Ditor Haliti from the Institute of Forensic Medicine has spoken about the exhumation of human remains carried out on Thursday at a location near Gjakova, which are suspected to date back to the last war.
The skeletal remains uncovered during the exhumation conducted pursuant to an order from the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina have been transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where they will undergo examinations for the purpose of identifying the individual.
“Yesterday we were implementing an order from the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina regarding the exhumation of the mortal remains of an individual. This was a previously planned exhumation. All forensic medicine teams, together with our international partners from EULEX, colleagues from the Kosovo Police, and the Governmental Commission on Missing Persons, were present near Gjakova, where we executed the order and exhumed the mortal remains of one individual. These were then sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where they will now undergo medico-legal examinations, first and foremost for identification, to determine who the individual is, and, if possible, to establish the cause of death,” Haliti .stated.
He added that the next location where excavations will take place is Rahovec, where skeletal remains of two individuals were discovered last year.
“Rahovec is the first location where we will continue our work. After that, we also have another location in the Municipality of Klina, for which we will determine when it can be carried out. Meanwhile, colleagues from the Kosovo Police will continue their work and investigations, and once we have new and concrete information, it will be forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor then submits a request to the Court, and the Court issues an order for further excavations or possible exhumations,” Haliti explained.
He further noted that there are two additional court orders awaiting implementation and that during 2025 excavations were conducted at 32 locations.
“Last year we had numerous activities—around 32 locations were treated, and the mortal remains of many individuals were exhumed, about which we also held a joint press conference with the Governmental Commission on Missing Persons. It was a very intensive year in terms of field activities. This year, we began immediately. Although winter usually limits fieldwork, this year, since the activity was planned, we went to the site to execute the order. At the moment, we have two unimplemented orders. One is in Rahovec, where remains of two individuals were found in December and the site has not yet been fully completed. As soon as conditions allow, we will return to continue excavations and determine whether there are additional remains at that location,” he emphasized.
