Excavations at the suspected mass grave site in Kalludër, Zupç, are continuing, with suspicions that the remains of 23 Albanian intellectuals from Mitrovica, who went missing on April 19, 1999, may be located there.
Kushtrim Gara from the Secretariat of the Government Commission for Missing Persons told RTK that the process is still in the assessment excavation phase and that determining the identity of the human remains will require identification through DNA analysis.
“The suspicions potentially link this excavation to the case of the intellectuals. However, it will still be a matter for the identification process through scientific DNA analysis, which in this case will determine the final identity,” Gara said.
He stated that the majority of families of missing persons have already provided the necessary reference biological samples for the identification process.
“Almost more than 97–98% of families have already provided the required biological reference samples, which are essential in cases where we are dealing with a genuine identification process through scientific DNA analysis,” he said.
Gara said that the main challenge in uncovering the fate of missing persons remains the lack of reliable information and, according to him, the lack of willingness from the Serbian side to provide data from its archives.
“The challenge has always been, as I have said, in the case of the Kosovo war, the lack of reliable information. More specifically, it remains the lack of readiness or willingness of the Serbian side to make available the data from their archives for this process,” Gara stated.
He mentioned the request for access to the archives of the 37th Motorized Brigade, which, according to him, is linked to crimes committed in the Drenica region.
“One of the commitments that remains from the May 2, 2023 Declaration is that, on June 1, 2023, the then head of the delegation and the Government Commission, Mr. Hoti, submitted a request to the President of Serbia, Vučić, to have full access to the archives of the 37th Motorized Brigade,” Gara said.
He also spoke about the cases of mass graves in Raška, stating that despite earlier claims of a higher number of victims, so far the remains of 60 victims have been discovered.
“When we return to those events, the statements at the time by the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office and the Serbian Government Commission were that it concerned 250 victims. So far, we have managed to find the remains of only 60 victims,” he said.
Gara emphasized that Kosovo will continue its efforts to uncover the fate of missing persons.
“The Republic of Kosovo will continue with maximum commitment until this issue is fully resolved,” Gara concluded.
