25. January 2011. | 17:32 17:35
Source: Emg, Tanjug
Adopting a resolution based on the report by Dick Marty , the Assembly demanded follow-up investigations into indications of secret detention centres under the control of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and disappearances linked to the Kosovo war, as well as “the collusion so often complained of between organised criminal groups and political circles”.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called for international and Albanian investigations into crimes committed in the aftermath of the conflict in Kosovo, including “numerous indications” that organs were removed from prisoners on Albanian territory to be taken abroad for transplantation.
Adopting a resolution based on the report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), the Assembly demanded follow-up investigations into indications of secret detention centres under the control of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and disappearances linked to the Kosovo war, as well as “the collusion so often complained of between organised criminal groups and political circles”.
It called for EULEX, the EU mission in Kosovo, be given a clear mandate, the resources and high-level political support it needed to carry out its “extraordinarily complex and important role”. In particular, the Assembly emphasised the need for effective witness protection programmes.
The parliamentarians said the “appalling crimes committed by Serbian forces” had stirred up very strong feelings worldwide, giving rise to the assumption that it was invariably one side which were the perpetrators of crimes and the other side the victims. “The reality is less clear-cut and more complex,” the resolution reads. “There cannot be one justice for the winners and another for the losers.”
The resolution calls on the Albanian authorities and Kosovo administration to “co-operate unreservedly” with EULEX or any other international body mandated to find out the truth about crimes linked to the conflict in Kosovo, irrespective of the origins of the suspects or victims.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rapporteur Dick Marty and all of the PACE parliametary groups called Tuesday for a full and impartial investigation regarding Marty's report on organ trafficking in Kosovo and Albania.
There can be no justice without truth, Marty stated presenting the report to the assembly, and added that it is up to PACE to demand that truth.
Respect for human rights is not a topic for negotiations, and if links between organized crime and political circles are tolerated, then the democratic future of the entire Europe is at risk, Marty stressed.
The report is not biased towards Serbs or Albanians, it is a report on human rights, he continued.
The names in the document are the same as those recorded by intelligence services and anlysts, and the victims include both Serbs and Kosovo Albanians who were seen as traitors by the Kosovo Liberation Army, Marty remarked.
He confirmed that he had found credible witnesses who had nothing to do with Serbia, but were firghtened and did not trust the justice system in Kosovo.
The situation with witness protection is scandalous, said Marty.
Socialist representative Klaas de Vries stated that the search for truth and justice was everyone's duty.
He called for an impartial and objective investigation about the claims made in the report and asked that it be supported and witnesses provided protection.
Conservative representative Amber Rudd noted that the report was not about politics, but about the victims, and that it highlighted the connections between organized crime and politics that had resulted from the war in Kosovo.
Marieluise Beck, who spoke for the liberals, said it was important not to take advantage of the report in order to contest Kosovo's independence.
That is not the issue, she stressed. The crucial question is whether the chaos of war gave birth to a system that merges organized crime and politics, which is why an inquiry is needed, Beck explained.
United European Left representative Tiny Kox praised the report, stressing that divisions into winners and losers lead to injustice. Marty has shown that the situation is a lot more complex, he argued.
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