Kosovo 2.0’s Dafina Halili spoke with the Deputy Director of Kosovo’s Institute of Forensic Medicine and expert of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Tarja Formisto, about the Mission’s work to determine the fate of the more than 1640 missing persons. Tarja spoke about her expectations from the field work in Kizevak, a large quarry site in Serbia, and challenges her team faces during the identification process of human remains. The EULEX expert also stressed how the forensic DNA technological advancements helped in identifying more missing persons. Tarja also elaborated on the issue of a certain number of misidentifications and the rights of all missing persons’ families.

“The families who have a grave and who know that not all the bones in the grave belong to their loved one, they have to understand that the families who don’t have a grave have  rights too. I understand, it is painful. But I, as a forensic expert, have the same obligation to every family,” said Tarja.