Engel writes to US Secretary of State about Kosovo war victims

In a letter sent to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, lawmaker Engel stresses that Serbia's membership in the European Union should not move forward until Serb war criminals are held accountable.

Thousands of civilians have been killed, tens of thousands have been raped, and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly expelled from Serbian troops. Although the facts are widely known, almost no one has been brought to justice in Serbia for these war crimes, though, in many cases, evidence speaks that orders have been given directly by the state leader. This is deeply disturbing” wrote lawmaker Engel.

In the letter sent to Secretary Pompeo, he praises the December 18th decision by which the administration has banned entry into the United States of America, former Serbian police general Goran Radosavevic, known as Guri, because of his involvement in the murder of three Albanian Americans in 1999.

Radossavevic, writes in letter to Mr. Engel, “was for a long time the prime suspect in killing three American citizens, the Bytyci brothers and other war crimes. This important decision, taken nearly 20 years after the end of the war, is a turning point for the Bytyci family's justice campaign and a first hopeful step to ensure that Serbia is held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the” conflict.

Stressing that the Bytyci brothers were brutally murdered in 1999 until they were accompanying a Roma community family from Kosovo to Serbia, lawmaker Engel writes that “their murder was not the only horror of the regime of (Slobodan) Milosevic against Kosovo citizens. Thousands of civilians have been killed, tens of thousands have been raped, and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly expelled from Serbian troops. Although the facts are widely known, almost no one has been brought to justice in Serbia for these war crimes, though, in many cases, evidence speaks that orders have been given directly by the state leader. This is deeply disturbing” wrote lawmaker Engel, follows VOA.

In the letter it also refers to the Belgrade-based Human Rights Fund's report, published in 2017 called “Hide the evidence of crimes during the war in Kosovo. The operation to hide troops”.

The document reportedly has found the bodies of 941 Albanians, mostly civilians, who were killed during the war in Kosovo, in mass cemetery in Serbia since 2001.
Of them “744 Kosovo Albanian troops have been found in Batajnica, on the outskirts of Belgrade, at least 61 in Petrovo Selo, and 84 at Perucaci Lake. At least 52 troops were found in the mass cemetery in Rudnica”, the document said.

According to the fund, top government officials and the Yugoslav Army have been involved in hiding crimes committed against Kosovo Albanian civilians.

“Witnesses say that the decision to conceal evidence of crimes committed was recently taken in March 1999, and that members of the Department for Public Security, Interior Ministry State Security and the Yugoslav Army have participated in the sweep of the ground. In addition, civilians and employees of public enterprises whose machines have been used during operations” have also participated.

Lawmaker Engel writes that the Fund's report probably affects only the surface of what needs to be investigated as it calls on Secretary Pompeii to take some steps during 2019:”

“Pictures first, post-conflict issues must be a central part of our dialogue with Belgrade. Although Serbia has faced the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for its actions in Bosnia, there has not been a parallel court for the Kosovo conflict. Serbia is an important country in the Western Balkans and must become part of Europe. But we fear Serbia will not realise that goal unless it accepts responsibility for war crimes”.

Second, lawmaker Engel writes, “requires that you work with European allies on the issue as part of Serbia's European Union membership process. Serbia should not progress in the EU membership process until Serb war criminals are free. To leave behind the terrible history of war in Kosovo, victims of Serbian crimes must see justice. Failure to do so leaves the door open for more conflicts and disputes in the region”.

Finally, writes on paper “While Serbia faces little or no legal risks for war crimes in Kosovo, a Special Court has been established to prosecute members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who may have committed illegal acts. We believe that anyone in Kosovo who committed war crimes should be held accountable, but we feel we have to stick to two fundamental facts:

Milosevic-led military, police and intelligence services have committed most of the crimes during the war in Kosovo. And the statute on which the court was established does not rightly specify that only ethnic Albanians or KLA members can be followed. Rather, the law is impartial in ethnic terms. In turn, if this court accuses only Albanians, it will be seen as an ethnic court that will seriously tarnish its justice in any future action. We will take a close look at the work of the Special Court to see that he carefully avoids ethnic targeting in its prosecution”, writes in Mr. Engel's letter.