Category: News and Events

“The film draws attention to the issue of missing persons not just as a result of armed conflict, which was the case in the former Yugoslavia, but organized crime and human trafficking as well,” said Anisa Suceska – Vekic, the director of BIRN BiH and the film’s executive producer.

The film shows the process of the search for a missing person in detail, its key actors and their roles. It underlines the importance of DNA analysis for speeding up the process of identification.

“Painful though it is, it must be seen, and we have a duty not to look away,” says the deputy head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Nina Suomalainen.

One of the main characters of the film, Fikret Bacic, has spent 22 years looking for the remains of his wife and two children who were executed in Prijedor during the war.

“I came back to BiH not just to find my family’s bodies but to make sure those who killed them are brought to justice,” said Bacic.

Alongside OSCE and Bacic the crowd had a chance to hear from the ICMP’s General Director, Kathryn Bomberger, at the Q&A panel that was held right after the screening.

“The issue of the missing is a global problem, many countries are facing it as people disappear almost every day,” said Bomberger.

The film is dedicated to all those who are still looking for their family members, regardless of their ethnicity, their national background or the cause of the disappearance.

‘Missing You…’ follows the stories of several people searching for missing members of their families.

For the past 22 years, Fikret Bacic has been searching for the remains of his wife and children, who were killed in Prijedor. Blazenka Djumic also lives in hope that she will find her daughter who went missing four years ago. They are just a few among many who are seeking lost loved ones.
 
The film charts the search for missing persons in detail, follows key actors and highlights their roles, and explains how DNA analysis is carried out.

The documentary discusses how to ease the pain of people looking for their family members in war and peacetime in the region and across the world.
 
Following the screening, BIRN BiH with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) will host a panel discussion about the significance of the search for missing persons.
 
The speakers will be Fikret Bacic, the director of the ICMP, Kathryn Bomberger, and the deputy chief of the OSCE mission to BiH, Nina Suomalainen. It will be moderated by Anisa Suceska-Vekic, the director of BIRN BiH.

The entrence to the event is free of charge.

Participation at the Summit’s Fringe, where NGOs held panel discussions, film screenings, concerts, exhibitions, etc. allowed BIRN BiH to present its work and experience covering wartime sexual violence in BiH with the world.

“We were able to get international exposure and take equal part alongside some of the biggest and most relevant organizations dedicated to the cause such as Save the Children, Amnesty International, United Nations,” said Development and Communications Officer at BIRN BiH Zlatan Music.

In addition, the Summit presented a great opportunity to get more insight into the key stakeholders and their opinions on the subject.

“We managed to collect valuable feedback and contacts from the participants who attended our events, and with whom we want to build relationships for cooperation in the future. These include Northwestern University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and International Federation of Medical Students’ Association,” Music added.

The Summit provided a platform for discussion about the various struggles faced by victims of sexual violence face which can often ultimately render them social outcasts. In this sense it was important to see and to hear political leaders publicly commit to the cause.

The exchange of knowledge and participation at the Summit’s Fringe was surely one of the key organizational achievements of 2014.