia, end the mystery of Colonel Palić’s disappearance, and restore his remains to his family so they can provide him a dignified resting place.