C
Posted on 04/12/2008 8:50:14 AM PDT by Ravnagora
I have written in today's paper about the revelations from Carla del Ponte's new book "The Hunt: Me and War criminals". I wanted to talk to her before writing the piece, but was unable to get an interview.
Some readers of this blog have already posted snippets of the book in their comments. Most of these excerpts - translated from the original Italian - have come from Serb media outlets - perhaps not the most objective source for a story about Serbs being tortured.
So with the help of our Rome correspondent, Malcolm Moore, I have put together a transcription of the relevant parts of CdP's book for those interested parties.
In it she reports allegations made by several sources that KLA fighters, at a senior level, had authorised and profited from an organ-harvesting racket preying on Serbs transported from Kosovo.
It is worth remembering she got the information they provided through UN officials and "trusted journalists" not from the sources themselves. Here it is uncut for you to judge.
In a chapter entitled: Kosovo 1999-2007, she writes:
"The prosecutors office received information which UNMIK officials had received from a team of trustworthy journalists that during the summer months of 1999 Kosovan Albanians had transported 300 kidnapped people from Kosovo to Albania.
These prisoners were initially held in sheds and other structures in Kukes and Tropoje [Harry's note - north-eastern Albania]. According to the journalists' sources, who were only identified as Kosovo Albanians, some of the younger and fitter prisoners were visited by doctors and were never hit.
They were transferred to other detention camps in Burrel and the neighbouring area, one of which was a barracks behind a yellow house 20 km behind the town.
One room inside this yellow house, the journalists said, was kitted out as a makeshift operating theatre, and it was here that surgeons transplanted the organs of prisoners. These organs, according to the sources, were then sent to Rinas airport, Tirana, to be sent to surgical clinics abroad to be transplanted to paying patients.
One of the informers had personally carried out a shipment to the airport.
The victims, deprived of a kidney, were then locked up again, inside the barracks, until the moment they were killed for other vital organs. In this way, the other prisoners in the barracks were aware of the fate that awaited them, and according to the source, pleaded, terrified to be killed immediately.
Among the prisoners who were taken to these barracks were women from Kosovo, Albania, Russia and other Slavic countries. Two of the source said that they helped to bury the corpses of the dead around the yellow house and in a neighbouring cemetery.
According to the sources, the organ smuggling was carried out with the knowledge and active involvement of middle and high ranking involvement from the KLA.
The tribunal investigators discovered that even if the information for the journalists was tear-jerking, the details were coherent within themselves and confirmed information directly gathered by the tribunal.
'The material within [from the office of the court] does not contain specific material from Albania; but a low number of witness statements and other material we have confirms and to a certain extent amplifies the stated information,' I noted in a memo on this activity.
'All the individuals whom the sources cite as present in the Albanian camps in the summer of 1999 were declared to be lost in the summer of 1999 and had never been seen since then.'
The implications were obvious; 'Given the extremely grave nature of the these cases, the fact that practically none of the bodies of the victims of the KLA were found in the exhumations in Kosovo and the fact that these atrocities would have been committed under the supervision or command of the leadership of the KLA at the medium or high level, they should be investigated in the most thorough way possible by professional investigators and experts.'
The victims of these cases were probably seized after the end of the NATO air campaign in a period in which Kosovo was overrun with foreign peacekeepers and legions of investigators and representatives from Human Right operations. It was not clear whether crimes committed in this arc of time fell under the mandate of the tribunal.
The prosecutors office should have asked for the names of the sources from the journalists and UNMIK as well as any other information they had on this case."
In a second passage Ms del Ponte goes on to relate a visit to the alleged organ surgery in Burrel, Albania "a few months" after October 2002, presumably in early 2003.
She writes:
"A few months after [October 2002] the investigators of the tribunal and UNMIK reached central Albania and the yellow house which the journalists sources had revealed as the place where the prisoners were killed to transplant their organs. The journalists and the Albanian prosecutor accompanied the investigators on to the site.
The house was now white. The owner denied it had ever been repainted even though investigators found traces of yellow along the base of its walls.
Inside the investigators found pieces of gauze, a used syringe and two plastic IV bags encrusted with mud and empty bottles of medicine, some of which was of a muscle relaxant often used in surgical operations.
The application of a chemical substance revealed to the scientific team traces of blood on the walls and on the floor of a room inside the house, except for in a clean area of the floor sized 180x60cm.
The owner offered a variety of explanations for the bloodstains over the course of the two days the investigators spent in the village.
Initially he said that many years ago his wife had given birth in that room then when his wife said she had her children elsewhere he asserted that the family had used the building to butcher animals for a Muslim festival.
It is tempting to draw conclusions from these investigations, combined with the fragmentary testimony from the journalists. Stories of prisoners killed by organ traffickers circulate in many conflict areas, but rarely is it possible to find concrete proof which would separate these tales from urban legend.
The syringes, the iv solution bags, the gauze are clearly material which confirms the tales, but as proof they are unfortunately insufficient. The investigators were not able to determine whether the traces they found were of human blood. The sources did not indicated the position of the grave of the presumed victims and so we did not find the bodies."
_____________________________
If there’s no evidence that means one of two things.
1) All the evidence was destroyed - an impossible occurrence. It’s impossible to find all the evidence and destroy it.
2) It never happened.
Since if it happened there will be evidence, I will await the production of the evidence.
Okay, that’s fair. I cannot agree that “destroying all the evidence” is impossible since there are plenty of unsolved crimes that remain “unsolved” in the criminal justice system of any country (in some more than others), but I hope you can remain open to being sufficiently persuaded if the evidence does see the light in the future.
Hopefully, the more publicity del Ponte’s book and her allegations get, the better the likelihood of a valid investigation.
You are probably correct in suspending ‘judgment’ until you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, but there are those of us who are familiar enough with the way ‘the enemies’ of the Serbs operate that we have no trouble at all believing these allegations.
Dear Kolokotronis,
A mutual friend has pointed out that my nickname for you in my post was not appropriate given the meaning in Greek. I wanted to apologize and certainly meant no disrespect. She said you would be a good sport about it, but I shouldn’t presume like that. You never know what a nickname or abbreviation of a name might actually mean to the person you are addressing!
By the way, “Kolo” in Serbo-Croatian (yes, that’s a real language!) means “dance”.
Take care and please excuse this ignorant American!
“A mutual friend has pointed out that my nickname for you in my post was not appropriate given the meaning in Greek. I wanted to apologize and certainly meant no disrespect. She said you would be a good sport about it, but I shouldn’t presume like that. You never know what a nickname or abbreviation of a name might actually mean to the person you are addressing!”
Don’t worry about it, R! Some years back I tried to get people to understand what “Kolo” means in Greek. Most paid no attention and others thought it an appropriate name for me! :)
In any event, its sort of stuck now. My cousins down in the old country get a big kick out of it! By the way, Kolokotronis actually means “A*s on a Rock” because the old man was often seen sitting on a rock thinking out his battle plans.
Now the Serbian meaning is likewise appropriate because what Greek man doesn’t love to dance?!
"Once again, I publicly claim that concentration camps for Serbs in Kosovo exist. When I say I claim this, I am completely conscious of what it means. Our activists have been to no less than five concentration camps, illegally, of course, entered the camps, seen the imprisoned Serbs and spoken with them. I claim that at this moment, or more precisely, as of March 14, there existed at least five such concentration camps in which at least 142 people of non-Albanian nationality were imprisoned, the great majority of them Serbs. Since the number of kidnapped Serbs according to reports filed by their families is at least 1,000, I assume that many more such concentration camps exist".
Six concentration camps for kidnapped Serbs
NOVI PAZAR (Beta) - The president of the Helsinki Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in Novi Pazar, Sefko Alomerovic, has stated that this organization "has reliable evidence regarding the existence of six concentration camps in which the Albanians are holding kidnapped citizens of Serbian nationality".
"We have also determined the names of some of the people who are heading these concentration camps, and we have determined the name of the man - the chief of the secret police - who heads all concentration camps in Kosovo," said Alomerovic during an interview given to Beta, adding that "in three instances there is enough evidence to initiate a serious investigation".
"In two instances it is clearly apparent that an indictment can be initiated because there exist dozens of witnesses and material evidence that two men from Plava were killed on the order of Besim Ceku, the brother of the commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps, general Agim Ceku," says Alomerovic.
"Besim Ceku has the head of the secret police of the KLA, located in the offices of the Raj Bank in Pec," said Alomerovic and added that representatives of the Committee have advised KFOR officials of the name of the man who is heading these concentration camps after which "they got very excited and left the office". "Panic broke out and then they began to question how we knew this and who told us this. Despite promises, they did not allow one of the relatives of those kidnapped to see the place where a concentration camp is located," said Alomerovic.
He said that the International Committee of the Red Cross had also been advised of the existence of these concentration camps and an initiative started for the exchange of all those kidnapped who are in the concentration camps in Kosovo with imprisoned Albanians who are in Serbian jails.
"There is a large number of kidnapped non-Albanians, several hundred at least, and a large number of their family members are distressed because they do not even know if their relatives are alive," said Alomerovic.
He advised that the Helsinki Committee in Novi Pazar has produced a report on the position of Bosniacs in Kosovo after the arrival of KFOR.
"According to our evidence, 65 Muslims-Bosniacs have been killed in Kosovo since the arrival of KFOR, and according to assessments on the basis of indirect data, more than 100,000 Bosniacs have been expelled from Kosovo," he said.
Alomerovic said that in the area of Sandzak, during the period of the crisis in the region of the former Yugoslavia, human rights were most greviously violated "even more so than in Kosovo".
"Until the beginning of the war in Kosovo in 1998 in that province not a single village was ethnically cleansed, not a single Albanian was kidnapped, not a single Albanian home was bombed or set on fire. In Sandzak, in the years prior to the signing of the Dayton agreement, more than 50 villages were completely ethnically cleansed. Six hijackings took place in which more than 50 people were kidnapped and all of them were killed. In addition, in Sandzak 36 Bosniacs were killed at work, in apartments and homes. The Helsinki Committee has documented 16 classic armed attacks on villages during which people were killed and their houses set on fire," said Alomerovic.
Translated by S. Lazovic (March 28, 2000)
Danas, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, April 3, 2000
"The commotion surrounding the existence of concentration camps in which Serbs are imprisoned in the region of Kosovo and Metohija demonstrates that we have hit the bull's eye. The concentration camps exist and KFOR cannot continue to hide it," Sefko Alomerovic, the president of the Helsinki Committee in Sandzak, tells Danas.
Alomerovic again reconfirms that many authoritative KFOR officials as well as officials of international humanitarian organizations who have done everything to deny this claim are wrong. The head of the office of the International Red Cross in Pristina has even threatened Sefko Alomerovic with arrest.
"Once again, I publicly claim that concentration camps for Serbs in Kosovo exist. When I say I claim this, I am completely conscious of what it means. Our activists have been to no less than five concentration camps, illegally, of course, entered the camps, seen the imprisoned Serbs and spoken with them. I claim that at this moment, or more precisely, as of March 14, there existed at least five such concentration camps in which at least 142 people of non-Albanian nationality were imprisoned, the great majority of them Serbs. Since the number of kidnapped Serbs according to reports filed by their families is at least 1,000, I assume that many more such concentration camps exist".
These concentration camps were established immediately following the departure of the Serbian Police and Army from Kosovo. The first of the camps was discovered as early as June, then in July and in August. These are not large collective centers such as those which formerly existed in Bosnia but enclosed facilities, usually basements or garages in city districts in which between 10 and 50 people are imprisoned. The existence of the concentration camps was "a publicly known secret"; everything happened in front of the eyes of KFOR and it would be strange indeed if it turned out that KFOR did not know and does not know of their existence.
100 locations in reserve
Alomerovic reminds that the activists of the Helsinki Committee discovered one such concentration camp last year in Kosovska Mitrovica in the garage and boiler room in the building of the former Social Insurance Administration. There were approximately 50 Serbs there who were kidnapped within the city limits. Imprisoned Serbs were also discovered in the basement of a building near the roundabout and the Automobile Association. The basement of the "Afrodita" restaurant was also a concentration camp for imprisoned Serbs; it was run by the waiters in the restaurant.
"Through the relatives of one of the prisoners we reported the existence of the concentration camp in the former Social Insurance Administration to KFOR in Kosovska Mitrovica. KFOR carried out a raid, surrounding the building with a large number of troops, and it looked like they meant business. When they went to the door of the concentration camp and knocked, two Albanians came out and said that there was no concentration camp or prisoners there. Can you imagine, the two Albanians refused to allow a large number of armed KFOR troops to carry out a search of the building. They permitted this only the next day. At that time the KFOR patrol found approximately 50 KLA soldiers in the building."
Through the relatives of the prisoners, KFOR was advised immediately regarding the existence of every one of these places but KFOR did not find a single one of them because every one would be moved to a rural area, to a private house or abandoned buildings of agricultural cooperatives immediately after KFOR was notified. The Helsinki Committee in Sandzak claims that it is aware of the existence of a large number of concentration camps between Klina, Pec and Djakovica. It also has knowledge of a concentration camp in Studenica near Istok, and the concentration camp in Drenovac which was established by the 113th Brigade of the KLA. It also knows the name of the man who headed these concentration camps. It is assumed that the Albanians in Kosovo have at least a hundred locations for concentration camps to which they relocate the imprisoned Serbs as needed.
Alomerovic says that the existence of secret concentration camps can be proven indirectly. If the Association of Relatives of Kidnapped Citizens reported approximately 1,000 kidnapped persons, and there is no proof that they have been killed, then where are these people? There are no bodies, no mass graves and they are not in public prisons. A thousand people is not a small number, and Kosovo is not a black hole. If they were killed, some evidence of them would have been discovered. There is no evidence because they are in secret prisons which we are calling concentration camps.
KFOR as an accomplice?
"When these concentration camps began to be established there was no clear idea of what was to be done with these people," says Alomerovic. "I have no way of knowing the motives behind every kidnapping or arrest but I assume that there were many factors. Perhaps they were imprisoned for ransom or for revenge, I cannot say. However, when the authority of KFOR was consolidated and when the civil and military authority of the Kosovo Albanians was consolidated, I think that the motive of these kidnappings and imprisonment in the concentration camps became to prepare for exchange for Albanians imprisoned in Serbian prisons. That is probably the reason why the treatment of these people is now better. The number of Albanians imprisoned in Serbian prisons is also unknown. Numbers between 800 and as many as two or three thousand have been cited. I support the exchange of the imprisoned but only on the principle of 'everyone for everyone'."
Family members of kidnapped Serbs seriously accuse KFOR of either being incompetent or lacking the desire to address the issue of concentration camps.
"How can they say there are no concentration camps when they refused to investigate even the five addresses which we gave them? I am publicly asking KFOR why it does not investigate the addresses which we have given them. Their reaction most resembles that of accomplices. I cannot fathom the reaction of these authorities. They are not naive peasants. These are the armed authorities who represent the international community in Kosovo. I understand that they are in a difficult position, that they cannot figure out our complicated relations but if we report a crime to the police which it is responsible for investigating, and the police refuses to investigate it, then it is an accomplice to the crime. If the members of a family report a kidnapping, if they say who, when, where and how was kidnapped, if they say who kidnapped him, and KFOR does nothing, then that is direct encouragement of the kidnappers," emphasizes Alomerovic.
If the goal of officials in Kosovo, regardless of the organization or nation to which they belong, is to deny or cover up the existence of concentration camps, that is even understandable to some extent. However, it is extremely difficult to understand why humanitarian organizations active in Serbia are doing the same thing. The statements of the spokespersons of KFOR, UNMIK, the president of the Helsinki Committee in Kosovo and the president of the regional Human Rights Commission in Kosovo are directly or indirectly disputing the information provided by the Helsinki Committee in Sandzak which has been published in both the national and foreign press.
Although none of these statements is phrased so as to bring into doubt any of the facts which Sefko Alomerovic provided to the International Red Cross Committee and other international organizations, a bitter impression remains because this is not an academic debate and human lives are at stake.
"It is strange but indicative in itself that only now has a widespread campaign been launched to deny something which nine months ago was 'a publicly known secret' while nothing has been done to verify the facts which I gave directly to delegates of the International Red Cross Committee back on January 20, 2000," concludes Sefko Alomerovic.
Translated by Snezana Lazovic (April 3, 2000)
Since this is a bombshell story I am certain that many people will be turning over every stone to find evidence. I do not know how many transplants of any type are done in Europe, but I expect that efforts will be made to trace every organ back to its original legitimate donor in the period during and immediately after the war. If I were investigating I would see how many are left which cannot be traced through normal channels. If there were organs available which cannot be traced to legitimate donors, this would be evidence that the story is true, even if culprits cannot be identified. If there were evidence that the organs were transported from Albania, so much the better for proving the story true.
And who knows what other leads may turn up, or other threads of investigation that can be pursued? If this happened the people who did it are murderers. No statute of limitations on murder.
C
Language is Serbian,IF YOU are from Ravna Gora you should know that! And “kolo” (oro) is a specific type of dance.
It’s actually known as Serbo-Croatian-Bosnak, isn’t it?
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