Kosovo Ignores Organ Trafficking Claims

| 14 April 2008 |

Carla Del Ponte

Pristina _ Kosovo will not probe whether the organs of dead Serbs were trafficked as alleged by former War Crimes Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte.

“Del Ponte’s allegations are aimed at blackening the image of former Kosovo Liberation fighters,” Hajredin Kuci, Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister told Pristina daily Express.

“We have more important issues to deal with than with Del Ponte’s slander,” Kuci said.

In her book ‘The Hunt’, the former prosecutor, who is now serving as Switzerland’s ambassador to Argentina, reportedly writes that Kosovo Serbs who were deported by fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, were taken to Albania and killed. They had their organs removed and later sold.

Del Ponte said her office decided to drop the case since the investigation in Albania was "impossible to conduct."

The book's promotion has been banned by the Swiss government, on the grounds that it would be incompatible with Del Ponte’s current position.

Officials from the international non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Watch have demanded that the Kosovo government, including the Justice Ministry, launch a probe into the allegations.

While commenting last week, the Kosovo Minister of Justice, Nekibe Kelmendi said that “Del Ponte’s allegations were a pure fabrication.”

“If she knew of such cases then she should be charged with withholding evidence and hiding these crimes,” Kelmendi said.

The book's claims have sparked fury in Serbia and Russia.

Last month, an association of families of kidnapped Kosovo Serbs said it would file a lawsuit against Del Ponte as details from her book shed new light on the fate of missing Serbs.

Serbia's War Crimes Prosecution has confirmed they were earlier informed about the allegations, and announced they are opening an investigation.

A statement by Russia's Foreign Ministry last week said Moscow was shocked by “the facts about brutal crimes against the peaceful Serb population committed by Kosovo Liberation Army extremists in the name of their 'battle for independence.'” Read more: http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9261

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Comments:

Russia again...
2008-04-14 17:56:44

I find Russia's protest about "the facts about brutal crimes against..." laughable. Russia does not seem to know the difference between "allegation" and "fact". But then again, that's not a surprise to me at all.

Del Ponte's conscience
2008-04-14 19:51:34

Only Russia will help the free world to solve this problem. We all here in the Balkans know the Albanian's atrocities. We expect Russia to keep fighting for this matter. Anyway Russia is the only hope for the free world.

Ridiculous, she should be help responsible
2008-04-14 20:40:32

This is pure non-sense, her claims are ridiculous and she should be help responsible for publishing such lies. Ask your self where are the 1000+ missing Albanians from the war in kosovo? It is more likely that Serbia used there bodies for organs than the Albanians.

Del Ponte is daydreaming
2008-04-14 23:07:42

Balkan atrocities commited by Albanians? thats new to me, how come everyone forgets so fast what the Serbs did?How come everyone forgets how they killed thoulsands and ethnic clensed millions.Dont try to shift this blame on the Albanians and if anything they were the ones who were defending their homes and not the ones very well armed.I've got one messege for miss DelPonte mission unaccoplished.

HRW's Absurd Request
2008-04-15 01:25:23

Human Rights Watch is asking the people who are accused of running the organ smuggling racket to investigate it. I wonder what the result of that investigation will be.

Atrocities?
2008-04-15 06:43:28

what atrocities how can you speak without proof have you already forgotten the ethnic cleansing by the serb nationalistic radical government on the albanian population in kosova?

balance and fairness
2008-04-15 14:25:14

this story gets almost no ceverage in the western press. If Del Ponte made this allegations about Serbia, it would be covered widely, and she would be described as a paragon of good judgement. That the KLA did bad things does not diminish what the Serbian side did. But ignoring atrocities committed by the KLA is hypocritical, and we in the west should not be surprised when we have problems getting russia to play ball with us.

A fierce story that is recycled in the nationalistic discourses
2008-04-15 17:26:19

Del ponte had and still has all the authority and reputation to start a thorough investigation about this issue that came out of the blue after 9 years that war has finnished. And by not having a investigation it leaves a lot of room for speculations and assumptions. I don't know why we keep insisting about something that no one knows any elements. Just a small fact that can be evaluated as a proof. One simple witness, one fingerprint or whatever... if we talk about justice we need facts. and hypothesis without facts is just "rumor" that serve to some interests...

2008-04-15 18:54:23

Del Ponte's WISH That for me is just a novel that contain Del Pontes wish. How come that right now we here something like that. Why she could not tell the tribunal earlier but now. How much has she been payed by Serbs. And does she know were are the thousands of albaians buried and where are their body parts. It is shame for a lawyer to lie.

sebaneau@aliceadsl.fr
2008-04-15 20:41:07

The alleged number of the alleged victims involves a high-tech organization on a wide scale. How likely is it that no witness and material evidence would have appeared if it were true? The number of missing Albanians in Kosovo is closer to 3,000 than 1,000.

balance and fairness?? where was this before the war?
2008-04-16 01:44:29

Balance and fairness???? how come the Serbs didnt use that term in Kosovo? What you are talking is nonsence.The wars that have been fought in ex-YU are to blame Serbia for them.You dont have to be non-serbian to realize that ask Mr. Tadic and he will tell you except he will say it was Milosevic but Miliosevic couldnt have done it all by himself.

Carla's incompetence
2008-04-16 07:49:36

Carla has been without a doubt the most incompetent chief prosecutor of the ICTY. And now she's left with nothing else but to express her frustration wherever she can. She should be charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate and prosecute these crimes, if indeed these charges are real. And if they are not, she should be charged with libel and defamation against the Kosovar government.

Balance and fairness please!
2008-04-16 09:01:18

It is hard to disagree with dlux about the seriously imbalanced coverage of Kosovo in western media. -it is deeply disappointing that serious media companies like BBC underreport the problems of the Serbs and use biased language to support the other side... The Albanian administration is so far from securing the same rights to the the serbian and rom minorities as they themselves had until the 1990s in Serbia... The non-albanian population in Kosovo is under constant threat of extermination, all allegations about crimes against them should investigated by independent bodies (if they exist...)...

Albanians (sorry Kosovars) are saints...
2008-04-16 13:29:54

and Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, right?

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Kosovo Ignores Organ Trafficking Claims