BOSNIA: AVDO PALIC FOUND, HIGH PROFILE MISSING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000958 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EUR/SCE FOR MFOOKS, JHYLAND; NSC FOR KHELGERSON, SPOWER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA: AVDO PALIC FOUND, HIGH PROFILE MISSING PERSONS CASE RESOLVED ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Colonel Avdo Palic, the wartime commander of the Zepa enclave seized in 1995 under a flag of truce and whose whereabouts have been of keen local and international interest since, was finally identified August 4 as being among nine bodies found in a mass grave near Rogatica. But, his remains were exhumed nearly eight years ago. Lacking any presumption that the grave in question contained Palic's remains, and with relatives' blood samples only available in 2004, competent missing persons organizations were not able to identify the remains at the time. Technical advances in DNA identification since then made this recent identification possible. With claims of obstruction regularly, and in many cases legitimately, levelled at uncooperative Republika Srpska institutions, RS PM Milorad Dodik is likely to lash out at the Missing Persons Institute (MPI),the International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP),and Bosniak politicians, possibly claiming either incompetence or conspiracy in the long delay in identification. Such accusations ignore the complexity of mass graves, the chaotic bureaucracy of missing persons work at the time Palic was exhumed, and the willful "code of silence" RS officials regularly adhere to in provision of missing persons information. END SUMMARY. Background -------------- ¶2. (U) On July 27, 1995, Col. Avdo Palic, commander of Bosnian forces in the Zepa enclave, met with Ratko Mladic and UN representatives, at a UN facility, under a flag of truce, to negotiate surrender. Mladic was quoted in the press soon after as having said the RS Army had seized Palic. Two Bosniak prisoners of war (among them former Srebrenica Mayor Abdurahman Malkic) claim to have briefly seen Palic in prison, but they were subsequently transferred elsewhere. No subsequent reports exist of Palic being seen again. After his disappearance, and presumed death, Palic's widow consistently kept the issue in the spotlight, calling for information and both local and international attention. Such attention was forthcoming: for example, in July, Senator Benjamin Cardin, in his capacity as chairman of the Joint Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, wrote to the BiH Tri-Presidency and to RS PM Milorad Dodik asking for a focused search for information on Palic's whereabouts. ¶3. (SBU) For years, claims of RS obstruction of the search for Palic were leveled, including against the current Dodik government. In truth, obstruction -- in the sense of a 15-year code of silence by the dozens of RS civilian and military officials who must certainly be aware of some portion of his fate -- has always been a problem in this and many other missing persons cases. And a similar pattern of obstruction, if less widespread, exists in the Federation on Serb missing persons. However, Dodik personally has no past link to the Palic case, and can now easily voice his indignation at those who accused him in complicity in a cover-up. Found Among the Exhumed -------------- ¶4. (SBU) At the same time that ICMP was conducting its first DNA tests in the search for missing persons, in November 2001, a mass grave in the vicinity of Rogatica was exhumed. The mortal remains were handed over in bulk, in a mixed bag, to ICMP by a Sarajevo Canton forensic pathologist that same year. In June of 2002, a bone sample linked to one of the bodies, case number 9100507, was submitted for DNA analysis. At that time, the sample was not linked to any family reference samples in the database, and ICMP maintained DNA coding for the case in their database as "unknown." Beginning in November, 2008, ICMP began a full review of all 1,582 DNA profiles generated from 2001-2004 which remained unmatched. Eight of the 1,582 cases were identified as potentially benefitting from re-extraction of DNA using more advanced methods now available. Among them was Palic's case. Only more advanced DNA technology, and a general technical review of cases, led to this identification. MPI Announces the Finding -------------- ¶5. (SBU) MPI Chair Amor Masovic discussed the case with us SARAJEVO 00000958 002 OF 002 August 5, noting that he recieved positive identification one week prior to the announcement, but awaited the return of Palic's widow from vacation in order to publicly announce the finding. He noted that, of the nine bodies exhumed from the Rogatica grave, six have been identified to date. He further noted that the Palic's remains are currently buried in the Visoko cemetery in a grave marked with the case number only. Masovic said the body would likely now be exhumed and re-buried. Comment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) We fully expect RS authorities, in particular Dodik, to seek to undermine MPI and ICMP credibility given the fact that Palic's body was exhumed in 2001, and remained unidentified for so long (and have already begun to see some indications of such outcry by RS families' associations). We plan to encourage those, particularly in Bosniak political circles, who were most strident in accusing today's RS authorities of obstructionism to take a conciliatory tone. Given the likely round of finger-pointing soon to follow, we will note the criminal "code of silence" that still surrounds the fate of so many missing persons cases. ENGLISH