Romanians responsible for Kosovo deaths

Romanians responsible for Kosovo deaths

Robert Dean, the international prosecutor on the case, said there was "a reasonable suspicion that three of the shootings constitute crimes under Kosovo law" as his interim report on the investigation was handed out to reporters two months after the protest that turned bloody.

"There is substantial basis on which to conclude that Romanian gunners ... are responsible for the four woundings — two fatal, two serious," Dean said, adding that the findings were based on the forensic examination of firearms and rubber bullets removed from the victims.

He said the bullets were of the type exclusively used by the Romanian police, with at least eight officers firing the rounds that caused the wounds.

Two demonstrators were killed on February 10 when UNMIK police fired rubber bullets at Albanian protesters angry with a UN plan they said fell short of their demands to grant Kosovo full independence.

They broke through a police barricade in an attempt to reach the government building in Priština.

Two others were seriously wounded and dozens were treated for the effects of tear gas.

The report concluded that "at this point the shootings in question appear to be unwarranted and unjustified," Dean said.

He said that the task force also concluded that the deaths of the two Albanian men "appear to have been unnecessary and avoidable."

However, Dean said there was not sufficient evidence at present to identify which Romanian officers were responsible for firing the shots and said that under Kosovo's law no formal initiation of a judicial investigation was allowed without suspicion that an individual committed crimes.

"The evidence does not permit me to conclude that the entire group of Romanian gunners acted unlawfully. The acts of one, two or three in firing the rubber bullets improperly or in a criminal manner, which I think happened, cannot necessarily be imputed to all the others," Dean said.

"Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to identify with specificity who acted improperly," he added.

Romanian police officers serving with UN police have left Kosovo last month despite a UN investigation into their role in a riot in which two protesters died.

After their departure, the UN mission in Kosovo said it regretted their decision not to comply with the request of the UN headquarters and appealed to Romania to cooperate in the investigation.

The chief UN police commissioner and Kosovo's interior minister both resigned following the deaths. Authorities have pledged to investigate the deaths and the tactical reasons for the use of rubber bullets during the protest.

Dean urged the UN and the Romanian government to consider compensation for the victims' families.