PR 346: Former Chief War Crimes Prosecutor Carla del Ponte’s reports on trafficking of organs taken from prisoners by Albanian guerrillas in 1999

April 17, 2008

SERBIAN UNITY CONGRESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

In her recently published book, former Chief Prosecutor of the War Crimes Tribunal, for Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte, discussed allegations brought to the Tribunal that ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed 300 people and sold their organs at the end of the war in 1999. Victims also included trafficked women of other nationalities from Albania, Russia and other Eastern European countries. “We consider the circumstantial evidence she presents to be sufficiently grave to warrant further investigation,” New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a recent letter addressed to various institutions in Kosovo according to the Associated Press article dated 4/11/2008. According to veteran Balkan issues journalist Chuck Sudetic, “There were credible accounts of abductions and an organ harvesting operation provided to reputable journalists who have had many years of experience in the region.” However, no legal action has been taken yet, usually on the pretext of mere technicalities.

The Serbian Unity Congress (SUC) believes It is of paramount importance that this case be thoroughly investigated, and to have all perpetrators and ringleaders identified and prosecuted. The US government’s active role in the political and humanitarian issues of the area mandate a direct involvement in this process. Without truth and justice for all, there will be no reconciliation or stability in the region. We urge the United States government and Helsinki Commission to put immediate and substantive pressure on the United Nations, ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) and local authorities in Kosovo to investigate claims by the ex-chief prosecutor for war crimes in former Yugosavia According to an article from the Associated Press dated 4/11/2008, most of the victims of these heinous crimes were Kosovo Serbs.