HLC: Persecution campaign conducted against Serbs in Kosovo
The results that Lead Prosecutor John Clint Williamson's investigation has yielded so far show that after the conflict in Kosovo a campaign of persecution was conducted against Serbs, Roma and other minority populations, as well as against the Kosovo Liberation Army's (KLA) political opponents, the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) in Kosovo noted on Wednesday.
(kosovocompromisestuff) Thursday, July 31, 2014
The HLC Kosovo noted that people in Kosovo know that, but keep silent out of fear for their own safety.Clint Williamson's team established that the abductions, enforced disappearances, killings, forced displacements of Serbs and Roma from their homes were not the acts of individuals that went out of control, but were rather sanctioned by certain individuals in the top levels of the KLA leadership, the Fund stated.In a release, the Fund notes that the Special Investigative Task Force (SITF) did not find enough evidence concerning the human organ trafficking to ensure criminal prosecution, but there are compelling indications that this practice occurred on a very limited scale.The HLC Kosovo notes that this does not diminish the responsibility of individuals from the KLA top tier for crimes that have nothing to do with the defense of Kosovo or the fight for freedom.After Tuesday's statement by the SITF lead prosecutor, the HLC Kosovo believes that this EU investigative team and a court that will be established have the potential to remove the obstacles because of which the prosecutors and judges of EULEX and UNMIK did not manage to muster the support from the domestic public for prosecuting the former KLA members who committed war crimes.Kosovo should show that it will not stand up in defense of KLA members that killed Serbs and Roma just because they wanted to stay in Kosovo, and political opponents just because they opposed the crimes or did not see the assistance to the affected population as an act of treason against Kosovo, the Fund said.The Fund stressed that Kosovo needs the rule of law that will not tolerate witness intimidation.The HLC Kosovo notes that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted almost the entire top tier of Serbia from that period for the crimes that the Serbian forces committed against Kosovo Albanians.However, not a single crime against Serbs and Roma after June 1999 can be justified with those crimes, reads the release by the Fund.
