Former head of economic division for the International Civilian Office, Andrea Capussela, writes in an opinion piece for the paper that there was nothing new in the report presented by the EU Special Investigative Task Force (SITF) lead prosecutor Clint Williamson apart from one thing: the report authored by Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty was accurate, in essence, even on the part of organ harvesting. Capussela says the report concluded that what happened in Kosovo after 1999 was a brutal attack against almost all Serbs who wished to remain in Kosovo as well as against Roma and Kosovo Albanians who opposed KLA fractions and that these crimes are not only war crimes but also crimes against humanity. However, Capussela stresses that this categorization is also nothing new but adds that what is the most important thing about Williamson’s report is not what it says about the KLA but what it indirectly says about international intervention and state-building in a post-conflict Kosovo. “The real question therefore is why these ‘crimes against humanity’ took place in the presence of 50,000 NATO troops, one soldier for 36 residents of Kosovo, which is the highest concentration of peacekeepers ever recorded in history”, he writes. If the international community allowed these crimes taking place, is it to blame for failing, until yesterday, to provide any form of justice to the victims, asks Capussela.
He also wonders if it came as a surprise to anyone that those KLA leaders who are believed to be responsible for such crimes have managed to avoid justice for so long and that they are even still allowed to intimidate witnesses and transform that military power into a criminal, political and economic one. Is this situation due to the ‘culture’ or ‘tradition’ of Kosovo citizens or perhaps due to the passiveness of international community, he asks further.
Finally, what is striking about Williamson’s report is that he never once mentioned EULEX in his findings. Although the SITF prosecutor in his seven-page report thanks almost everyone, including governments in Kosovo and Serbia, he fails to extend his appreciation to EULEX which, in Capussela’s view, is a confirmation that the EU mission has never been capable or ready to investigate and prosecute crimes revealed by Marty and SITF.
