Carla del Ponte's allegations of organ trafficking gain momentum
Carla del Ponte's discussion of alleged organ trafficking by Albanians against Serbs in the aftermath of the Kosovo war has generated serious heat and light.
(Harry de Quetteville, Daily Telegraph) Wednesday, May 07, 2008
We carried the story and excerpts from her book here, and then her former top aide Florence Hartmann weighed in, bitterly attacking her old boss for stirring up rumours and wartime myths. Now Human Rights Watch has leapt to del Ponte's defence, saying there's a lot to the accusations after all.
HRW has not conducted its own investigation. But it has reviewed all the information out there, and found it "well researched and credible: seven ethnic Albanians who served in the Kosovo Liberation Army, interviewed separately, gave details about participating in or witnessing the transfer of abducted Serbs and others prisoners from Kosovo into Albania after the war".
It has called on the governments of Kosovo and Albania to launch serious investigations into the allegations. Instead Albania's Foreign Minster, Lulzim Basha, described the reports as "immoral".
This now has the aura of a story that might just gather a bit of momentum. After all, Carla del Ponte is a divisive figure who always attracts attention, and Kosovo has lots of enemies in Serbia who are looking to destroy the credibility of the breakaway republic.
And of course, there are the allegations themselves, which are particularly grim. I suspect we haven't heard the last of this.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/harrydequetteville/may-2008/organ-trafficking.htm
