There are reliable indications that the Serbian police force and Yugoslav Army during the NATO bombing destroyed evidence on crimes against Kosovo Albanians. Information gathered by the Humanitarian Law Center indicates that the remains of at least 800 Albanians, including elderly persons, women and children, were exhumed and either burned or reburied in secret locations in Kosovo and Serbia.

On the night of 17/18 May 1999, the remains of 87 Kosovo Albanians killed in the first half of May were removed from the Djakovica cemetery. The bodies of 130 men executed in the village of Izbica were a few days later dug up and taken to an unknown location. The remains of 107 men killed in Velika Krusa on 26 March 1999 were never found. According to a report in the Timocka krimi revija, a refrigerated truck containing about 50 bodies was pulled out of the Danube river at Tekija near Kladovo on 6 April 1999. The white truck with a green driverÆs cab had Pec (Kosovo) license plates. A few hours later, the bodies were placed in a refrigerated truck with Belgrade license plates, which drove off in the direction of Gornji Milanovac. The Kladovo Police Department, ProsecutorÆs Office and Municipal Court, and the District Prosecutor and District Court in Negotin were notified but the case was declared a state secret.

The Humanitarian Law Center considers that the Serbian authorities must institute an investigation to establish the truth about these serious allegations. It is the duty of the Serbian Supreme Court and republican ProsecutorÆs Office to determine whether the judges and prosecutors in Kladovo and Negotin were involved in covering up crimes.

Natasa Kandic

Executive Director