KLA Camp Revelation Hits Kosovo Headlines

An investigation by BIRN and the BBC which revealed the existence of KLA torture camps in northern Albania during the 1998-99 conflict has unleashed a flood of comments from politicians and human rights activists.

The investigation, KLA Ran Torture Camps in Albania, which was published by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network on Thursday, has made the headlines in all major newspapers in Kosovo, and been reported across the world.

But Kosovo’s Speaker of Parliament, Jakup Krasniqi, who was KLA's spokesperson during the conflict, declared that it is impossible for these camps to have existed because civilian Serbs were never targeted during the war.

“Our war was not against a civilian population, but against the police, army and occupying administration of Serbia,” he said.

He recommend that the BBC look over its extensive news archive to appreciate that these events did not occur.

“I do not believe that there were such prisons at that time, because there was no chance. If the BBC uses its rich archive, they will see what the war was like at that time.”

But the director of Kosovo’s Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Behgjet Shala, argues against the government’s statements, affirming that a large number of Serb civilians were killed during the conflict.

 “From January 1, 1998, up until the day KFOR arrived, there are figures of 297 murdered civilian Serbs and over 400 considered missing, all civilians. Therefore, we have requested investigations to occur in which question marks can be eliminated, the truth revealed and the guilty be determined,” he said in an interview for the Express newspaper.

Shala also recommended that the government stop ignoring these accusations, including previous allegations made by the former chief prosecutor at The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, about the organ trafficking that allegedly occurred in Burrel, Albania, during the conflict.

“Why not go to Burrel, Junik, or the north of Albania, in case there are suspects. Only Kosovo’s institutions should prosecute them and send them to court, and not let foreign prosecutors or those of Serbia take over the proceedings,” he said.

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Nekibe Kelmendi, however, has declared that the responsibility lies with EULEX to resolve these issues, as they have the rightful authority to conduct investigations into war crimes in the country. She said the allegations were not credible and comparable to the organ transplant issues.

“The case of Kukes again is not convincing. Non-credible photographs and anonymous witnesses are given. It is the same effort as the case of Burrel. I recommend that EULEX, which has the exclusive mandate for war crimes investigations run the investigation and clear up the case”.