Adela Halo
The hunt for truth behind authoritative speculation continues, with haunting absurdity. Carla del Ponte published a book some time ago where she tells a story of a refined, gruesome system of crime: Kosovar Serbs are kidnapped by KLA soldiers and transported to Albania, to some areas of untold remoteness of the Albanian North where electricity and healthcare is something out of the movies, to then have their vital organs surgically removed and exported out of Albania through the only international airport situated seven hours away from the crime scene, to the markets of the West. Needless to say, the original organ bearers are killed in this story.
The possibility of crime is no joke. The possibility of Albania’s complicity in war crimes that were committed, undoubtedly from both parties, during the Serbia-Kosovo conflict is no joke either. Crimes, gruesome crimes, are inherent to wars and containment in a state of war is simply superhuman. Alleging containment is simply a lie. And lies, deliberately or not, pay service to certain interests, including narratives of good versus bad, perpetrator versus victim – narratives that feed legitimacy.
The possibility of crime in Albania’s remote north, for those that do have some familiarity with the village of Gurr롡nd the conditions there, is farfetched. Yet, men with bizarrely accurate directions, equipped with photos of a house and a map visited the ‘crime scene’ in 2004 in an investigative mission. They found stains of blood, syringes and gauze in the garbage and nearby river. The family inhabiting the house had explanations for these findings, leftovers of the very modest way of life in the village where women give birth and animals are slaughtered for food, where people do get sick. The final report of the investigation was inconclusive. There was insufficient evidence to mount a case.
Yet, simply the possibility of the crime in question having taken place which is weighing on Albania’s name and image, is a matter of extreme gravity, despite the ubiquity of crime in Balkans narratives. It is a matter that should not have been initiated in the memoirs of the former chief UN prosecutor for war crimes in former Yugoslavia, years after the investigation of the allegations. But it was and that undeserved, wrongheaded start must not serve as excuse.
It is a matter that must be thoroughly investigated. A few days ago, a mission of the Council of Europe, accompanied by officials of the Albanian Ministry of Justice, was not allowed in the house where the alleged crimes were committed. The family rightfully demanded to see authorisation for the investigation. Nobody had one. The Minister of Justice Enkelejd Alibeaj has declared that the Council of Europe mission has no mandate to investigate, that this can only be allowed if Albania’s General Prosecution Office is presented with sufficient evidence to warrant a case. In light of this declaration, that his ministry’s officials accompanied the Council of Europe mission is most bizarre.
There has been nothing else but this declaration from the Albanian authorities. It is a bizarre silence in front of such extreme accusations. Albanian authorities must explain to their own public, as well as the regional and international public why a procedural obstacle to a thorough investigation has not been overcome. And that obstacle must be overcome, or a strong case justifying the opposite must be mounted. While pressing this accusations against Albania, Serbia does indeed fail to fully cooperate itself in delivering justice for the war crimes committed on its side during the war. And perhaps there should be an order of things – Serbia first, the rest after.
Yet, this story needs to end, and hypocrisy, double standards, or procedural impediments are poor excuses for it to continue. Albania must allow investigations and while it does not, obscurity, suspicion, absurdity will continue to envelop the issue of organ trafficking during the Kosovo crisis. Speculative discussion of allegations and the inconclusiveness of investigations will continue to breed a narrative of crimes and conspiracies. And in that narrative, Albania’s blame has already become real.
