EU details Kosovo war abuse

Prosecutor says rebels killed captives, harvested organs

American prosecutor for the EU Special Investigative Task Force Clint Williamson holds up ten fi ngers at a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday as he refers to the number of possible victims that were killed to have their organs harvested during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
American prosecutor for the EU Special Investigative Task Force Clint Williamson holds up ten fi ngers at a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday as he refers to the number of possible victims that were killed to have their organs harvested during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

BRUSSELS -- A special European Union prosecutor said Tuesday that he had "compelling indications" that up to 10 captives were killed to have their organs harvested for illegal trafficking and black market sale during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

The revelation was part of a presentation on a 2½-year investigation into atrocities that also largely confirmed reports that there was a campaign of persecution of Serbs, Gypsies and other minority groups by some people in the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.

Clint Williamson, the chief prosecutor, said the Special Investigative Task Force would in the future be "in a position to file an indictment against certain senior officials of the former Kosovo Liberation Army" in a series of crimes, including killings, disappearances, camp detentions and sexual violence.

The killing for organ harvesting has long been a key aspect of the probe. Williamson said the level of evidence was not yet sufficient to prosecute the reported crimes.

The EU probe followed a 2011 Council of Europe report alleging that the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army ran detention camps on Albania's border during Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia. It alleged that civilian captives were killed there and their organs sold as part of an illegal trade linked to senior rebel commanders.

Without naming any individuals, Williamson said "there are compelling indications that this practice did occur." He made clear that the reported harvesting was not a wholesale practice, rejecting claims of hundreds of victims. About 400 people -- mostly Kosovo Serbs -- disappeared near the end of the war.

"Handful was meant literally -- 10," Williamson said, holding up two hands with outstretched fingers. "That is the approximate range of the number."

"The fact that it occurred on a limited scale does not diminish the savagery of such a crime," he said.

About 10,000 people died in Kosovo's 1998-99 war for independence before NATO intervened to force Serbia to end its brutal crackdown against Kosovo separatists and pull its troops out of the territory.

Serbia has vowed never to recognize the independence of its former province, which many Serbians consider their nation's heartland.

In Belgrade, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said Tuesday's announcement "crowns a big effort on our part and shows that we were right when we said that war crimes had been committed and that organ trafficking took place."

In Kosovo, Ardian Arifaj, an adviser to Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, said the country hoped for more clarity at the end of Williamson's investigation, but added that authorities will continue to work with international officials to conclude the issue.

Thaci is a former Kosovo Liberation Army leader, and Williamson complained that the investigation had been made far more difficult because of "a climate of intimidation that seeks to undermine any investigations of individuals associated with the former Kosovo Liberation Army."

Information for this article was contributed by Jovana Gec, Nebi Qena and Mike Corder of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/30/2014

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