HLC Kosovo: On the occasion of statement of the Special Investigation Team Prosecutor

The Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLC Kosovo) considers that the results, to date, of the investigations of the Special Task Force, led by Prosecutor Clint Williamson, convincingly show that, after the war ended in Kosovo, there began a prosecution campaign against Serbs, Roma and other ethnic minorities, as well as KLA opponents, which is known of in Kosovo, but not talked about for safety reasons.

Clint Williamson’s team found evidence that the abductions, forced disappearances, killings, and persecution of Serbs and Roma in their homes, were not acts of individuals who were out of control, but that they have been approved by leaders in high positions of the former KLA.

The investigating team has not managed to find evidence for organ trafficking, which would ensure a criminal prosecution, although there are indications that such a practice occurred, in a limited number that does not exceed ten cases; nevertheless, this does not diminish the responsibility of the individuals who headed the former KLA of criminal acts that have no connection with the defense of Kosovo, or the fight for freedom.

After yesterday’s statement by the Special Investigating Team Prosecutor, HLC Kosovo believes that European Union’s special investigative team and the court that will be formed, have the potential to remove the barriers which have stopped the UNMIK and EULEX prosecutors from getting public opinion on their side in cases which prosecute local KLA members who have killed Serbs and Roma just because they wanted to remain in Kosovo, or who killed political opponents only because they refused to commit crimes, or did not see helping those at risk as a betrayal of Kosovo. Kosovo needs a rule of law which will not allow for the blackmailing of witnesses.

HLC Kosovo recalls the fact that the Hague tribunal has convicted and sentenced to imprisonment almost all former top officials of Serbia for the crimes that they committed against Albanian Serbian forces. But with these crimes,
the crimes against Serbs and Roma after June 1999 cannot be justified.