"Priština should open KLA archives in Skopje"

BELGRADE The Serbian government Commission for Missing Persons announced on Monday that it will ask the Pristina authorities to open the archives of the KLA. This concerns the archives of the former ethnic Albanian paramilitary formation Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. "Pristina should open KLA archives in Skopje" "We believe that the opening of the archives would contribute to solving the fate of several hundred persons gone missing during the armed conflicts in Kosovo Metohija," Commission President Veljko Odalovic said at the debate in Belgrade staged to mark the International Human Rights Day observed on December 10. "We recently learnt about the KLA archives in Skopje and we have been trying to get access to the documents ever since but without success," he said. According to the data of the Commission, the fate of 1,750 individuals remains unsolved to this day. Of this figure, 529 people are Serbs and other non-Albanians, while the rest are Kosovo Albanians, Odalovic said. He noted that 14 years have passed since the armed conflicts in the southern Serbian province and the government Commission is not satisfied with the number of solves so far. Odalovic said that most of the cases, including the gravest crimes, took place in Kosovo during the mandate of the international community, but the search for the missing persons and Serb victims is either not mentioned at all or is pushed aside. "We are constantly facing problems in this aspect as international institutions and the Pristina government will not issue information about Serb victims," Odalovic noted. Serbian Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic noted that citizens in Kosovo and Metohija, especially non-Albanians living in enclaves, are held hostage by ongoing political processes and are faced with violations of rights inconceivable for the rest of the modern Europe. Representatives of Serbia's government bodies and Association of the Families of the Kidnapped and Murdered in Kosovo and Metohija agreed that human rights there are violated by the silence of the Pristina government and the international community concerning the fate of missing Serbs and other non-Albanians and by the failure of relevant institutions to punish the individuals responsible for the crimes Veljko Odalovic (Beta, file) Tanjug

"Priština should open KLA archives in Skopje"

"We believe that the opening of the archives would contribute to solving the fate of several hundred persons gone missing during the armed conflicts in Kosovo Metohija," Commission President Veljko Odalović said at the debate in Belgrade staged to mark the International Human Rights Day observed on December 10.

"We recently learnt about the KLA archives in Skopje and we have been trying to get access to the documents ever since but without success," he said.

According to the data of the Commission, the fate of 1,750 individuals remains unsolved to this day. Of this figure, 529 people are Serbs and other non-Albanians, while the rest are Kosovo Albanians, Odalović said.

He noted that 14 years have passed since the armed conflicts in the southern Serbian province and the government Commission is not satisfied with the number of solves so far.

Odalović said that most of the cases, including the gravest crimes, took place in Kosovo during the mandate of the international community, but the search for the missing persons and Serb victims is either not mentioned at all or is pushed aside.

"We are constantly facing problems in this aspect as international institutions and the Priština government will not issue information about Serb victims," Odalović noted.

Serbian Ombudsman Saša Janković noted that citizens in Kosovo and Metohija, especially non-Albanians living in enclaves, are held hostage by ongoing political processes and are faced with violations of rights inconceivable for the rest of the modern Europe.

Representatives of Serbia's government bodies and Association of the Families of the Kidnapped and Murdered in Kosovo and Metohija agreed that human rights there are violated by the silence of the Priština government and the international community concerning the fate of missing Serbs and other non-Albanians and by the failure of relevant institutions to punish the individuals responsible for the crimes