Call for UN inquiry into allegations of Kosovan organ trading

SERBIA AND Russia have urged the United Nations to launch an investigation into reports that Kosovo rebels trafficked human organs in the late 1990s, marring the fledgling state’s third anniversary of independence from Belgrade.

Celebrations were muted yesterday in Kosovo, where recent political uncertainty has compounded chronic economic problems, delaying long awaited direct talks with Serbia and fuelling public dissatisfaction with a ruling elite that is dogged by corruption claims.

At a session of the UN Security Council on the eve of the independence anniversary, diplomats from Belgrade and Moscow pressed for an independent international investigation into organ trafficking allegations detailed in a December report by the Council of Europe.

That dossier accused members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) – which was led by current Kosovan prime minister Hashim Thaci – of abducting and killing civilians during and after the 1998-1999 war with Serb forces and removing their organs for sale on the black market.

The report said victims including Serbs, Roma and ethnic Albanians suspected of collaborating with Belgrade were killed and their organs removed in Albania. The organs were then allegedly flown to Turkey.

Kosovan officials have angrily rejected the allegations, and called for a swift investigation into the matter by the European Union’s police and justice mission in Kosovo, called Eulex. Belgrade and Moscow – who do not recognise Kosovo’s independence – claim Eulex would not have any mandate to investigate vital elements of the case outside Kosovo.

Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic called for “an ad hoc investigating mechanism created by – and accountable to – the Security Council”.

“This has been the case in all previous instances involving war crimes in the Balkans, whichever side the perpetrators belonged to and irrespective of their political role,” he said.

Envoys from the United States and Britain, which were among the first countries to recognise Kosovo’s independence, supported a Eulex investigation and rejected calls for a UN role, as did Kosovan foreign minister Vlora Citaku.

“We cannot live with this heavy burden on our shoulders for too long, therefore we are certain that Eulex is fully capable in launching this investigation,” she said.

The issue has complicated plans for direct talks between Serbia and Kosovo, as did recent snap elections in Kosovo. A new government is expected to be in place by the end of the month.