CoE's Marty: "Everyone Knew About The Crimes Of The KLA"

 

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/12/16/37024591.html

Voice of Russia
December 16, 2010

Kosovo PM implicated in organ-trafficking – PACE report


The territory of Albania was used by Kosovo militants for the traffic of organs of Serb prisoners, a PACE spokesman Dick Marty told a Paris news conference on Thursday.

The topic is currently on the table of a PACE panel, of which Marty is the chairman.

He warned Kosovo authorities from whitewashing those behind organ-trafficking, including Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

Marty pointed the finger at some major international organizations, which he said played down outrageous facts of organ-trafficking in Kosovo.

He said that a PACE report to this effect will see the light of day in the near future.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=12&dd=16&nav_id=71564

B92/Tanjug News Agency
December 16, 2010

Marty: Everyone knew about shocking crimes

PARIS: Council of Europe (CoE) Rapporteur Dick Marty addressed reporters today as his draft report on human organ trafficking was adopted.

The Swiss, known for his exposure of illegal CIA-run prisons in Europe, put together a damning report on allegations that Serb and other civilians in Kosovo were kidnapped in the wake of the 1999 war, and taken to Albania where their organs were removed and sold in the black market.

The document names current Kosovo Albanian PM Hashim Thaci, formerly one of the leaders of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), as being responsible for these, and other serious crimes.

As the CoE Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee met today in Paris to adopt the report and draft acresolution that is expected to be debated in late January, Marty spoke to journalists during a news conference.

He stressed that he was "particularly shocked" to find out during his two-year investigation that a large number of people, and organizations, knew about the crimes but "did not wish to talk about it".

Marty noted that his report "said nothing new", and that "everybody knew about the crimes of the KLA".

What is new, the Swiss explained, "is that someone has said it, and put it in writing".

Marty told reporters that his task was to determine the facts related to a book written by former Chief Hague Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte - who first publicly mentioned the organ trafficking allegations in early 2008 - and that his job was "very delicate", because many people chose not to talk to him or his associates.

"The report simply determines that disturbing things have happened, that there is serious evidence that indicates the crimes did happen, that the crimes were committed by KLA members, and that to this day, these crimes have not been punished," Marty said.

The CoE rapporteur added that "these crimes have never been the subject of a serious investigation."

"Another revelation is that they include the territory of Albania. In that absolutely chaotic period in 1999 and 2000, that is, after the end of (NATO) bombardment and establishment of UNMIK, the KLA exercised power in the entire territory (of Kosovo), and that is when the crimes were committed. People were kidnapped, deported to Albania. You are aware that EULEX has opened an investigation related to secret prisons, Kukesh in northern Albania is mentioned there."

Marty went on to say that some parts of his report document "open ties between organized crime and politics, including representatives of the government", and that he was "not guided by rumors, but described the crimes based on many testimonies, documents and objective findings".

"Finally, we arrived at the conclusion that these events were known to many intelligence services from many countries. This was known to the police, to a large number of people, who would privately say, 'yes, I am aware of that', but who, for the sake of political opportunism, would decide to remain silent," he continued.

"What has shocked me is that most facts in this report were known to a large number of organizations, and yet that there was silence about it until this day. I believe that a future of a country cannot be built without truth, without insisting on truth and memory. There will never be peace between various communities if the principle of 'not wanting to know' continues," Marty warned.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=12&dd=16&nav_id=71563

Tanjug News Agency
December 16, 2010

Prosecutor: More evidence than in Marty report

BELGRADE: Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević says his office's organ trafficking investigation collected "far more evidence".

He was comparing the effort of the prosecution with that of Council of Europe (CoE) Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Dick Marty.

The human organs trade concerns the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who are believed to have kidnapped Serb and other civilians in the province in 1999.

Vukčević refused to provide the names of the suspects, pointing out that results would be made known after the investigation was complete.

"I want to avoid bidding on a number of medical workers and people involved in the committing of the crimes under investigation. Therefore, I will not name anyone, especially since there is already a lot of speculation about this in the media," Vukčević said at a press conference in Belgrade.

The conference, held in the Special War Crimes Court building, was related to Dick Marty's report in which Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was mentioned as one of the people responsible for body parts harvesting in Kosovo after the armed conflict there.

Vukčević stressed further progress in the investigation would not be possible without EULEX and the CoE cooperating, adding that it would not matter who raised charges against the people responsible for the crimes.

"The question who would stand the trial - we or EULEX or the Albanians - is less important - ours is to prove the atrocities were really committed, it is only important that the perpetrators be brought to justice," Vukčević underlined.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=12&dd=16&nav_id=71547

B92/Tanjug News Agency
December 16, 2010

Committee adopts Kosovo organ trafficking report

PARIS: Council of Europe (CoE) Rapporteur Dick Marty today in Paris officially presented his report on human organ trafficking in Kosovo and northern Albania.

The draft report, detailing locations where members of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) took kidnapped civilians to have their vital organs removed and later sold, was adopted by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee.

In it, Kosovo Albanian Premier and former KLA leader Hashim Thaci has been named as the ringleader of a group that was involved in organ, drugs and arms trafficking.

Reports from Paris today said that the decision came despite "some attempts" to postpone it.

The Marty report confirms information obtained by the Serbian War Crimes prosecution that some 500 Serbs were kidnapped in Kosovo, to be killed in prison camps in Albania, where their organs were removed.

Deputy Prosecutor Bruno Vekarić says that the document will be a reason for justice systems in the region to "mobilize", while Serbian President Boris Tadić says the accusations from the report should be "checked".

After the closed-door debate of the committee in Paris today, a decision will be made whether to send a draft resolution to the CoE Parliamentary Committee (PACE).

Serbian representatives expect this to happen during the day. Amendments to the draft can then be submitted, while the debate on the resolution could take place on January 25.

CoE resolutions have "high moral value", but are not legally binding.

Nataša Vučković, a member of the Serbian delegation, said today the resolution will be on the assembly agenda in January and all members of the assembly can propose amendments to it.

The resolution, if adopted by the assembly, would be the first international legal document to describe the Kosovo Liberation Army as a terrorist organization involved in organ trafficking.

"The Serbian delegation commended Marty's courage in raising this issue and answering a whole series of questions that had been shrouded in silence and secrecy for a many years," Vučković noted.

Serbia's representatives stressed that it was necessary to find out the truth, for the victims, missing persons and their families, as well as to facilitate reconciliation and establish trust and peace in the region.

PACE committee demands investigations into organ-trafficking and disappearances in Kosovo and Albania

Council of Europe Home Directorate of Communication Press | Multimedia Contact us   Press release - 977(2010) PACE committee demands investigations into organ-trafficking and disappearances in Kosovo and Albania Strasbourg, 16.12.2010 – The Committee on Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called for a series of international and national investigations into evidence of disappearances, organ trafficking, corruption and collusion between organized criminal groups and political circles in Kosovo* revealed this week in a report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE). According to a draft resolution unanimously approved today in Paris, based on Mr Marty's report, the committee said there were "numerous concrete and convergent indications" confirming that Serbian and Albanian Kosovars were held prisoner in secret places of detention under KLA control in northern Albania and were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, before ultimately disappearing. The committee added: "Numerous indications seem to confirm that, during the period immediately after the end of the armed conflict […], organs were removed from some prisoners at a clinic in Albanian territory, near Fushë-Kruje, to be taken abroad for transplantation". "The international organisations in place in Kosovo favoured a pragmatic political approach, taking the view that they needed to promote short-term stability at any price, thereby sacrificing some important principles of justice," the parliamentarians said. The committee called on EULEX, the EU mission in Kosovo, to persevere with its investigative work into these crimes, and on the EU and other contributing states to give the Mission the resources and political support it needed. It also called on the Serbian and Albanian authorities, and the Kosovo administration, to fully co-operate with all investigations on the subject. The Parliamentary Assembly is due to debate the report on Tuesday 25th January 2011 during its winter plenary session (24-28 January 2011). Draft resolution and explanatory memorandum  (PDF) Appendix to the report: a map (PDF) ------------ *All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax : +33 3 90 21 41 34 pace.com@coe.int assembly.coe.int  Top

 

Report Names Kosovo Leader as Crime Boss

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/europe/16kosovo.html?_r=1&ref=europe

Report Names Kosovo Leader as Crime Boss

By DOREEN CARVAJAL and MARLISE SIMONS

Published: December 15, 2010

PARIS — A two-year international inquiry has concluded that the prime minister of Kosovo led a clan of criminal entrepreneurs whose activities included trafficking in organs extracted from Serbian prisoners executed during the Kosovo conflict in 1999.

Related

·        Report on Organ Trafficking Network (pdf)

The inquiry, prepared for the Council of Europe, names the prime minister, Hashim Thaci, as the boss of the Drenica Group, an organized crime network that flourished in Kosovo and Albania after the war and exerted control over numerous rackets, including the heroin trade, and six secret detention centers in Albania, some used in a black market in human organs.

Kosovo denounced the findings of the inquiry, which began to leak late Tuesday, ahead of the official release on Thursday. One official called the report slanderous and timed to harm Mr. Thaci, whose party recently won the first parliamentary election in Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia.

The report did not explicitly describe any role of Mr. Thaci in the organ trafficking network.

The Council of Europe said the investigating team that gathered evidence used foreign intelligence analysts, international organizations, former fighters, logistics operatives and victims. The report cites some names but withholds others, saying local witnesses feared for their lives.

The roots of the network date from 1999 as the Kosovo conflict was ending. Over time, the ring established ties to "a broader, more complex organized criminal conspiracy" that operated in three other countries and endured for more than a decade, according to the report. The report was prepared by Dick Marty, a Swiss senator who had previously investigated allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency abducted and imprisoned terrorism suspects in Europe.

Mr. Marty, reached by telephone, declined to discuss the report or Mr. Thaci's role until he presented the report on Thursday to the legal affairs committee of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly in Paris.

The allegations of organ trafficking are separately the focus of a trial in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. A European Union prosecutor, Jonathan Ratel, delivered his opening argument on Tuesday against seven men, including Israeli, Kosovar and Turkish citizens, accused of recruiting 20 people from impoverished nations with false promises of payments for their kidneys. The kidneys, in turn, were sold for enormous sums to patients from Canada, Germany, Israel and Poland. It was not clear whether, or how, the charges were connected to the cases in the report.

The Council of Europe, which is separate from the European Union, is responsible for the European Court of Human Rights. The report naming Mr. Thaci, 42, who was the political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or K.L.A., was initially commissioned in response to allegations about organ trafficking in 2008 memoirs by Carla Del Ponte, who had been chief prosecutor of the United Nations war crimes tribunal dealing with the former Yugoslavia.

The Council of Europe report noted that investigators for the United Nations tribunal in 2004 went to the Yellow House, a notorious location in Albania, but later destroyed some of the collected evidence, which included syringes and traces of blood. The tribunal contends that it did not find enough evidence to aid any of its cases.

"The international actors chose to turn a blind eye to the war crimes of the K.L.A., placing a premium instead on achieving some degree of short-term stability," Mr. Marty wrote.

The report included testimony of people who provided logistics for the ring, driving captives in unmarked vans between a series of way stations in Albania.

The trafficking, according to the report, evolved over time and relied on detention centers spread through Albania that were controlled by the Kosovo Liberation Army. Initially the captives were Serb prisoners, but the ring also kidnapped ethnic Albanians to settle old scores, the report said.

A version of this article appeared in print on December 16, 2010, on page A20 of the New York edition.