UN says Serbia too slow on Kosovo corpse handover

Reuters ^ | 31 May 2004 10:00:15 GMT | By Matthew Robinson

[mark502inf]

ORAHOVAC, Serbia and Montenegro, May 31 (Reuters) - Serbia must speed up the return of hundreds of Kosovo Albanian corpses dug up from a police training ground near Belgrade and other mass graves in central Serbia, the United Nations says.

Jose-Pablo Baraybar, head of the U.N. Office of Missing Persons and Forensics (OMPF), told Reuters on Sunday he was not satisfied with the pace at which the Serbs were returning bodies to grieving families, five years after the Kosovo war ended.

"The process must be expedited," he said.

More than 800 bodies were discovered in early 2001 at three mass-grave sites in central Serbia. U.N. prosecutors in The Hague say the victims were killed in Kosovo and trucked over the border in a bid to conceal evidence of atrocities.

So far, only around 250 have been returned to the U.N.-run province in a series of handovers since May last year. The OMPF says a further 500 have undergone DNA testing in Belgrade but have yet to be identified.

"What we want is for the identification process to be expedited in those cases in which DNA testing has been done," said Baraybar.

He was speaking at a mortuary in the central Kosovo town of Orahovac amid the stench of decay from clothing on display to help identify dozens more victims of the 1998-99 conflict.

Troops under former Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999 after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign to halt Serb repression of the Albanian majority.

Five years later the fate of more than 3,400 people is unknown and remains an open wound blocking reconciliation. The figure includes some 600 Serbs and other minorities caught up in an angry Albanian backlash.

The head of Belgrade's missing persons bureau rejected the criticism, saying the Serb side was working as fast as it could. "This is a complex procedure. There is no room for speculation", Gvozden Gagic told Reuters.

Gagic said he expected names to be put to another 150 bodies by the end of the year, adding: "There is no reason for us to drag our feet or to keep those bodies for any reason whatsoever. It is humane for us to hand them over as soon as possible."

Officials from Pristina and Belgrade met in March in a first attempt to resolve the issue. But talks were derailed by two days of rioting in Kosovo later that month.

As visitors to the mortuary stepped slowly around scraps of clothing spread out neatly on the floor, Baraybar said it was "shameful" that families were still waiting for answers.

Emerging into the sunlight, Eqrem Gashi said he would keep looking for five members of his family, including his seven-year-old granddaughter, killed when their village was shelled. He said that Serb soldiers had taken their bodies.

"We feel great pain, but there's nothing we can do. We can't bury them because we don't know where they are." (Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic)

[mark502inf]

More than 800 bodies were discovered in early 2001 at three mass-grave sites in central Serbia...the victims were killed in Kosovo and trucked over the border in a bid to conceal evidence of atrocities.

Last I checked the UNMIK web-site, the number of Albanian bodies found inside Kosovo was something over 3,000. With about 2,800 more Albanians still missing and these 800, that makes between 6,000 and 7,000 Albanian victims of the conflict.

[joan]

Where are the names? Without names and details we can't know KLA from civilian, men from women, Serbs from Albanians from Roma, or if they might have been killed before NATO bombing, during, or in the aftermath.

[joan]

With about 2,800 more Albanians still missing and these 800

Are you adding the 800 number to the 2,800 reported missing? Then you are in effect saying that none of the 800 have ever been reported missing and are brand new names. What are these names so we can look them up to see if anyone ever reported them missing?

[Seselj]

Oh no, 6000 or 7000 dead terrorists. I'm weeping. Oh, if only those terrorists were still alive, so that they could kill some more people or burn down some mure churches in Kosovo today. Please note the extreme sarcasm.

[TexasGreg]

Serbia must speed up the return of hundreds of Kosovo Albanian corpses dug up from a police training ground near Belgrade and other mass graves in central Serbia, the United Nations says.

And if they don't the UN will do .... what??? The UN has proven itself to be totally incapable of backing its threats. It takes other nations to put teeth into their assertions. So ... if the Serbs say "screw the UN" what is the UN going to do??? Frankly, given how the Albanians are engaging in unrestrained ethnic cleansing back on the Serbs, I wouldn't blame them if they did NOTHING.

Yugoslavia is a very sad story in the history of Southern Europe, and a blot on the face of the UN and the Klintonista Administration.

[Hoplite]

5,880 recoveries thus far, best estimate.

Been here, done this.

[DTA]

>>>>>>>Last I checked the UNMIK web-site, the number of Albanian bodies found inside Kosovo was something over 3,000. With about 2,800 more Albanians still missing and these 800, that makes between 6,000 and 7,000 Albanian victims of the conflict.<<<<<<

"Albanian bodies" does not equal to "albanian victims". And here is why:

-Some dead Albanians were inocent Albanian civilians killed by Serb forces.

-some dead Albanians were inocent Albanian civilians killed by KLA terrorists.

-some dead Albanians were KLA terrorsists killed in battle

--some dead Albanians were KLA terrorsists killed by friendly fire (NATO bombing)

-some dead Albanians were inocent Albanian civilians killed by NATO bombing.

-some dead Albanians were Albanian terrorists of varios factions who killed each other.

-some dead "Albanians" were inocent Roma civilians with Albanian names killed by KLA terorists or NATO.

"Albanian bodies" does not equal to "albanian victims" killed by Serbs.

You compare apples with oranges. Some people killed were innocent victims.What is next? Al Qaeda victims? Terrorists are not victims. Calling ALL dead "Albanian victims" is an act of aiding and abetting terrorism.

You have the right to support terrorism, I have the right to say loud and clear what you are doing.

[vooch]

It has been well established that the vast majority of Albanians civilians killed were murdered at the hands of the KLA.

Kfor has already arrested or cashiered virtually the entire KLA leadership cadre for murdering their fellow Albanians.