Did ethnic Albanian guerillas kidnap Serb (and other non-Albanian) civilians, kill them and harvest their organs during the Kosovo war?
That’s the charge Dick Marty, a Swiss senator who in 2006 helped uncover the truth about the secret C.I.A. detention camps in Europe, is currently investigating. On behalf of the Council of Europe, a leading European human rights body representing 47 countries across the continent, Marty is on a fact-finding tour this week in Albania and Serbia.
The explosive allegations first became public last year when Carla Del Ponte, the outspoken former chief war crimes prosecutor for the United Nations, published her memoirs.
In her book, co-authored by former New York Times journalist Chuck Sudetic and released in English earlier this year under the title “Madame Prosecutor,” Del Ponte said she had investigated credible claims that during and immediately after the Kosovo war, ethnic Albanian fighters transported hundreds of people over the border into Albania, where they were held in secret prisons, tortured and killed. Some prisoners, her sources told her, were murdered after their organs had been harvested and sold.
Del Ponte also said her investigation was blocked by UN and NATO officials, who didn’t want to look too closely at allegations that muddied the easy narrative of bad Serbs and good Albanians that justified NATO’s 1999 bombing of Serbia.
Kosovo officials and former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) officers deny the accusations but, in the wake of Del Ponte’s memoir, a number of media and human rights organizations have conducted their own inquiries.
An in-depth investigation conducted by the BBC, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), found evidence of secret KLA prisons in Albania. The BBC produced a half-hour radio documentary and 12-minute television piece, while BIRN published its version on its website. Al Jazeera English spoke to Serb prosecutors and visited a farmhouse in rural Albania where Del Ponte says she was told prisoners were held:
Del Ponte is a hated figure across the region and many people — of all ethnic groups — have lost faith in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the UN court responsible for prosecuting war crimes committed during the breakup of Yugoslavia. Kosovo Albanians think justice has been too slow and that even those found guilty have been let off with easy sentences, while Serbs think the tribunal is an anti-Serb conspiracy, aimed at blaming them alone for the breakup of Yugoslavia. The court’s failure to investigate allegations of kidnapping and organ trafficking by KLA fighters is seen by many Serbs as proof that it is biased.
Marty is widely respected for his independence and willingness to speak truth to power, and his conclusions will likely carry weight, at least not already convinced of the truth of one side or the other.
But whether the allegations are true or not, the response to them shows that post-war justice process has done little to help people in the region come to terms with the past.
All sides in the Balkan wars still want to see themselves as victims and others as the aggressors. But war is rarely simple and its execution always ugly. While it is true that Kosovo Albanians suffered greatly from Serbian aggression during the last years of the 1990s — thousands died and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee to neighboring countries — that doesn’t mean crimes weren’t also committed against Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo.
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Dado says:
"Some prisoners, her sources told her, were murdered after their organs had been harvested and sold."
Interesting but the piece leaves us with the question asked in the headline.
Organs sold to whom? Who buys these? Who has the skills to effectively use them? Surely if it's suspected and claimed this was done, the questions above would have been answered.
The premise very well may be correct. But a piece that asks questions is no substitute for one that pins it down and shows what, where, when and by whom.
Hawk says:
Well, one could question the truth of those claims, but what leaves bitter taste is flagrant refusal of Albanians to allow any kind of investigation about the matter.
If they are so persistent that this atrocity didn't happen, then I could see no problem to allow open, transparent and thorough investigation on the matter. Only after that we could ask our selves questions one already ask.
But, if Albanians are fiercely reluctant to allow the investigation, then we should ask ourselves: Is there are something they want to hide?
sudzuk says:
Well in order to remove organs you just need a surgeon.
If the survival of the donor i not a topic,
sterilized environment and special medical containers are the bare minimum to allow this kind of business.
Tony says:
Killing someone and then selling their organs? That is something out of a horror film. I heard about this from a friend of mine that worked as a cop out there a few years ago. I'm surprised it's coming out only now.
Gogo says:
Hi Dado
have you understood the article?
Valon says:
Their is footage of a Serbian spy (payed by Belgrade) to pay Serbians in Kosovo to claim that they have been victims of Organ trafficking in one way or another. He was willing to pay up to 100,000 Euros! I'm all for an investigation.. I'm sure not every single Albanian was a saint, and not every single Serb was evil. but the Serbian government is using this to undermine a free and independent Kosovo. A Kosovo safe to all Albanians, Serbs and other minorities.
Frank says:
Research the American who was kidnapped here two days ago and found with his organs removed. Valon you are a fool to believe that crap. you are a fool and the BS you are spouting is a lie. I work with the US Military in Kosovo and the reality is people like Serbs or non ethnic persons being kidnapped and harvested for their organs is well known but not talked about. If you are thinking of traveling to Kosovo or Albania, DON'T. The Prime Minister of Kosovo has been under investigation for the crime of organ harvesting, but never charged. That is not to say that it is not true. Just saying.
peter says:
I have a lot of respect for Dick Marty & if anyone can get to the truth of this matter, it is him. This issue needs to be resolved, if only for the sake of simple justice for the families concerned be they serbs, albanians or any other ethnicity - for serbs were not the only ones kidnapped & murdered by the KLA as significant numbers of albanians & others deemed to be 'collaborators' were also.
Were some of these victims also plundered for their organs? That's for Dick Marty & his team to determine.
Just a couple of points to add:
Dado - if this sort of practice can happen in the back alleys of Mumbai, it can also happen in the backblocks of Albania.
Valon - The 'footage' you're talking about is footage provided by the KPS whose members were largely drawn from the same KLA that have been accused of carrying out this crime. The best you could say is that it is suspect especially given the timing of it's release.
miri says:
Frank, you are the stereotype of a person brainwashed by Serbian ideological machine. You are arrogant, dis-respectful of others' opinions and angry.
For your information there has been an investigation by UN. There was simply found no evidence to justify further investigation.
Albanian authorities will allow anyone that has a court order but it's out of the question that every time Belgrade likes to play dirty games, Albania should open the doors. This is not the first and the last allegation comming from Belgrade to discredit Pristina.