Serb prisoners 'were stripped of their organs in Kosovo war'

By Harry de Quetteville in Berlin and Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 10:28am BST 11/04/2008

Serb prisoners had their internal organs removed and sold by ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo war, according to allegations in a new book by the world's best known war crimes prosecutor.

Harry de Quetteville: Snippets from Carla Del Ponte's book
Carla Del Ponte, who stepped down in January as chief prosecutor at the Hague tribunal for crimes committed in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, said investigators found a house suspected of being a laboratory for the illegal trade.

Carla Del Ponte: allegation

A senior adviser to Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's prime minister and a leading member of the Kosovo Liberation Army which is accused of benefiting from the trade, yesterday denied the allegations. "These are horrible things even to imagine," said Bekim Collaku. "But this is a product of her [Miss Del Ponte's] imagination."

Miss Del Ponte reports that the allegations were made by several sources, one of whom "personally made an organ delivery" to an Albanian airport for transport abroad, and "confirmed information directly gathered by the tribunal".

According to the sources, senior figures in the Kosovo Liberation Army were aware of the scheme, in which hundreds of young Serbs were allegedly taken by truck from Kosovo to northern Albania where their organs were removed. Miss Del Ponte provides grim details of the alleged organ harvesting, and of how some prisoners were sewn up after having kidneys removed.

"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 were aware of the fate that awaited them, and according to the source, pleaded, terrified, to be killed immediately," Miss Del Ponte writes.

The claims in The Hunt: Me and War Criminals have renewed tensions between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence two months ago. In it, the Swiss ex-prosecutor reveals how her efforts to bring alleged war criminals to justice were stymied by lack of co-operation from all sides - Serb, Albanian and even Nato. But it is her report of the organ traffic that has caused most shock, even in a region long hardened to horror.

Hashim Thaci [centre] in 1999 while head of the Kosovo Liberation Army’s political directorate

Vladan Batic, Serbia's former justice minister, said: "If her allegations are true, then this is the most monstrous crime since the times of Mengele, and it must be made a priority, not only of the domestic judiciary but also of the Hague Tribunal." The book reports a visit by Hague tribunal investigators to a house south of the Albanian town of Burrel where they found traces of blood across a wide area, as well as medical equipment.

"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," she writes. However, she concludes that the finds do not amount to sufficient proof for a war crimes tribunal. In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, an association of families of Serbs still listed as missing since the Kosovo war, said it would sue Miss Del Ponte, alleging that she had failed to act over the alleged organ-farming scandal. Serbia's war crimes office announced it had opened its own investigation.

The book has also prompted concern in Switzerland, where it has been criticised for tarnishing the country's celebrated neutrality, particularly as Miss Del Ponte has been named as the Swiss ambassador to Argentina.

In Belgrade, Natasha Kandic, the highly respected head of the investigative Humanitarian Law Centre, said ordinary Serbs "welcome the publication of this book" but said allegations of organ-smuggling were "rumours". "I talked to her many times, she never told me about this," said Miss Kandic.

Security News by Himara

The Newspaper "KOHA JONE"

"THE PEOPLE OF HIMARA ATTACKS THE POLICE DEPARTAMENT"

Very critic the situation in Himara Town, the center of Southern Albania who lives a large of Greek ethnic community, yesterday exploded big revolte against the police department of Himara Region.

According to Albanian press, a conflict between polices and some Himara citizens, passed to a massive demonstration against the Police Department. In fact according to Himara inhabitants have been the member of Police Departament of Himara Region, who have been aggressive shutting and terrorizing the people of Himara with Kalashnikov gun on hands.

The situation became very critic where the people of Himare begins to joint all together protesting in peace about 400 people across Police Department Building, a structure which functions by Albanian police origin linked directly with Tirana since dictator regime against interests of people of Himara who represent about 90% of total population as ethnic Greeks of the Himara Region.

The head of Himara Municipality and the President of The Greek Ethinc Minority of Albania Vassilis Bollanos, called the Himara people for patience and attention against any provocation of Albanian structures and paramilitaries group.

It’s very interesting that the Greeks of Albania a large community who lives in southern Albania known as Northern Epirus Region, continue to have not the rights to have their police represents and other institutions inside Albanian authorities including the Greek official language. Particularly the “Protocol of Corfu”, an agreement of 1914 obliges Albanian State to know the Autonomy inhabited by large percentage of Greek population in this region. The agreement firmed also by Great Powers obliges Albanian State to respect the international agreements based to the human rights values.

But in fact the police authorities of Albania continue to violate many others Albanian citizens both in Vlora Region to other places of the country. Albania is passing a destabilization faze witch could be claming as a critic situation to the NATO alliance, if the violence could take other extremity measures which can paralyze the security of the country.

THE TRIP OF KASSIMIS IN SOUTHERN ALBANIA (NORTHERN EPIRUS)

After meeting with Berisha and the represent of Greeks in Tirana the V/ Foreign Minister Kassimis started today the visit to Narta, Vlora and Himara meeting the greek community.

In Himara the people organized a meeting in occasion of Kassimis visit even one day before the protest of Himara people risked to menace seriously the stability.

Kassimis will continue the trip to next days visiting Saranda, Argjirokastsr and Korca.

WHICH WOULD BE THE NEXT TRIP OF KASSIMIS IN ALBANIA?

Photos: The Greek Boston Parade 2008, the Greek Indipendence Day in USA.

Athens must understand that the Greek Minority as the majority of community inside Northern Epirus Region must take not place to the Albanian institutions including Albanian Parliament since the human rights continue to be an instrument which comproments and prohibits the existence of greater values and standards of the Greeks of Albania and in general for aspiration of Albanian State to joint EU.

Theodore Kassimis the V/Foreign Minister of Greece will visit Albania. During the three days trip he according to information will meet high Albanian authorities and represent of Greek Minority in Argjirokaster, Saranda, Himara and Korca.

Anyway that we do not understand is the mission of Kassimis to meet Greek people in zones known officially by Tirana, when there are other regions and big cities of Albania which Tirana does not recognize the Greek community. The State Department Human Rights Report for 2007 said exactly that “the Albanian Government does not know the existence of the Greek communities inside big cities and regions".

Kassimis must visited also Avlona, Narta, Selenitsa, Berati, Voskopolis, Bylis, Apolonia and other places where communities exist and Hellenic traces not only in the Greek minority zone which has been known by Tirana.

Meanwhile, Kassimis must take meetings to be open with Greek intellectuals and journalists who live in Albania and not only to meet some old politic personages or ex heads of Omonia which are under accuse for abusing against Hellenist interests or corrupted with Albanians institutions most part member of HRUP Party. Kassimis visit must open new windows for the Greeks of Albania seeing by the challengers in Balkan regions regarding the emergence plain the Athens must offer to Northern Epiriotes people:

1. Reorganization of “Omonia” to the new Northern Epiriotean National Council.

2. The new election inside “Omonia” organization to became under “One member one vote” including all the epitriotes abroad both in Albania, Greece and other countries.

3. Athens must create the possibilities of northern epiriotes to come back to invest in their land and proprieties in Northern Epirus.

4. Athens must understand that the Greek Minority as the majority of communities inside Northern Epirus Region which must take not place abandoning the Albanian institutions including Albanian Parliament since the human rights continue to be a propaganda instrument which comproments the existence of great values and standards of the Greeks of Albania and in general for Albanian State to joint EU.

A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN VLORA, AFTER ARREST OF GREEN PEACE LEADERS. THE VIOLENCE OF POLICE DEPARTAMENT COULD MAKE AN INSTABILE SITUATION AGAINST THE STABILITY OF THE COUNTRY.

The Green Peace Alliance of Vlora Community who are against construction of Energetic Park including “AMBO Pipeline” has protested for arrest made by Tribunal of Vlora for three leaders of citizen resistance.

Yesterday the Socialist Movement Party “LSI” has expressed it position to support the green peace protest of Vlora against the construction of Energetic Park supporting the rights of Vlora Community for referendum.

Some analysts in Albania said that the protest of Vlora Community as their rights to decide for future of the Region of Vlora is unacceptable for Albanian politic parties including both the government headed by Sali Berisha and Socialist Party in oposition headed by Edi Rama, which could have pressing of American lobbies to stop the resistance of protesters.

But the rebel city of Vlora known historically for strong resistance of Berisha Regime in 1997 could make an anti-American resistance if the human rights don not respected in Albania. In favor of Green Peace Alliance of Vlora to protect the Gulf have been the best Albanian annalists which will protest together with Vlora Community.

Mjaft: State Presents its Gangster Face in Vlora

MJAFT! Movement strongly protests the arrests of protesters by the Vlora Police Department, during the protests against the planned oil terminal that Italian Petrolifera Company intends to build in the Bay organized by the Alliance for Protection of the Bay of Vlora (AMGJ).

The Police is actually behaving as police of a gangster state that doesn’t refrain from psychological and physical violence against its citizens, says Mjaft Movement, adding that during the detention, the protesteres were kept in inhuman conditions. Six protesters chained to each other stopped the lorries and other construction equipment from entering the construction site of the new oil terminal.

In the process, they created a traffic jam and were arrested and detained by the Police. The Alliance, which lists in its ranks a number of prominent intellectual figures, has organized almost constant protests since the announcement of construction. It aims to stop all energy projects in the area, seeing the future of the region primarily in tourism. The detained protesters said after their release that they intend to continue the protests with more radical measures.