Forensic archaeologists Andrei Starovich and Yugoslav Pendich, invited by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), arrived in South Ossetia on a working visit.
The arrival of experts is carried out within the framework of the Coordination Mechanism for the search for persons missing in connection with the armed conflicts of the 1990s and 2008. Together with the authorities, experts are facilitating the study of potential burial sites.
“One of the main problems in the search for missing persons is the lack of information about possible burial sites. If we talk about people who disappeared in the 90s, more than 30 years have passed, and every year it becomes more difficult to find any information. Of the eyewitnesses of those events, many are no longer alive, many have left, some do not want to share the information. Today we do not have exact information about any specific burial sites, and therefore the arrival of the invited ICRC experts is necessary. We must use every opportunity, including the experience of international experts,” said Inal Tasoev, Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and member of the Coordinating Mechanism.
As part of a humanitarian effort to uncover the fate of the missing persons, the forensic archaeologists will share their experience with the staff of the South Ossetian Prosecutor General's Office on the operation and handling of the shallow ground penetrating radar, equipment that can help locate human remains at a potential burial site.
“Despite the complex logistics of organizing such a training, the ICRC considers it essential to provide technical and expert support to all those involved in efforts to clarify the fate of the missing persons,” said Jacqueline Rodriguez, the ICRC the Coordinator for Forensic Medicine.
"The families of the missing continue to live in obscurity, they have the right to know about the fate of their loved ones," he added.
The Coordination Mechanism for Missing Persons in Connection with the Armed Conflicts of 1990 and 2008 was established in 2010 under the auspices of the ICRC to ensure the exchange of information between Russian, South Ossetian and Georgian participants in order to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the missing persons. There are currently 122 names on the Mechanism's consolidated list. The families of the missing, members of the Mechanism and the ICRC continue to appeal to the public for verified information that could shed light on the fate of the missing. For the purpose of collecting such information from anonymous sources, there are two dedicated hotlines and mailboxes installed in the villages and in the city of Tskhinval. The process of searching for and clarifying the fate of the missing is exclusively humanitarian in nature.
