21 Jul 14
An international task-force investigating alleged organ trafficking by Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas during the 1990s conflict will publish its long-awaited report next week.
Pristina
Clint Williamson, the lead prosecutor with the task force set up by the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo to probe the alleged illicit organ trade, has promised “to complete his three-year mandate with the publication of a report on his findings next week”, Kosovo’s justice ministry said on Monday.
The Special Investigative Task Force, SITF, was established in 2011 amid to look into organ-trafficking allegations presented in a controversial report by the Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty.
The report linked senior former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters, including current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, to organised crime, and accused them of harvesting the organs of Serbian prisoners and others in Albania during the 1998-99 war.
Williamson gave no details about his meetings with Kosovo officials during his visit to Pristina on Monday.
But the SITF said in a statement that he was “aware of the mounting speculation about the findings of the SITF, but he underlined that no information related to the findings of the investigation will be released until an announcement is made, and no specific outcomes should be prejudged”.
After meeting Williamson, Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga said that she was “determined that Kosovo’s approach to justice will be inclusive and that the investigation stemming out of the Council of Europe report is not an attempt to put on trial our struggle for liberty but a way to investigate the alleged individual crimes”.
In April, Kosovo’s parliament approved the establishment of a new Brussels-backed war crimes court to probe allegations such as the alleged organ-trafficking by Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas.
Jahjaga said once Kosovo has a new government after the recent elections, the incoming authorities “will implement the ratified agreement by taking up their obligations to make the necessary legal and constitutional changes to accommodate the creation of the new court”.
The new tribunal will operate under Kosovo’s laws, but prosecutors and judges will be international, the government has said.
It is expected to have an office in Kosovo and one outside the country, but it remains unclear exactly when it is going to be established.
