English - KP.ru.Kosovo_killers

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PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONS

KP journalists trace the scandalous book byKP journalists trace the scandalous book byKP journalists trace the scandalous book byCarla Del Ponte, prosecutor for theCarla Del Ponte, prosecutor for theCarla Del Ponte, prosecutor for the

International Criminal TribunalInternational Criminal TribunalInternational Criminal Tribunalfor the Former Yugoslaviafor the Former Yugoslaviafor the Former Yugoslavia

KOSOVOKOSOVOKOSOVO

KILLERSKILLERSKILLERS

Aleksander KOTS Dmitry STEPSHINMay 12-14, 2008


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PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONS page2

Location:

Southeast Europe, between Serbia and Macedonia

Geographiccoordinates:

42 35 N, 21 00 E

Mapreferences:

Europe

Area:

total: 10,887 sq kmland: 10,887 sq kmwater: 0 sq km

Area -comparative:

slightly larger than Delaware

Landboundaries:

total: 702 kmborder countries: Albania 112 km, Macedonia 159 km,Montenegro 79 km, Serbia 352 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritimeclaims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

influenced by continental air masses resulting in relativelycold winters with heavy snowfall and hot, dry summersand autumns; Mediterranean and alpine influences createregional variation; maximum rainfall between October andDecember

Terrain:

flat fluvial basin with an elevation of 400-700 m above sealevel surrounded by several high mountain ranges withelevations of 2,000 to 2,500 m

Elevationextremes:

lowest point: Drini i Bardhe/Beli Drim 297 m (located onthe border with Albania)highest point: Gjeravica/Deravica 2,565 m

Naturalresources:

nickel, lead, zinc, magnesium, lignite, kaolin, chrome,bauxite

Population:

2,126,708 (2007 est.)

Nationality

noun: Kosovar (Albanian), Kosovac (Serbian)adjective: Kosovar (Albanian), Kosovski (Serbian)note: Kosovan, a neutral term, is sometimes alsoused as a noun or adjective

Updated on May 15, 2008

Ethnicgroups:

Albanians 88%, Serbs 7%, other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani,Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian)

Religions:

Languages:

Albanian (official), Serbian (official), Bosniak, Turkish,Roma

Countryname:

conventional long form: Republic of Kosovoconventional short form: Kosovolocal long form: Republika e Kosoves (RepublikaKosova)local short form: Kosova (Kosovo)

Governmenttype:

Capital:

name: Pristina (Prishtine)geographic coordinates: 42 40 N, 21 10 Etime difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington,DC during Standard Time)daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in

Administrative divisions:

30 municipalities (komunat, singular - komuna inAlbanian; opstine, singular - opstina in Serbian);

Independence:

Constitution:

Constitutional Framework of 2001; note - the KosovoGovernment is charged with putting forward anAHTISAARI (UN Special Envoy) Plan-compliant draftof a new constitution soon after independence

Legalsystem:

evolving legal system based on terms of UN SpecialEnvoy Martti AHTISAARI's Plan for Kosovo's

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

KOSOVO


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After Kosovo declared independence, Prosecutor of theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)Carla Del Ponte raucously quit her position at The Hague. Sheslammed the door so loudly behind her that the ceiling plastercracked at parliaments across the European Union. After herexile to Argentina as Switzerland's ambassador, Ponte said the

new Kosovo was run by butchers who made a fortune traffickingorgans extracted from kidnapped Serbs. In her book titled, "TheHunt: Me and the War Criminals," Ponte describes how a blackorgan market formed during the Kosovo War. Meanwhile, shesays, the European Union played dumb paying no attention tothe crimes. KP journalists went to Kosovo to learn more aboutthe crimes.

Iron Carla's revelationHardly a day goes by without fragments of Ponte's book hittingBelgrade newspapers. Here is a commonly quoted section thatdetails the horrors of Kosovo organ trafficking:

"According to the journalists' sources, who were only identifiedas Kosovo Albanians, some of the younger and fitter prisonerswere visited by doctors and were never hit. They weretransferred to other detention camps in Burrel and theneighboring area, one of which was a barracks behind a yellowhouse 20 km behind the town.

"One room inside this yellow house, the journalists said, waskitted out as a makeshift operating theater, and it was here thatsurgeons transplanted the organs of prisoners. These organs,according to the sources, were then sent to Rinas airport,Tirana, to be sent to surgical clinics abroad to be transplanted topaying patients.

"One of the informers had personally carried out a shipment tothe airport. The victims, deprived of a kidney, were then locked

up again, inside the barracks, until the moment they were killedfor other vital organs. In this way, the other prisoners in thebarracks were aware of the fate that awaited them, andaccording to the source, pleaded, terrified to be killedimmediately.

"Among the prisoners who were taken to these barracks werewomen from Kosovo, Albania, Russia and other Slaviccountries. Two of the sources said that they helped to bury thecorpses of the dead around the yellow house and in aneighboring cemetery. According to the sources, the organsmuggling was carried out with the knowledge and active

PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSinvolvement of middle and high ranking involvement from theKLA (ed. Kosovo Liberation Army).

"A few months after [October 2002] the investigators of thetribunal and UNMIK reached central Albania and the yellowhouse which the journalists sources had revealed as the placewhere the prisoners were killed to transplant their organs. The

journalists and the Albanian prosecutor accompanied theinvestigators to the site.

"The house was now white. The owner denied it had ever beenrepainted even though investigators found traces of yellow alongthe base of its walls. Inside the investigators found pieces ofgauze, a used syringe and two plastic IV bags encrusted withmud and empty bottles of medicine, some of which was of amuscle relaxant often used in surgical operations. Theapplication of a chemical substance revealed to the scientificteam traces of blood on the walls and on the floor of a roominside the house, except for in a clean area of the floor sized180x60cm.

"The investigators were not able to determine whether the traces

they found were of human blood. The sources did not indicatethe position of the grave of the presumed victims and so we didnot find the bodies."

However, Serbian journalists began conducting their owninvestigations into the purported organ trafficking.Correspondents from the Press newspaper were said to havefound the barracks described by Ponte. However, they refusedto share detailed information with KP. The tabloid publishedseveral photos related to the incident, but many local mediarepresentatives believe their authenticity is dubious.

"They wanted to fabricate this huge story, but they ended upwith a piece of crap," said Aleksandr Bechich, deputy chief editor

of the Pravda opposition newspaper. "Press has been caughtlying on more than one occasion. But there is truth to the article.Many Serbs heard about these crimes even before the book'spublication. Serbia's Justice Minister Vladan Batich gave Pontenumerous materials about executed and kidnapped Serbs.There was also evidence, but no one was sure if the organs hadactually been trafficked. I originally heard about this 5 years agofrom Serbia's former head of Military Intelligence. But no onelistened to special agents at the time. The Serbian special forceshad documents that certified that medical equipment had beenbrought to camps in Albania. This evidence was given toWestern intelligence agencies. 'We can't work in Albania,' theysaid. 'Help us with this.' But no one did a thing. U.S. and German

special forces knew that Serbs had been kidnapped in 1999. Asthey didn't do anything to fix the situation, we should assumethey were also were involved in the trafficking network. How wasthe system organized? The KLA received huge sums of cash forthe organs. This money was used to buy drugs fromAfghanistan, which were later sold in Western Europe. The KLAbought arms using this money. Enough facts had been dug upto indict Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Kharadinay,current head of state Khashim Tachi and other prominentAlbanians. But as opposed to being sent to prison, Kharadinaywas released from The Hague in early April even though he hadbeen charged with murdering Serbian civilians. They said he

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Law students from Prishtin University at a rally.


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Serbia's parliament, told KP before our trip to Kosovsku-Mitrovitsu. He spouted off his version of a brief history ofmodern-day Serbia. "First, Tachi was involved in drug trafficking,then he headed a gang and later a terrorist group. Now he's aU.S. and EU ally. Kharadinay is the same story. He was abouncer at a night club and ended up running a terrorist

organization. In the forward to his book 'Peace and Freedo,' hewrote: 'I've killed Serbian policemen. I've killed civilian Serbs andAlbanians who were disobedient.' This is why I believeeverything Ponte wrote. We know all about this in Serbia.Kharadinay had a camp on Lake Radonich in Metokhia. Peoplewere taken there from Prizren, Pecha and Djakovitsa. Manywere executed. People were also selected for so-called medicalcenters. They were kept captive while their organs weresystematically extracted. You want proof? Look for their relativesin Kosovo. That's the only way. All the other evidence is destroyed."

Nothing to lose for Serbs in Kosovo's enclavesMany people have heard the phrase "humanitarian

catastrophe," but few have actually seen one. Serbian enclavesin Kosovo fall into this category. Homeless children roam thestreets. Adults loiter in the sun, or wait for clients who nevercome in self-styled cabs. Piles of trash lie by the roadside.Disfunctional state services that won't do anything even if they'reasked to.

KP traveled to the Kosovsku-Mitrovitsu enclave in northKosovo to learn more about the enclave phenomenon.Our journalists sat in a dilapidated cafe waiting for theKosovo Serbian rally to begin. The cafe's windows werecovered in bullet holes. The rally was to commence at12:44. The number has a special subtext. It's the numberof a UN resolution on Kosovo declaring the territory an indelible

part of Serbia.Romanian soldiers from the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) tookthe cover off the machine gun on the small armored car. Theyknew they had to be ready. Meanwhile, we drank coffee behindthe UN courthouse. Shrapnel had killed a Ukrainianpeacekeeper there only a week before. He had been on apeacekeeping mission to introduce constitutional order in thecountry. But Serbian lawyers weren't a part of that order. Theyhad been asked to leave the courthouse and were later replacedby Albanians. Those who refused to leave were arrested. Thepeacekeepers hadn't realized Kosovo Serbs had been on theedge of an explosion for several years. They had nothing tolose. Their country had been taken from them, and they had

been left in poverty waiting for a miracle. As we were toldnumerously, many Kosovo Serbs consider a miracle to be250,000 Russian volunteers. Russian journalists, like us, weretaken for spies or advanced detachment.

"Sweet life" of guardian's of the eastMitrovista isn't really an enclave. It practically borders Serbia, buta bridge divides the city into Albanian and Serbian sections.Unofficial guards man the Serbian side. This small detail showswho is the aggressor in the situation and who is on the defense.

Forty last names of deceased Serbs are written on an obelisk onthe Serbian side. The Albanians have tried to annex their section

wasn't guilty. But we have documented facts proving thatKharadinay personally executed 60 Serbs and ordered 300more to be killed. Kharadinay's release was a severe blow forthe families of the deceased."

The tribunal's decision to set Kharadinay free was as hurtful forSerbs as when the West recognized Kosovo's independence.

The KLA's field commander was the equivalent of an AlbanianShamil Basaev cruel and uncompromising. Nine witnesseswere lined up to testify against Kharadinay at The Hague. Butthey were all killed under various circumstances during the trial.Two were killed by a sniper, one died in an automobile accidentin Montenegro, two were stabbed, two were burned to death in

their car while serving in Kosovo's Police and two were killed in avillage cafe in Kosovo.

Many people in Serbia believe that Ramush Kharadinay was akey figure in the organ trafficking network.

"Tachi was a criminal," Deyan Mirovich, a radical party deputy in

PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONS page 4

Forty last names of deceased Serbs are written on an obelisk on the

Serbian side of the bridge dividing the town along ethnic lines. The

Albanians have tried to annex the Serbian section of the city on numerous

occasions. The bridge has served as a stage for bloody wars.


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of the city on numerous occasions. The bridge served as astage for bloody wars. It's quiet on the Serbian side. Muscularmen sit in a pink 24-hour cafe. They're officially called thebridge's guardians, as their job is to stop Albanians attackingfrom across the bridge. They greeted us cautiously. The waiterapproached us slowly and indifferently.

"One coffee, one bottle of water," we asked in Serbian, adding inRussian that we were Russian journalists writing about KosovoSerbs. The demeanour of the waiter and the guards changedimmediately. They offered us the table with a view of the bridge.

Soon after, the leader of the local branch of National SerbsUnion, Neboysha Iuvovich, came to the cafe and greeted us.

"Many politicians are straying from their positions and writingabout the truth," Neboysha said. "Carla Del Ponte didn't want towrite about what really happened before because she wouldhave had to launch investigations into crimes connected withorgan trafficking. It would have been career suicide for an EUpolitician in Kosovo. We have enough facts to prove genocide.We have information confirming 1,200 Serbs were kidnappedand 1,700 killed. No one can say for sure. Serbs werekidnapped all over Kosovo. People disappeared and notfarmers but doctors. Several were kidnapped. One was thefamous surgeon Andrea Tomanovish. His body was neverfound. Try going south to the Albanian border. Don't think about

talking about this with the Albanian administration, though. You'lldisappear. And only speak English with the Albanians."

In the morning we saw we were almost in the mountains. Theenclave was overtaken by a thick icy mist. They came to pick usup. A red jeep poked through the clouds. The numbers on theKosovo license plate were cardboard. Our driver, Dushko, a

Serb, took off the numbers before crossing the bridge onto theother Albanian side. Two-hundred meters, barbed wire fences, aKFOR outpost... Then everything changed. All the sudden wesaw clean, swept streets, bright signs, shop Turkish- and Roma-style windows. And U.S. flags. The new Albanian Kosovo is stillcelebrating victory.

Big laundry matKosovo was once considered Yugoslavia's poorest province.However, the situation has recently changed thanks to theworld's most progressive democracies. Of course, myriadsacrifices were made along the way. Many Kosovo residentswere exiled or sent to reservations, which the European Unionrefers to as "enclaves." Humanitarian mission representatives

don't like visiting Serbian ghettos. The reservations are anunpleasant sight especially compared to the rest of Kosovowhich is a perfect example of good peacekeeping.

Kosovo is crammed with cash. EU and U.S. humanitarianorganizations are making significant contributions to theeconomy. Albanians are also sending huge annual remittancesfrom Western Europe. Part of this money is earned from criminalactivities. But Kosovo can't yet cope with these substantialmoney streams. The funds are poorly managed and large sumsare invested in outlandish construction projects, such as 100-meter swimming pools in entirely uninhabited areas. Thousandsof consumer goods stores stand by the road. The averageKosovo village has 5-10 supermarkets for every 500 residents,

as well as three car washes and mechanics shops. Thecountry's elegant agrarian landscape now has tens of thousandsof newly built elite homes. Scattered among them are theskeletons of Serbian homes in ruins, covered in weeds.Albanians are dismantling these homes and using the materialsto build more multilevel mega markets. One theory why thesestores are built is that they are used for money laundering. Theyhave few customers and the assortment is always e nuts andmineral water. It's interesting to think how long these storeswould have to run before covering their costs. The average landplot for these mega markets sells for 100,000 euro.

The EU can't explain why the Albanian mafia was given arepublic to rule after massacring the Serbian population. But the

Albanians know how to play the democratic game. Each megamarket boasts a collection of small EU and U.S. flags, althoughthe well-being of Kosovo residents is divided purely along ethniclines a mockery of the democratic values that the countrypretends to uphold.

IstokA Western humanitarian mission employee based in Prishtinrecapped the events that had transpired in the Kosovo village,Istok. He said that Albanians had misbehaved a bit in thesummer of 1999, but everything fell into place shortly after.Moscow built 48 homes in the village for the Serbians whose


When Kosovo declared independence, automobile amnesty wasgiven to all vehicles stolen from the EU. The automobilebusiness has served as an economic engine for Kosovo.


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houses had been burned down. Today, he added, Istok is thepinnacle of peaceful coexistence of Albanians and Serbs.

Lawyer Lozanka Radoyvich told us an altogether different storyin Belgrad. A massacre had ensued for a week in Istok in 1999.All the homes of Serbs were burned down or seized. Forty-threepeople were kidnapped. They have never been found.

As we made our way through Kosovo, we couldn't imagine thedanger facing two Russian Orthodox journalists. We relied onour Serbian driver to handle all our safety issues. At first, Dushkorefused to go to Istok. But we told him that as a refugee of theGrachanitsa reservation he could help us to put together anarticle about the real situation in Serbian enclaves, or sit at home

waiting for his enclave to be cleansed.

Our jeep had already been riding for half an hour in themountainous village Istok. Passers-by stared at us intensely.Doshko gripped the wheel tightly. His large hairy paws whitenedfrom stress and he whispered through his teeth: "Albanians,Albanians."

Doshko visually screened everyone around us, looking for hisfellow Serbs. But he didn't find any. All the sudden, the car backedup, he turned down an alley and we stopped at a house with asatellite dish that read: "Total-TV."

"It's Serbian TV," Doshko said. "Albanians don't watch it."

We exited the car. Destroyed walls of old homes surrounded us.

New smaller houses had been built among them. TypicallyAlbanians don't live in such modest residences. And in Istok theSerbs don't either, although these homes had built especially forthem by the Moscow government.

All the homes sat empty and silent. The windows were covered byrags. We walked around the homes and stood next to thecrumbling walls that had eroded beneath the rain. Snakes warmedthemselves under the sun on concrete blocks. We were lookingfor the only remaining Serbian family. And we found her. Anelderly Serbian woman stood looking at us cautiously.

Doshko asked her in Albanian: "Are you a Serb?"

"Yes. So?" she answered in the same tongue.

"No, really tell us, are you a Serb?" he asked again, only inSerbian.

"And so?" she repeated, only in Serbian.

"I'm a Serb from Grachanitsa! These are Russian journalistsfrom Moscow!" he said.

In half a moment we were already in her kitchen. The coffeeboiled on the gas stove. Milavitsa put shot glasses and rakia onthe table. The home was half-dark. All the windows werecovered in blankets. She told us how she had run away fromIstok, but later returned.

"I came back when I learned that Moscow had decided to helpus. But the Russians outsourced the work to a Germancompany that hired Albanians to fulfill the contract. In effect, theAlbanians made money off the Russians, by building our homesand not providing us with electricity or water. This was done onpurpose. But I'm still happy the house was built. Before I wasliving in a shed with a cow."

Milavitsa's family had lived in Istok for nearly a century. In thesummer of 1999, Albanians blew up a home, fish restaurant,wine cellar and four-car garage in the village. They also stole atractor and land. Her family home was burned. She named thedead, counting them on her fingers.

"Did you know that Serbs were kidnapped and their organstrafficked?" we asked her cautiously.

"Yes, we all knew! We knew that only young, strong men wentmissing. On June 10, the Albanians rounded up about 50people here in Istok and took them away. No one ever sawthem again. We appealed to both the Serbian and EUauthorities for help. But they said that we didn't have anyevidence. As if you can just go to a clinic where organs arebeing trafficked, take photos and leave!"

When we left, Milavitsa complained that the humanitarian aid inMitrovitsa was subsiding from Russia's Emergency SituationsMinistry. She added there was no communication among the


The Moscow government built these houses in the Istok village after Serbian homes were burned down by Albanians. We managed to find one family living in the area


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enclaves. We told her that service was being held again at theGrachanitsa Monastery and some enclaves were holding upwell.

Serbs give birth in enclavesTry to imagine a Russian village in a mountainous district ofChechnya in the mid-1990s. There's poor communication withmainland Russia and transport is unreliable. The localpopulation has no one to rely on in an emergency.

It's a long hike to the Serbian border from the Shtripts enclave.The 10,000 or so population doesn't have any employmentopportunities. They're farmers, although portions of the landborder with Albanian villages and locals don't let Serbs work thefields.

"They shoot farmers," said Mile Popovich, a member of the localadministration. "Almost everything in our enclave is completelynatural. The economy is ruined and the Albanians don't buyanything from the Serbs."

"Doesn't Belgrade help you?" we asked.

"It's hard to call it 'help,'" Popovich said. "Their policy is to moveall the educated people to Serbia and help them find work.Belgrade helped all qualified workers leave. Only we farmersand workers remain. But that's okay. We'll win Kosovo back the

same way we lost it. And our friends will be stronger by then. Idon't think we should drag Russia into a war right now. In themeanwhile our kids are growing up."

"Do Serbs really have children in the enclaves?" we asked.

"People just understood what they need to do," Popovichanswered. "There's an average of three children per family in theenclaves."

"Have Albanians tried to take Shtripts?" we asked.

"They're too afraid. We can call 5,000 men to arms in amoment," Popovich said. "The KFOR soldiers already tried todisarm us. The Poles came first. They walked through theenclave, spoke with locals and later told their commandingofficers they wouldn't do it. Then the Americans came with theirsearch dogs on helicopters. They went to each home looking forarms, but we sent our shepherd dogs after them. Then theAmericans climbed back into their helicopters and took off. Forsome reason, they haven't rushed to disarm the Albanians... Butthe KLA has shot at our buses. People have died in thethousands. A lot of people have disappeared without a trace.We used to worry during kidnappings in 1999. My neighbor waskidnapped and they never found his body. The kidnappingstarted as soon as NATO forces came to Kosovo."

A government employee told us how to find the mother of akidnap victim. We went to see her.

"They kept telling me my son's alive."

It wasn't easy to find her home. We wandered the streets until alocal woman carrying groceries offered to escort us to TsetaDogandjich's house. As we walked, we read the many deathnotices glued on the fences and lampposts. The woman caughtus staring and said in good Russian: "There aren't many of usleft..."

Dogandjich's story is typical in Kosovo. Her son Yakov disappearedin 1999.

"He was coming home and had to pick up some shepherds alongthe way," she said. There was an old Soviet TV in the corner of theroom.

"Someone stopped Yakov. They found his car by the road with thedoors half open. I went to the KFOR for help, but they said calmly:'Your son was kidnapped by an independent criminal group.' Theauthorities didn't look for him at all. But then word came that Yakovwas still alive. We asked a foreign journalist who was preparing tomeet Albanian criminals to help us find him. They again told her thatYakov was alive. About one month later, some people contactedme and asked me to give them clothes and money for food for my

son. Albanians have contacted me several times saying that he wasalive, but they couldn't release him. Why did they want him to beginwith?"

"Have you continued searching for your son?" we asked.

"Yes. We were continuously told he was alive. We met with MajorTaylor who commanded KFOR in our region. He told us theycouldn't find and free our son. But he added we should try to buyhim back through our Albanian acquaintances. A good Albanianfriend of Yakov's said that if he tried to intervene, he and his wholefamily would be killed. Other Albanians refused to help us, althoughwe've managed to set aside a good amount of money to buy himback."


Tsveta's son may have been a victim of underground organtrafficking. But she hopes to find him alive.


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Soldiers of the enclave self-defense movement explained whyprisoners were often sent from one area to the next speaking onthe condition of anonymity.

"Many kidnap victims were found in mass graves," they said."But they were mostly older. Young healthy men were kept inspecial camps. When international commissions headed to thearea, the Albanians relocated their prisoners. And this is how thevictims live until the Albanians receive an order for a specificorgan. Then the victim is taken from Kosovo to an undergroundclinic."

Our investigation was nearing an end. Most importantly, we hadlearned that Ponte's scandalous statements were true. ManySerbs were kidnapped at the same time in the summer of 1999.The majority were young healthy men. Also, they weren't killedimmediately, but kept in special camps. KP came across awoman who was examined by doctors working for theunderground organ trade. She was saved by a astounding chainof events.

General's listDeputy in Serbias parliament and General Bozhidar Delich toldus that no Serb was left alive who could testify to the KLA'sorgan trafficking.

"We received information about the concentration campsholding Serbian prisoners," Delich told KP. "We passed thesematerials along to international organizations. But the terroristshad their own links in the KFOR and UN missions. Wheneverthe commission intended on checking a specific location, theprisoners were quickly transported to another camp. Back then,we had high hopes we would see the prisoners alive. In 1999,Serbia released 2,000 Albanian prisoners to Kosovo, hoping toreceive kidnapped Serbs in return. But the Albanians didn't sendone! Of course not! They would describe the horrors they weresubjected to, including organ extraction. The KLA had about 10concentration camps for organ donors in south Kosovo. Thelargest were Budak, Yablonits, Ponoshevets, Zrsts andNashestk. There was a huge camp in Prizren near a bankbuilding, but it's very dangerous traveling there."

Naturally, the first thing we did was visit these 10 locations. Butthere were no signs of war or museums honoring genocidevictims. All we saw was new buildings, dumps, car partsclearance sales and hundreds of monuments honoring KLAheroes. We stopped to take a closer look at one of themonuments. Kosovos state myth about the righteous KLA wasdeveloping quickly.

"Who's your hero," we asked a young boy in English inYablonits. He looked about 15 years old.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Reporters from Scotland, we said.

"Where's that?" he asked.

"Great Britain," we answeredThe boy smiled and started running around us with his dog."English is good, Europe is good, America is our friend! AndRamush Kharadinay is the best!" the boy shouted, getting backto my first question.

"Well who isn't good, then?" we asked.

"Serbia," the boy said straight away. "And Russia," he added. "Ihate Russia the most. It's the farthest away."

Some adults nearby joined in the political debate. But whenasked about the concentration camps, they answered: "TheSerbs were never here. There was never a war here. Wealways lived here." And we heard the same things in every town.

After visiting the last location on the general's list, we knew therewas little hope to find witnesses to the KLA's organ trafficking.Driving around the mountain roads, we drove by the HolyArchangels Monastery that had been burned down byAlbanians. During the last wave of the genocide in 2004, monkKhariton was kidnapped. Several days later, his naked bodywas found in the mountains. He was severely tortured and hissevered head was never found. Today, the Middle Agemonastery has a modern-day martyr. Restoration works havecommenced at the monastery only inasmuch as they havebegun cleaning the ruins. The monks haven't been persecutedin recent years.

PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSpage 8

Evitsa Dzhovevich was miraculously released from an Albanianconcentration camp. She hasn't left her apartment with her daughter

Militsa in two years.


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The monastery's members are few. One is a Serbian fromPrizren where the general advised us not to go.

Evitsa Dzhovevich and her daughter Militsa take a cab to themonastery on holidays. But they walk all the way back toPrizren. It's a form of protest. Two-year-old Militsa is the onlySerbian child in the ancient capital of Orthodox Kosovo. There

aren't any more Serbian children. And there probably won'tbe anymore. The nuns told us that Eva and Militsa haven't lefttheir apartment in two years. And Eva refuses to move toSerbia. She promised God she wouldn't leave Kosovo afterbeing miraculously saved twice. However, she'll most likely endup moving for her daughter's sake.

Eva and Militsa live in the center of Prizren in an apartmentbuilding. But she didn't tell us her apartment number. Shewanted to check that our intentions were sincere. And so we ranup and down the stairs knocking on all the doors. Essentiallythere were two types of doors. The first was ornate steel doors

with Albanian last names. The second was wooden doorscovered in a layer of cheap paint, the majority of which had beenbeaten in.

"I believed in God, but I didn't leave Kosovo"Eva and Militsa live behind a thick steel door. Eva installed thedoor a long time ago, and she's regretted doing so on more thanone occasion. Militsa is bright-eyed and enthusiastic uponseeing us. She's never had so many guests over before. Andwe're having a difficult time coping with the situation. Imagineplaying with the last Russian child in Novgorod or Tver. That's agood way to understand what the Serbs have lost.

Usually the only person who comes to the apartment is an 80-year-old Muslim Serb. He's brought them food to the apartmentfor two years now. Militsa's father, a Greek who worked inPrizren, sends them money each month. He didn't want to stayin Kosovo, and Eva didn't want to leave.

"I was first kidnapped on Sept. 14, 1999 at 11:50," Eva said. "I

was buying vegetables at a stall near my house. Albanians hadjust entered the city at the time. Fifty people were killed beforethe KFOR came. Around 30 children had also disappeared. AnAlbanian walked over to me in a military uniform and asked tosee my documents. But he didn't even look at them. He knewright away that I am a Serb. Then he dragged me to his car. I

was screaming and fighting.Soon a second Albanian ranover to help him. They pickedme up and shoved me in thetrunk. The next thing I knew Iwas at their headquarters,where they held me three

days. Later, a man came tosee me who gave me athorough medical examination.He measured my bloodpressure, took blood andstarted asking me a bunch ofquestions. He wanted to knowhow healthy I was and I didn'tunderstand why."

Eva was devoid of emotion. Itwas clear she had put theincident behind her long ago.

"Who was this man? Was he a

Serb or an Albanian?""I dont know. He spoke bothlanguages equally well," shesaid. "He wrote downeverything I said in hisnotebook. He was surprisedwhen I told him how old I was.I was born in 1960."

"You look wonderful for yourage," we said. We couldn't resist the compliment.

Eva smiled for the first and last time at our meeting.

"That's what saved me. Then the man who inspected me leftimmediately. Later I was taken to their chief, who was sitting in

the office of a bank director. He said: 'Pray to God and thank himfor being so old. Now get out of here.' And he threw me mypassport. Ever since I have believed in God. But I haven't leftKosovo."

Eva said sadly that Prizen was a Serbian city in the 1990s. Mostresident Serbs said they'd never live anywhere else. But thenthey started leaving one by one. Only Eva stayed. She refusedto leave in 2001 when Albanians tried to kick in her apartmentdoor, or shot at her in the street.

"There was a massacre on March 17, 2004. Serbian homeswere burning in the city. The day before, the KFOR soldiers had

9ARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONS page 9

Monuments dedicated to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) have been built along the roads

one every half kilometer.


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come to our homes and hung signs on the doors reading 'Thisapartment is protected by the KFOR forces.' I ripped the sign offright away. And on March 18, Albanians came and startedkicking in my door. I called my Greek friend who works for acharity mission and asked him to call the UN Police. Butsomeone told the Albanians that a patrol car was on the way

and they escaped. The police helped me pack my things. I livedfor an entire year at a military base before going home.

We got ready to leave Prizren before dark. But my driverDoshko couldn't hold back. "Eva, don't you understand? Youcan't live this way. Think about your daughter. Here is mynumber in Grachanits. Call. I'll help you move to our enclave."

Eva took the number, but made no promises. We didn't judgeher. Maybe Eva and Militsa are paying the price for their nation'swrongdoings. They're forced to live in torment in what was oncea Serbian city. But someday the tide may change. That'ssomething worth believing in.

Doshko was quiet on the way back to Grachanits. All he saidwas: "It's a shame God doesn't have time for all of us."

"I spoke with Carla. She waved us off"We traveled to Belgrade to complete our investigation. We hadlearned about a group at a refugee camp near Obilich that wascollecting information on kidnapped Serbs. We were given thenumber of the group's head Simo Spasich at a KFOR wagoninhabited by exiled Serbs. Spasich had tried to get The Hague toinvestigate the organ trafficking.

Spasich met us in a yellow T-shirt with the motto: "Why haveBelgrade and Prishtina forgotten kidnapped Serbs?" "I don'twant people to forget their brothers," Spasich said, smiling sadly.He spoke in earnest. In 1998, both his brothers disappeared Zharko and Belko. He still hopes to find them. "Several weeksafter they disappeared, I received the first news about them. A

Turk told me he saw both my brothers in Albania. They wereboth alive. I was even able to talk to them by phone. And thatwas the last time we spoke. My brother says he doesn't knowwhy he was kidnapped. They don't force him to work and theydon't demand ransom. I could kidnap an international bus anddemand they return my brothers, but I hoped they'd trade theminstead. Serbia released 2,108 Albanians. But no one wasoffered in return."

"Ponte writes in her book that Russian volunteers alsodisappeared. Have you heard anything about this?" we asked.

"There's one Russian in the list of kidnapped individuals IgorSergeevich Nifontov born in 1968," Spasich said. "We don'teven have his photo. He disappeared in July 1999. There were

probably more Russians. Volunteers fought under differentnames. Maybe the relatives of kidnapped Russians will read thearticle and contact me?"

"What happened to the Serbs who were held hostage?" heasked.

"The Albanians didn't kill everyone at once," Spasich said. "Wefound bodies in mass graves and the mountains. But the fate ofmany other Serbs was unclear until several facts later came tolight. I first spoke with Ponte about this in 2001 in Belgrade. Wegave her a list of 1,300 kidnapped individuals and the letters thatwere dropped over Kosovo by NATO planes signed by Tachi.

They called all the Albanians to leave the country before thebombings began. The Albanians left in masses guarded by KLAsoldiers. Our kidnapped Serbs were seen among them. TheAlbanian's used this maneuver to get the kidnapped Serbs outof the country under false pretenses as refugees."

"Why?" we asked.

"To take their organs before killing them," Spasich said. "I knowthis is why over 1,000 people were taken to Albania. Ponte onlymentions 300 Serbs. In 2004, I received a call from The Haguethat all the Serbs who were on the list were killed."

"Did you know that the Serbs were kidnapped for their organs?"we asked.

"I assumed so," Spasich said. "We received information in thisregard. I learned from military personnel that this happens inwestern Macedonia, too. When Ponte told us the Serbs on ourlist had been killed, she knew that their organs had been stolen.We're preparing a lawsuit against her for masking these crimes.We could have punished the guilty four years ago. But Kosovo'sindependence was dearer to The Hague than some Serbs.

They were willing to close their eyes to the horrors committed bythe Albanians. It's a big political game. If everyone knew aboutthe brutalities committed against the Serbs, no one would haverecognized Kosovo's independence."

A Call to Brussels

Dmitry ROGOZIN, Russia's Representative in NATO:

"IT'S REAL-DEAL POLITICS""The international community always knew about the organtrafficking as described in Ponte's book. These are things thateveryone knows who's ever been involved with Kosovo'sproblems. There is serious evidence discrediting Tachi, theKLA's head, who's still respected in the West. Everyone knewthat the KLA is a terrorist organization financed by drugtrafficking. For the West, acknowledging these facts meantbreaking their plans for dividing Serbia, changing the powerscheme in the Balkans and weakening Russian influence. Mypartners in Brussels call it 'real-deal politics.'"

PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONS page10

Dmitry ROGOZIN


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Kosovo is turning out to be a huge source of conflict, both in the Balkansand across Europe. Six EU member states are against recognizingKosovos independence, because they fear it could lead to problems withtheir own ethnic minorities.

It was probably the most important day of Kosovo Prime Minister HashimThacis term in office. After issuing the new countrys declaration ofindependence on Sunday, Thaci announced in the capital, Pristina, thathis country is now an official member of the European family.

But in the excitement of that historic moment, it probably didnt occur tohim that it is sometimes a rather moody and divided family. Only a fewhours later, Europes lack of unanimity over recognizing Kosovo revealedwhat a heterogeneous entity Europe still is.It also raises the question of whether such a divided Europe will ever becapable of conducting an effective joint common foreign policy. Serbiawithdrew its ambassadors from Germany and Austria Wednesday, afterBerlin and Vienna recognized Kosovo as an independent nation. Then, onThursday, Serbian protesters rioted in Belgrade,While Denmark, Austria, France and Great Britain hold similar positionson Kosovos independence, the EU countries that have minority conflicts

of their own are opposed to Kosovos secession from Serbia. They fearthat their separatist groups could choose to emulate developments in theBalkans.SPAIN: THE BASQUES ASPAIN: THE BASQUES ASPAIN: THE BASQUES AND THE CATALANSND THE CATALANSND THE CATALANSThe Spanish central government in Madrid fears that Basque separatistscould see Kosovos declaration of independence as a precedent and asnew fuel for their cause. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Spain was oneof the first EU countries to announce that it would not recognize theindependence of the small Serbian province.In early 2008, the Basque terrorist organization ETA announced that it

would make its future actions dependent on the situation in Kosovo. ETAsgoal is to liberate the Basque region from what it calls Spanish occupiersand to establish an independent, socialist Basque nation. It wasestablished in 1959 as a military resistance group against Spanish dictatorFrancisco Franco, who had banned the use of the Basque language anddone everything in his power to suppress the Basque minority. There are3 million Basques today, 2.5 million of them living in the northwestSpanish Basque region and the rest in the southwestern tip of France.The conflict, however, has transpired mainly on Spanish soil.In 1979, after the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Basques weregranted substantial autonomy. But this wasnt enough for ETA, whichcontinues to fight for complete independence using bombings and


intimidation campaigns as its preferred tools. The groups struggle hasalready claimed more than 800 lives.Another minority group in Spain, the Catalans, also wants more than theautonomous status it was granted in 1978. About 7.2 million people live in

the Catalan region in northeast Spain, which has the countrys strongesteconomy. Catalonia has had autonomous status since the 18th century. Itwasnt long ago that Josep-Llus Carod-Rovira, the head of theRepublican Left party and the deputy of regional President Jose Montilla,demanded a referendum on independence by 2014.But the difference between the Basque country and Catalonia, on the onehand, and Kosovo, on the other, is that these regions, despite theircontinued efforts to gain independence, already enjoy substantial rights ofautonomy.In Madrid, the governments decision not to recognize Kosovo could alsoaffect domestic politics -- general elections will take place in Spain onMarch 9.CYPRUS: THE TURKISH CYPRIOCYPRUS: THE TURKISH CYPRIOCYPRUS: THE TURKISH CYPRIOTSTSTSWhile Kosovo celebrated independence on Sunday, the same daybrought new hope of reunification for Cyprus. In the Greek southern partof the island, President Tassos Papadopoulos, whose isolationist policy

has seriously damaged relations with Turkish Cypriots in the north andwith the European Union, was voted out of office. The candidates tosucceed him have indicated a willingness to resume negotiations with theTurkish Cypriots, raising new hopes that reunification is possible.The two ethnic groups on the sun-baked island have been separatedsince 1974. In 1983, the predominantly Turkish northern part of the islanddeclared itself an independent state, the so-called Turkish Republic ofNorthern Cyprus. However Turkey is the only country that recognizes it.The Greek Cypriot southern part, where three-quarters of the islandsroughly 1 million inhabitants live, is known as the Republic of Cyprus andhas been an EU member since 2004. Traveling across the border hasbecoming easier since then, but there are still no direct contacts betweenthe ethnic groups today. A barbed-wire fence marks the border betweennorthern and southern Cyprus. United Nations troops monitor the line ofdemarcation.

In 2004, an attempt by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to achievereunification through a referendum failed when the majority GreekCypriots voted against it. Turkey has a special interest in a unified Cyprus,because it would represent a milestone on the road to its own EUmembership.A runoff election next Sunday will decide who is to become the nextpresident: Dimitris Christofias, the 61-year-old chairman of the reformedcommunist Akel party, or conservative Ioannis Kasoulidis, 59. WhileChristofias is one of the few Greek politicians who are respected in thenorth, voters see Kasoulidis, a member of the European parliament, asbeing more likely to improve the countrys troubled relationship with theEU. But whoever wins the election, reuniting the conflicting parties willremain tremendously difficult. The Turkish Cypriots, who voted forreunification in 2004, are disappointed, because they feel that they werenever rewarded for their willingness to compromise at the time.This defiance could reinforce a tendency to emulate Kosovo and seek

public recognition for independence for the north. The change in theadministration could be coming at just the right point, in that it could helpprevent this.ROMANIA: THE MAGYARS IN SZKELY LANDROMANIA: THE MAGYARS IN SZKELY LANDROMANIA: THE MAGYARS IN SZKELY LAND"The independence of Kosovo is a precedent that all EU countries with anethnic minority should pursue, said Bla Mark, the chairman of theDemocratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR).His words only confirmed the fears of the Romanian government that theircountrys Hungarian minority could see the developments in Kosovo as amodel for their own efforts to secure independence. In a special session,the Romanian parliament voted 357 to 27 to refuse to recognize anindependent Kosovo. Romanian President Traian Basescu evencharacterized Kosovos declaration of independence as illegal.Romania, a country of 22 million, has minorities of 1.4 million ethnic

SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS SEEK INSPIRATION IN KOSOVOSEPARATIST MOVEMENTS SEEK INSPIRATION IN KOSOVOSEPARATIST MOVEMENTS SEEK INSPIRATION IN KOSOVO

Basque nationalists demonstrate in the Basque city of Bilbao. Spain is

worried the separatists could be inspired by the example of Kosovo.


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PARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONSARALLELS AND QUESTIONS page 12Hungarians, or Magyars, and hundreds of thousands of Roma. TheHungarian minority is large enough to ensure that it regularly exceeds the5 percent hurdle required to secure seats in parliamentary elections. In thefirst elections since Romania joined the EU in January 2007, the UDMRcaptured 6.2 percent of votes, securing it seats in the EuropeanParliament.

The UDMR demands the removal of the term unified country from theRomanian constitution, campaigns for better educational facilities forethnic Hungarians and wants the government to return Hungarian churchtreasures that were confiscated in 1918.A more radical arm of the UDMR, the Hungarian Citizens Union, whichformed in 2004, is pushing for closer relations with Hungary andautonomy for Szkely Land, a region in eastern Transylvania home toabout 700,000 Hungarians. The territory is the cultural heartland forRomania's Magyars; in some towns, more than 90 percent of residentsspeak Hungarian. Szkely Land was once an autonomous region,between 1952 and 1968, and parts of Transylvania belonged to Hungaryuntil 1920.But even if the Hungarian minority is now pushing even harder forseparation, the fact that 90 percent of the Romanian parliament voted notto recognize Kosovo strongly suggests that it also opposes anautonomous territory in Transylvania.

BULGARIA: THE MUSLIM POMAKSBULGARIA: THE MUSLIM POMAKSBULGARIA: THE MUSLIM POMAKSEven before Kosovo declared independence, Bulgarian President GeorgyParvanov made one thing clear: Without a unified stance within the EU,his country would not recognize Kosovos independence. Only if it couldbe guaranteed that human rights would be protected in the new Balkannation and the Ahtisaari plan would be implemented, would Bulgariaconsider establishing diplomatic relations with Kosovo, Parvanov said.Parvanovs hesitation has a lot to do with the situation in his own country.By seceding from Serbia, Kosovo and its ethnic Albanian majority couldencourage Bulgarias Turkish minority to do the same. About 700,000Turks live in Bulgaria, and they even form a majority in many cities andregions in the countrys north.In southern Bulgaria there are about 200,000 Muslim Pomaks of Slavicorigin, who are represented in the Bulgarian parliament by the Movementfor Rights and Freedoms party -- and yet they are not even recognized asan ethnic minority in the Bulgarian constitution. After many years ofoppression and displacement -- most recently under communist rule --many have immigrated to Turkey, while those left behind often live inabject poverty.Even before Bulgaria joined the EU, there were efforts to grant more rightsto the minority. One minority group has long called for introducing Turkishas a second official language and establishing a Turkish nationaluniversity.Could these demands turn into violence? Bulgarian Foreign Minister IvailoKalfin has warned against the threat of a rise in separatist groups,

although he was referring to the entire Balkan region. Kosovosindependence, he said, would destabilize the situation in the region andcould trigger a return to violence. Of course, such violence would alsoaffect Bulgaria, as an immediate neighbor.But other motives could also be behind the Bulgarian governmentshesitation on Kosovo. Because Russia already made it clear that it wouldnot recognize Kosovos independence, the Bulgarian president was eager

to avoid receiving a slap in the face from the heavy hand of the Kremlin,as the Bulgarian paper Dnevnikput it.GREECE: THE TURKS OF WESTERN THRACEGREECE: THE TURKS OF WESTERN THRACEGREECE: THE TURKS OF WESTERN THRACEDora Bakoyannis, the Greek foreign minister, has also warned thatKosovo could become a precedent for Europe, and that its declaration ofindependence could send a signal to ethnic minorities in many Europeancountries. If the European Union recognizes the secession of one ethnicgroup, Bakoyannis argued, perhaps it would have to do so repeatedly inthe future.Until the First Balkan War of 1912-1913, the region of Western Thrace innortheastern Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, but most of it wasunder Bulgarian control. Following failed efforts to install a ProvisionalGovernment of Western Thrace, the region went to Bulgaria in 1913 -- butnot for long. After World War I, the balance of power shifted again andWestern Thrace was awarded to the Entente powers of Britain, Franceand Russia. Under the Treaty of Svres, the region was finally ceded to

Greece in 1920.But what happened to the mainly Turkish-speaking inhabitants of WesternThrace? They were granted special minority rights under the Treaty ofLausanne, signed three years later. As a result, lessons in Thracianschools are still conducted in Turkish, and the enclaves residents areunder special protection. Despite these special rights, there are tensions inthe region, and the Thracian Turks have become a popular diplomaticpawn in negotiations with Istanbul.Even if the secession of Kosovo is not as likely to causes tensions in theirown country, the Greeks view the Balkans with concern. As a directneighbor, they too would be affected by a re-ignited conflict.SLOVAKIA: THE HUNGARSLOVAKIA: THE HUNGARSLOVAKIA: THE HUNGARIAN MINORITYIAN MINORITYIAN MINORITYFor years, Slovak populists have raged against Hungarian-speakingSlovaks in their country. Chief among them is Jn Slota, the leader of theSlovak National Party (SNS), who, with his racist remarks about theHungarian minority, has managed to become one of the countrys most

popular politicians. Slota has a fondness for spouting polarizingstatements like: The Hungarians are a cancer in the body of the Slovaknation.Ethnic Hungarians represent about 10 percent of the Slovak population,living predominantly in the countrys south. The unofficial border betweenethnic Slovaks and Hungarians, which still exists to some extent today,was pushed northward in the 16th and 17th centuries when the Turksoccupied what is now Hungary. At the time, many Hungarians moved tothe cities of Bratislava, Trnava, Kosice and Krupina.The Party of the Hungarian Coalition represents the Hungarians politically.Until a change of government in 2006, the party was represented in thegovernment. New tensions have arisen since it lost power.On the whole, the ethnic groups in Slovakia, including many Roma, live inrelative peace with one another. Nevertheless, disputes flare upperiodically. Education has been one of the bones of contention. With itsplan to print only the Slovak names of cities and towns in schoolbooks, theSlovak coalition government of the leftist populist Smer-Social Democrats,the nationalist SNS and the populist Movement for a Democratic Slovakiamet with severe criticism from Hungarians.Now Slovakia fears that its Hungarian minority could rebel once again.Kosovo could spark renewed efforts to secure independence bySlovakias Hungarian population -- or even encourage it to push for aunion with Hungary to the south.

Stephan Orth, Nadine Michel and Maike Jansen,Spiegel, February 22, 2008

Ethnic Hungarians in Romania have long been interested inindependence from Romania. Kosovo's declaration of independence

has whetted their appetite.

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