Kosovo/Albania: Investigate Alleged KLA Crimes

Credible Accusations of Disappearances, Executions, and Organ-Trafficking

December 16, 2010

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Special Focus on Kosovo

The international community can no longer ignore credible allegations of serious crimes in Kosovo and Albania. The US and European governments must demand prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations, with prosecutions of those responsible.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch

(New York) - The United States and European governments should demand thorough and impartial criminal investigations in Kosovo and Albania into allegations of serious crimes by former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Albanian judiciary should conduct the investigation in Albania, while in Kosovo the European Union mission should take the lead, Human Rights Watch said.

A Council of Europe draft report alleging abductions, disappearances, executions, organ trafficking and other serious crimes coordinated by leading Kosovo politicians will go before the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's legal affairs and human rights committee on December 16, 2010.

"The international community can no longer ignore credible allegations of serious crimes in Kosovo and Albania," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "The US and European governments must demand prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations, with prosecutions of those responsible."

The Council of Europe report prepared by Swiss Senator Dick Marty alleges an extensive criminal network in post-war Kosovo, in which, it claims, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci played an important role. Nearly 500 people have gone missing in Kosovo since the 1999 war, the draft report says.....................

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/12/15/kosovoalbania-investigate-alleged-kla-crimes