Serb prisoners 'were stripped of their organs in Kosovo war' - Telegraph
Miss Del Ponte reports that the allegations were made by several sources, one of whom "personally made an organ delivery" to an Albanian airport for transport abroad, and "confirmed information directly gathered by the tribunal". According to the sources, senior figures in the Kosovo Liberation Army were aware of the scheme, in which hundreds of young Serbs were allegedly taken by truck from Kosovo to northern Albania where their organs were removed. Miss Del Ponte provides grim details of the alleged organ harvesting, and of how some prisoners were sewn up after having kidneys removed. "The victims, deprived of a kidney, were then locked up again, inside the barracks, until the moment they were killed for other vital organs. In this way, the other prisoners were aware of the fate that awaited them, and according to the source, pleaded, terrified, to be killed immediately," Miss Del Ponte writes.
Miss Del Ponte reports that the allegations were made by several sources, one of whom "personally made an organ delivery" to an Albanian airport for transport abroad, and "confirmed information directly gathered by the tribunal".
According to the sources, senior figures in the Kosovo Liberation Army were aware of the scheme, in which hundreds of young Serbs were allegedly taken by truck from Kosovo to northern Albania where their organs were removed. Miss Del Ponte provides grim details of the alleged organ harvesting, and of how some prisoners were sewn up after having kidneys removed.
"The victims, deprived of a kidney, were then locked up again, inside the barracks, until the moment they were killed for other vital organs. In this way, the other prisoners were aware of the fate that awaited them, and according to the source, pleaded, terrified, to be killed immediately," Miss Del Ponte writes.
That's a more complex picture (with not all alleged organ-harvesting equal to killing; throwing up the question whether there could have been survivors), and indeed Del Ponte reports sources making quite specific claims, it's not mere rumours. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
In the first excerpt (on what preceded the yellow house visit), I think I can read out something between the lines:
'The material within [from the office of the court] does not contain specific material from Albania; but a low number of witness statements and other material we have confirms and to a certain extent amplifies the stated information,' I noted in a memo on this activity. ...The victims of these cases were probably seized after the end of the NATO air campaign... It was not clear whether crimes committed in this arc of time fell under the mandate of the tribunal. The prosecutors office should have asked for the names of the sources from the journalists and UNMIK as well as any other information they had on this case.
...The victims of these cases were probably seized after the end of the NATO air campaign... It was not clear whether crimes committed in this arc of time fell under the mandate of the tribunal.
The prosecutors office should have asked for the names of the sources from the journalists and UNMIK as well as any other information they had on this case.
E.g., this case didn't solidify further not because of simply weak evidence but because it wasn't properly investigated; Del Ponte suggests her hands were bound, with the territorial and temporal limits to her Tribunal. The last sentence is mysterious, her being the Chief Prosecutor; does she suggest some outside (or lower-ranked inside) powers prevented the prosecutors' office from taking action?
From the second excerpt:
The house was now white. The owner denied it had ever been repainted even though investigators found traces of yellow along the base of its walls. ...The syringes, the iv solution bags, the gauze are clearly material which confirms the tales, but as proof they are unfortunately insufficient. The investigators were not able to determine whether the traces they found were of human blood. The sources did not indicated the position of the grave of the presumed victims and so we did not find the bodies.
...The syringes, the iv solution bags, the gauze are clearly material which confirms the tales, but as proof they are unfortunately insufficient. The investigators were not able to determine whether the traces they found were of human blood. The sources did not indicated the position of the grave of the presumed victims and so we did not find the bodies.
FWIW, a long time ago when I was learning English I was told Ms is neutral with respect to marital status, and I tend to use that almost exclusively. But that's just me. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
