Albania, Kosovo Coordinate Efforts For CoE Meeting On Organ Traffic Report
Tirana Times
TIRANA, Jan 13 – Albania and Kosovo say they will both ask the Council of Europe to launch an international investigation into claims of trafficking of organs from slain civilians during the war in Kosovo.
Both Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and visiting Kosovo’s acting President Jakup Krasniqi said Thursday that at the Council of Europe’s meeting later this month they would urge European Union’s EULEX mission for the rule of law in Kosovo and the U.N. war crimes for the former Yugoslavia to start a probe.
Tirana and Pristina deny a Council of Europe report that Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has been behind the grisly organ trafficking trade in detention facilities in Albania while leader of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998-99 independence war with Serbia.
Krasniqi was in Tirana Thursday where he met with all top officials in the country and also the Albanian delegation that will go to the Council of Europe meeting to be held later this month.
Signatures collected against Dick Marty’s report
TIRANA – Albanian citizens all around the country are signing a petition against the report in which Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty made serious allegations of crimes and organ trafficking against Serbs in Kosovo and Albania.
The petition signing was organized in front of the Albanian parliament, with many Tirana residents signing the document. That followed in other big cities in the country, something that will continue until mid-January to be followed in other Albanian-populated areas in Macedonia, Montenegro. It started in Kosovo.
The petition was prepared by non-government organizations from Kosovo, the Kosovo Liberation Army veterans, families of martyrs and war invalids.
The organizers are convinced that collecting a large number of signatures will stop the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly from passing Marty’s report.
The petition will be sent to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Marty’ report, which was adopted by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in December, mentioned alleged crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanians who were killed in detention facilities in Albania, and whose organs were removed and sold. He directly accused former Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci of involvement in the crimes.
Albanian officials in Kosovo and also Albania have vehemently denied the allegations and expressed readiness to cooperate in the investigation.
Tirana has invited an international investigation on the claims.
Marty’s report on the crimes in Kosovo and Albania will be on PACE’s agenda by the end of this month.
the Albanian authorities officially invited the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and EULEX to find the truth about everything that is related to crimes against human beings.
last week Prime Minister Sali Berisha again called Dick Marty’s report defamation made in Belgrade by Milosevic, without any fact or evidence and repeated that Albania welcomes and is open to every investigation by the international institutions.
An Albanian delegation with lawmakers from both political groupings in Tirana is holding meetings to discuss on their stand at the Council of Europe session. It is also expected that Berisha and Thaci will hold speeches there alongside their Serb counterpart.
