Kosovo is awaiting dates from Serbia to begin excavations for persons who went missing during the last war in Kosovo, said Kushtrim Gara, from the Government Commission for Missing Persons.
Gara mentioned that they are waiting for the determination of the date to start excavations at three locations within Serbian territory. He noted that the meeting on July 2 with the Serbian delegation was a continuation of the meeting held on January 31.
“The July 2 meeting, which was the second of this year, was a continuation of the January 31 meeting between the Working Group on Missing Persons and the Serbian delegation, with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, a mechanism that has been operational since 2004-2005. The July 2 meeting was held after more than two and a half years of delay due to Serbia’s lack of response to the request from the Prime Minister of Kosovo to make necessary changes in their hierarchy or delegation, replacing individuals responsible for actions during the war due to their official positions, as well as for the lack of cooperation and information sharing. We have focused on at least 20 cases or locations during these meetings,” he said.
Gara stated that the requests included access to the archives of Serbian institutions related to the 37th Brigade, the 549th Brigade, and several other individual cases.
He emphasized that there have also been requests for access to several locations within Serbia, mentioning sites in Batajnica, Petrovo Selo, and a location near Lake Perućac (Bajina Bašta).
He stressed that it is crucial for Kosovo to be granted access to Serbia’s archives.
“Starting with the requests or efforts to prioritize access to the archives of Serbian institutions, particularly the archives of the 37th Motorized Brigade and the 549th Motorized Brigade, we have also sought additional information on individual cases such as the cases of Professor Ukshin Hoti, Dr. Hafir Shala, Xhavit Haziri, Sahide Metushi, Sinan Dauti, a child whose whereabouts remain unknown despite the information we have, and several other cases.”
“In addition to these requests, we have prioritized the requests for access to several marked locations within Serbian territory where excavations need to begin. Some of these locations have already been excavated over the past 25 years, particularly those addressed in the early post-war years. We have requested to return to these sites, such as Batajnica, Petrovo Selo, and near Lake Perućac (Bajina Bašta), specifically mentioning Batajnica, where, despite the fact that more than 700 Albanian victims were exhumed and repatriated from this site, our analysis of the massacres conducted there suggests that over 50 missing persons could still be found in this area. If not in this area, we may identify new locations, but all of these cases need confirmation from the archives of Serbian institutions,” he said.
Gara stated that from the meetings they have held, they expect to start excavations at two or three locations within Serbia.
He added that the Batajnica location, as well as two sites in the Novi Pazar region, remain priorities.
“In all these meetings and the cases I mentioned, more than 20 cases and locations have been addressed or readdressed in our efforts to prioritize them. What is important to highlight from these meetings is that we hope and expect to begin excavation work at two or three locations within Serbia, particularly in Batajnica, due to the extensive data, including satellite images. The two other locations likely to be prioritized are in the Novi Pazar region, as despite the work carried out in 2021 at the Kizevak site and the excavations conducted in 2014 at the Rudnica mass grave, the Raska area and the Novi Pazar region remain unfinished for us. We believe that there will be two additional sites in the Novi Pazar region, specifically a location between Tutin and Novi Pazar, which is crucial for us to obtain data from Serbian institutions due to the specifics of this location, especially the Kozarevo location near the Kosovo border,” he said, reported EO.
Gara added that as a result of the meetings held so far, Kosovo should have already received dates from Serbia for the start of excavations at these locations.
He said that it is a matter of days before Kosovo receives confirmation of the dates to begin excavations in Serbia.
“We should already have received the dates, whether for starting new excavations or continuing the ones addressed after the war years. We should have had dates by now, but we are waiting for confirmation from the Serbian side. We are approaching this with caution due to their political approach to the process, but it is a matter of days, if not weeks, before we have the dates for the continuation of the excavations,” Gara said.
