The Human Rights Advisory Panel in the UN Kosovo mission considers that UNMIK had violated the European Convention on Human Rights and has not conducted an effective investigation into the abduction and probable murder of Marko Vitošević from Orahovac, transmitted Frankfurt “Vesti”.
FRANKFURT – The Human Rights Advisory Panel for human rights in the UN Kosovo mission considers that UNMIK had violated the European Convention on Human Rights and has not conducted an effective investigation into the abduction and probable murder of Marko Vitošević from Orahovac, transmitted Frankfurt “Vesti”.
The Panel asked the UNMIK chief to recognize responsibility to the suffering and distress and publicly apologize to the family Vitošević. It also urged the competent Kosovo authorities to take all necessary steps to continue the criminal investigation of instruction and the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Marko Vitošević was kidnapped on June 16, 1999 from his house in Orahovac. The recent decision of the Advisory Panel, is the first information that his son Zvezdan received after 16 years about the fate of his father.
The disappearance was reported immediately to KFOR, UNMIK and the Prizren district public prosecutor, and three witnesses said that the KLA Mark Vitošević taken to a “fire station”, interrogated and tortured, only to be then taken to another location, and he disappeared without a trace. In the investigation file UNMIK quoted witnesses that named the kidnappers as stated M.U., A.B. and three other KLA members.
“Witnesses die, and they are not doing anything. All these years I had not been contacted, and that’s why I sued UNMIK. From the opinion of the Advisory neighbors we cannot see that the suspects were questioned individually, which means that somebody all the time kept the investigation in the drawer. In the meantime, the two witnesses have died, one because of age and illness can not cooperate. We are left to ourselves, and not the only, “says Vedan Vitošević.
He points out that the special issue date of the disappearance of his father, 16 June, when NATO had already entered Kosovo and the FRY Army left the province. Because of this responsibility was no longer that of Serbia and was now that of the UN mission.
“From the beginning, many families, including mine, is in a situation that we had to take everything yourself, because nobody is doing its job. And the Serbian state left us. Iscrpećemo the remedies here, but we will continue to seek justice before international courts. They will sue and UNMIK and Serbia “, was endangered Zvezdan Vitošević families of 16 years, had the agony.
The Association of Families of the victims in Kosovo from 1998 to 2000, pointed out that the problem is that opinions Human Rights Advisory Panel are not binding, and that’s all occasional family gets from UNMIK – briefly a letter of apology.
“UNMIK is aware of its responsibilities but does not offer the families solutions, nor even a recognition of liability (as advised by the Advisory Panel), and you cannot sue them. None of the family members of our Association has received any notification that the UNMIK documents and recommendations of the Panel were forwarded to EULEX, “said the Association.
