Organ Theft in Kosovo: Initiatives, Failures and New Opportunities for the International Community

Abstract

After the withdrawal of Serbian units from Kosovo in the second half of
1999, we could witness Kosovo being transformed into an unstable area
while the KLA became the informal ruler of the country with de facto
unrestricted authority. Several originally classified documents leaked into
the public domain in the last two years. These were authored by various
international institutions, and they indicate the involvement of former KLA
high o!cers and current leading Kosovar politicans in the illegal trade with
organs of Serbian POWs. During the uno!cial investigation of the whole
issue, there appeared several obscurities and controversies that cast a bad
light on the passive and often rather opportunistic approach of the
international community, which has, moreover, repeatedly failed to protect
key secret witnesses. However, the report of Dick Marty and the
establishment of the EULEX Special Investigation Team headed by Clint
Williamson give us some hope that the investigation will bring tangible
results and the whole case will be legitimately closed.