Kosovo prosecutor suspects some killed for organs

Brussels, 29 July 2014 (MIA) - A special European Union prosecutor said Tuesday he had "compelling indications" that up to ten captives were killed to have their organs harvested for illegal trafficking and black market sale during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

The revelation was part of a presentation on a 2½ year investigation into atrocities that also largely confirmed human right reports that there was a campaign of persecution of Serb, Roma and other minorities by some people in the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.

Clint Williamson, the chief prosecutor, said the Special Investigative Task Force would in future be "in a position to file an indictment against certain senior officials of the former Kosovo Liberation Army" for a series of crimes, including killings, disappearances, camp detentions and sexual violence.

The killing for organ harvesting has long been a key aspect of the probe. Williamson said that the level of evidence was not yet sufficient to prosecute the alleged crimes, AP reports.

The EU probe followed a 2011 Council of Europe report alleging that the rebel KLA ran detention camps on Albania's border during Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia. It alleged that civilian captives were killed there and their organs sold as part of an illegal trade linked to senior KLA commanders.

Without naming any individuals, Williamson said that "there are compelling indications that this practice did occur." He went to lengths to make clear the alleged harvesting was not a wholesale practice, rejecting claims of hundreds of victims. Some 400 people — mostly Kosovo Serbs — disappeared near the end of the war.

"Handful was meant literally — 10," Williamson said, holding up two hands with outstretched fingers. "That is the approximate range of the number."

"The fact that it occurred on a limited scale does not diminish the savagery of such a crime," he said.