The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hunt: I and the war criminals (Italian: La caccia: Io e i criminali di guerra) is a book written by Carla Del Ponte, published in April 2008. According to Del Ponte she received information saying about 300 non-Albanians were kidnapped and transferred to Albania in 1999 where their organs were extracted.^[1] The book caused a considerable controversy with Kosovan and Albanian officials denying these allegations and Russian and Serbian officials demanding more investigation. ICTY stated no substantial evidence supporting the allegations was brought to the court.

Contents 1 Organ traffic allegations 2 Reactions 2.1 Organisations 2.2 Albania 2.3 Kosovo 2.4 Serbia 2.5 Russia 2.6 Switzerland 3 Editions 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Organ traffic allegations

According to the Del Ponte's book the prosecutor's office received information from UNMIK offcials who had in in turn received it from "a team of trustworthy journalists" that some 300 kidnapped non-Albanians were taken with trucks from Kosovo to several camps in Kukës and Tropojë (Albania) during the summer of 1999, shortly after the arrival of NATO troops in Kosovo.^[2] There their organs were extracted to be sold in foreign countries. The book reports a visit by Hague tribunal investigators to a house south of the Albanian town of Burrel where they found traces of blood across a wide area, as well as medical equipment. "The investigators found pieces of gauze, a used syringe and two plastic IV bags encrusted with mud and empty bottles of medicine, some of which was of a muscle relaxant often used in surgical operations", she writes.^[1] She alleged that there was sufficient evidence for prosecution of Kosovo Albanians involved in war crimes, but it "was nipped in the bud" focusing on "the crimes committed by Serbia."^[3] Serbian media reports about the same unpublished book, passed along a statement from Bruno Vekarić, the Serbian prosecutor's spokesman, who said said later on B92 radio that Serbian war crimes investigators have also received their own information about alleged organ trafficking, but not enough for a court case. Vekaric said Serb investigators also received reports suggesting there might be mass graves in Albania containing the bodies of the Serb victims.^[4][1]

[edit] Reactions

[edit] Organisations

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had said of Del Ponte's allegations: "The Tribunal is aware of very serious allegations of human organ trafficking raised by the former Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, in a book recently published in Italian under her name. No evidence in support of such allegations was ever brought before the Tribunal's judges."^[5]

A spokeswoman for the UN War Crimes Tribunal says that during a preliminary investigation in cooperatin with Albania and UNMIK "no reliable evidence had been obtained to substantiate the allegations." ^[6]

On 4 April 2008 the Human Rights Watch wrote to Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha in request to open investigations on the matter under international supervision. By 3 May both had ignored the letters and instead publicly rejected del Ponte's claims as unsubstantiated. On 5 May 2008 the Human Rights Watch confirmed the allegations from Del Ponte's book and issued a public call to Tirana and Pristina for cooperation.^[7]

The reported alleges the victims were more than 400 Serbs missing from the war. "Serious and credible allegations have emerged about horrible abuses in Kosovo and Albania after the war", said Fred Abrahams, HWR Senior emergencies researcher of HRW.

“

According to the journalists’ information, the abducted individuals were held in warehouses and other buildings, including facilities in Kukës and Tropoje. In comparison to other captives, some of the sources said, some of the younger, healthier detainees were fed, examined by doctors, and never beaten. These abducted individuals – an unknown number – were allegedly transferred to a yellow house in or around the Albanian town of Burrel, where doctors extracted the captives’ internal organs. These organs were then transported out of Albania via the airport near the capital Tirana. Most of the alleged victims were Serbs who went missing after the arrival of UN and NATO forces in Kosovo. But other captives were women from Kosovo, Albania, Russia, and other Slavic countries.

”

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo's published official forensic report from 2004 also confirms Del Ponte's allegations.

[edit] Albania

Pandeli Majko, Albanian Prime Minister during the Kosovo war, has rejected the allegations in Del Ponte's book as "strange stories, a fantasy" ^[8]

[edit] Kosovo

Nekibe Kelmendi, Kosovo's Minister of Justice said Del Ponte's allegations are “are pure fabrications made by Del Ponte or perhaps Serbia herself”. “If she knew of such cases then she should be charged with withholding evidence and hiding these crimes,” Kelmendi said. ^[9]

Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms has announced they will sue Del Ponte for publishing lies in her book. ^[10]

[edit] Serbia

Vladan Batić, Serbia's former justice minister, said: "If her allegations are true, then this is the most monstrous crime since the times of Mengele, and it must be made a priority, not only of the domestic judiciary but also of the Hague Tribunal." In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, an association of families of Serbs still listed as missing since the Kosovo war, said it would sue Del Ponte, alleging that she had failed to act over the alleged organ-farming scandal. Serbia's war crimes office announced it had opened its own investigation.^[1]

Nataša Kandić, the head of the investigative Humanitarian Law Centre, said ordinary Serbs "welcome the publication of this book" but said allegations of organ-smuggling were "rumours". "I talked to her many times, she never told me about this", said Kandic.^[1]

[edit] Russia

Russia's Foreign Ministry asked the office of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to provide an explanation and details of crimes described. Also, Russia's delegation to PACE gathered sufficient signatures to request an investigation into the controversial claims.^[11]

[edit] Switzerland

The Swiss government has banned the promotion of her book. It has been criticized for tarnishing the country's celebrated neutrality, particularly as Miss Del Ponte has been named as the Swiss ambassador to Argentina.^[1]

[edit] Editions

• Chuck Sudetic, Carla Del Ponte, La caccia: Io e i criminali di guerra, Feltrinelli, Milano, (2008), ISBN 88-07-17144-9.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Revelations in Carla del Ponte's book