• Time for truth

The inquiry committee, formed by the Republic Parliament, was finally constituted yesterday. Zivodarka Dacin (SPS) was selected as the president and Leila Ruzdic-Trifunovic (DS) as the deputy. The committee will process the documentation of about 3,000 cases which suppose stealing children from maternity hospitals. The results should be known by 20th October but the closing date could be prolonged.

Zivodarka Dacin reminded that the committee could only establish the facts and the rest was the obligation of the State bodies. According to her words there are decade-old cases and there are parents who cannot come to terms with hospital accidents and their children really being dead. But "it's their right to have doubts. We have to establish the facts".

Stealing babies does not get obsolete All the members of the committee have pointed out the need for changing the legal regulation. They will demand that stealing babies is not submitted to obsoleteness. According to existing regulations a child can look for its parent during the entire lifetime while biological parents have maximum 10 years to look for their child.

According to dr Miroslav Nedeljkovic (SRS) the committee will have to process individual cases and its members will have to be educated on the procedure at maternity hospitals, especially about filing newborns' deaths. "If we help in proving one case of child stealing the authorized bodies will have to start a procedure."

Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic (G17 plus) warned that the procedure should be taken with great care about everyone's rights, both those who suspect and the adopters. Slobodan Zivkucin (SDPO) said "since these are monstrous acts we are dealing with, I require the suggestion for proceeding matters. I wouldn't like the parents to turn out to be right and that nothing can be done to help them."

M. Cekerevac