Korrik Sofalia's Open Salon Blog

Indictments on Organ Trading against Citizens from Turkey and Israel

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:06:30 -0400

PRISTINA, Kosovo — As to Kosovar media a special prosecutor from the European Union (EU) Rule-of-Law mission in Kosovo (EULEX) filed indictments against two citizens from Turkey and Israel. Yusuf Sonmez and Moshe Harel are accused of "trafficking in persons, organized crime and unlawful exercise of medical activity" EULEX states. According to EULEX spokesman Blerim Krasniqi "Warrants for their arrest have been issued by the District Court in Pristina and both suspects are subject to international wanted notices, issued by Interpol".

Concretely the accused are said to be involved in illegal organ trading. Reportedly in addition the suspects refused to pay an offered amount of 14.000 Euro to persons from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey, in exchange for their kidneys – whereas the respective recipients paid between 80,000 and 100,000 euros for their organ transplants.

The illegal transplantation took place in 2008 in the so called Medicus Clinic located in the outskirts of Kosovo’s capital city Prishtina.

In this context it is worth mentioning that also Senator Dick Marty in his report gave a hidden hint on the possible involvement of further persons: "… we found a number of credible, convergent indications that the organ-trafficking component of the post-conflict detentions described in our report is closely related to the contemporary case of the Medicus Clinic, not least through prominent Kosovar Albanian and international personalities who feature as co-conspirators in both. However, out of respect for the ongoing investigations and judicial proceedings being led by EULEX / the Office of the Special Prosecutor of Kosovo, we feel obliged at this moment to refrain from publishing our findings in this regard."

KON / NK

Inauguration of Kosovo War Crimes Institute

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:06:23 -0400

PRISTINA, Kosovo — The Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Hajredin Kuci today inaugurated the Kosovo War Crimes Institute. The establishment of a war crimes institute was announced about 6 weeks ago on 1st. of May. The proclaimed aim of the institute is the research, documentation and publication of war crimes in Kosovo.

As to Minister Kuci the concerning activities shell be conducted professionally without political influence. According to the former announcement the war crimes institute will have the status of a public agency under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kosovo.

Its main focus will be to keep evidence of crimes and damages committed by Serbia in Kosovo during the time period 1990-1999. With its institute the Government of Kosovo aims at filing charges against Serbia at the International Court of Justice – as soon as this will be possible (after a still pending UN membership. In the meantime it serves to support according efforts of external institutions).

As the institute’s new director Minister Kuci introduced international law specialist Dr. Zejnullah Gruda: Prof. Dr. Gruda was born in 1936 in Peja. He holds a Magister degree from the law faculty of the University of Sarajevo and a Doctoral degree in political science from the University of Belgrade, where he also worked as a lecturer. From 1975-1978 Gruda was the Yugoslav ambassador in Panama. Later on Dr. Gruda served as the General Secretary of the Yugoslav Red Cross. Currently he is a University Professor with a special focus of his lectures on International Public Law. KON / NK

"… it is necessary to create a demarcation line between those innocent and those responsible, and thus to avoid the tendencies of accusing certain people for collective responsibility, to demonize them, which is a racist attitude"

"… responsibility is deeply connected with the demands set by the victims to bring different criminals to justice, which is a necessary condition for building and reestablishing common trust and peace among the people in these territories after all that had happened in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosova. … By bringing the perpetrators to justice we would avoid the possibility of demonizing whole nations, of identifying the Croats with the Ustasha, the Bosniacs with Islamic fundamentalism, the Albanians with nationalism and terrorism, the Serbs with Chetniks, etc. …"

If Zejnullah Gruda orients his work on his own written statements then the Kosovo war crimes institute will hopefully support true justice: blind against ethnicity and social status, equal against everyone. KON / NK

Kosovo Liberation Day

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:06:28 -0400

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo was liberated from Serbian suppression by NATO troops entering the now independent state on 12th. June 1999. Several Kosovo officials on this occasion expressed gratitude to the European Union and the USA.

The NATO intervention 12 years ago ended a (at least) decades long ruling of a racist apartheid regime of Serbia in Kosovo. Particularly under the Milosevic presidency of Serbia respectively Yugoslavia, Kosovo Albanians faced a strong suppression, starting from the annulment of Kosovo’s autonomy status within Serbia and Yugoslavia in 1989:

Almost all workers of public enterprises (the mayor economic sector) were fired from their workplaces and the connected social and health care systems. Teachers and Professors of Albanian ethnicity were pushed out of Schools and Universities (and all cultural institutions), and – against the Yugoslav constitution – Albanian curricula were deleted and teaching in Albanian language was forbidden. Comprising about 90 percent of the Kosovar population Kosovo Albanians were forced to live in a parallel society and feel like foreigners in their own country.

With the NATO intervention ended a (at least) decades long ruling of a racist apartheid regime of Serbia in Kosovo. Particularly under the Milosevic presidency of Serbia respectively Yugoslavia, Kosovo Albanians faced a strong suppression, starting from the annulment of Kosovo’s autonomy status within Serbia and Yugoslavia in 1989:

Almost all workers of public enterprises (the main economic sector) were fired from their workplaces and the connected social and health care systems. Teachers and Professors of Albanian ethnicity were pushed out of Schools and Universities (and all cultural institutions), and – against the Yugoslav constitution – Albanian curricula were deleted and teaching in Albanian language was forbidden. Comprising about 90 percent of the Kosovar population Kosovo Albanians were forced to live in a parallel world and feel like foreigners in their own country.

Recently published figures of victims data by The Hague Tribunal reveal that only in the short time from March to June 1999 as many as 10,356 ethnic Albanians were killed in Kosovo. These figures in addition refer to a departure of at least 700,000 Kosovo Albanians from Kosovo in the same time. Further two thousand persons are still missing.

KON / NK

Kosovo PM Thaci to be investigated on Marty Report allegations

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:06:02 -0400

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo media widely covered the intention of the European Union (EU) to investigate accusations of the Dick Marty Report. The Council of Europe Rapporteur, Senator Dick Marty, in his report from December 2010 claims that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the time from 1998 to 2000 were involved in organ trading and organized crime. Whereas a special focus is given on the so called Drenica Group of the former KLA commander, current Kosovo Prime Minister and Head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Hashim Thaci. In this context the accusations refer also to the PDK parliament member (MP) Azem Syla, the former Transport Minister PDK MP Fatmir Limaj, the Vice-President of the Kosovo parliament PDK MP Xhavit Haliti, the Head of the former KLA secret service (SHIK) Kadri Veseli – as well as the PDK MP Dr. Shaip Muja, the former chief medical coordinator of the KLA during the war time.

EU spokesperson Kocijancic confirmed the EU decision "to create a Task Force, in order to investigate the accusations which come from the report of Dick Marty". Reportedly the investigation will be carried out formally under the supervision of the EU Rule of Law mission in Kosovo (EULEX). Despite this the task force is said to be working independently. As to EULEX spokesperson Nicholas Hawton, due to the international dimension of according investigations "this task force, composed of prosecutors and investigators, … will be partly based in Brussels."

The de-facto separation of the investigation task force from EULEX structures raised doubts at several Kosovar and international media regarding both a possible mistrust of EU concerning its own mission in Kosovo – as well as the influence of Serbia on the EU decision.

Meanwhile the Kosovo Minister for European Integration, Vlora Çitaku welcomed the decision of the EU, but still believes in the innocence of the accused persons: “We know that (Marty’s report) is just a product with clear political tendencies. However we want justice to be done, to remove this report once and forever from the agenda”.

Contrasting that, the Marty Report itself shows a more balanced approach: "The crimes committed by the Serb forces have been documented, denounced and, to the extent possible, tried in courts of law. The frightful nature of these crimes hardly needs to be further illustrated. … In the Kosovo conflict, the ethnic Albanian population suffered horrendous violence as the result of an insane ethnic cleansing policy … . None of these historical events could be cast in doubt today. However, … In the horror and perpetration of crimes there can be no principle of compensation. The basic essence of justice demands that everyone be treated in the same way. Moreover, the duty to find the truth and administer justice must be discharged in order for genuine peace to be restored, … "

Concretely the Marty Report refers to "… a small but inestimably powerful group of KLA personalities apparently wrested control of most of the illicit criminal enterprises in which Kosovar Albanians were involved in the Republic of Albania, beginning at the latest in 1998 … Thaqi’s Drenica Group built a formidable power base in the organized criminal enterprises that were flourishing in Kosovo and Albania at the time."

As to Dick Marty the members of the Drenica Group managed "to exploit their position in order to accrue personal wealth totally out of proportion with their declared activities."

The group is said to have committed crimes respectively to have been involved in crimes concerning the trading of "heroin and other narcotics", smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes, as well as"… assassinations, detentions, beatings and interrogations in various parts of Kosovo", human trafficking and sexual abuse and further inhuman treatment and torture in KLA detention camps in Albania, and finally the capture and killing of persons in order to sell their organs "to private overseas clinics as part of the international “black market” of organ trafficking for transplantation".

In a press release the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed hope that "this EU special investigation brings us closer to justice for serious crimes committed after the Kosovo war". Nevertheless HRW reminds the need for "an experienced senior prosecutor with clout … to build an effective team, guarantee witness security, and garner support from key governments, including the United States."

KON / NK

Kosovo-Serbia Talks postponed

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 06:06:54 -0400

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Reportedly the next meeting of the EU backed technical negotiations of Kosovo and Serbia were postponed on request of the Serbian delegation. The talks were foreseen to be held on 14th to 15th June. As to Kosovo media, the Head of the Kosovar negotiation team Edita Tahiri said that “… the Serbian delegation, … withdrew from some of the elements of the draft agreements reached earlier during the talks”. Tahiri stated that both delegations in prior rounds of the talks in Brussels basically agreed on issues concerning the freedom of movement, trade, energy, tele- communication, return of the cadastral documents and civil registries. Tahiri expects the meeting to be repeated at the end of June, insofar the Serbian delegation is ready to sign according agreements. KON / NK