[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 27 (Monday, July 8, 1996)]
[Page 1159]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Missing in the Former 
Yugoslavia

June 29, 1996

    I am pleased to announce today the formation of an international 
Blue Ribbon Commission on the missing in the former Yugoslavia, with 
former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance as its chairman. The Commission 
will be made up of distinguished members of the international community.
    Uncertainty about the fate of the missing is a source of anguish for 
their families and a cause of tension between the parties to the Dayton 
peace agreement. Only a handful of the nearly 12,000 missing-person 
cases thus far certified by the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) have been resolved to date. This initiative will help to promote 
a full and timely accounting of the missing.
    The new Commission will work closely with representatives from the 
United Nations, the ICRC, the Office of the High Representative, 
Physicians for Human Rights, and other organizations to accomplish its 
primary task: to secure the full cooperation of the parties to the 
Dayton peace agreement in locating the missing from the 4-year conflict 
and to assist them in doing so. This initiative aims to support and 
enhance the work of the ICRC and the Office of the High Representative, 
which have exerted significant effort and leadership in dealing with 
this very difficult issue.
    The Commission will encourage public involvement in its activities 
and will take firm steps to see that the parties devote the attention 
and resources necessary to produce early, significant progress on 
missing-person cases. It will also reinforce efforts to ensure that 
exhumations, when necessary to identify the fate of missing persons, are 
conducted under international supervision and in accordance with 
international standards. In addition, the Commission will facilitate the 
development of an antemortem data base to support exhumation efforts.
    In the longer term, and with the help and guidance of affected 
families, the Commission will work to develop appropriate expressions of 
commemoration and tribute to the lost and the missing and to their loved 
ones.
    Although the Commission will be an international effort, the United 
States will make a startup contribution of $2 million.