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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Justice at last for victims of war crimes in Kosovo?

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Ismet Hajdari and Jovan Matic -
Twenty years after the war for Kosovo’s independence, victims of alleged war crimes committed by ethnic Albanian guerrillas have all but given up hope of justice.
Now, finally, relief may be on the horizon.
Kosovo’s press is speculating feverishly that an EU-backed international court, based in The Hague, could this week issue its first indictments for Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veterans who led the 1998-99 independence war.
Tiny Kosovo’s Albanian population suffered most in the conflict against much-stronger Serbia, which ended with an 11-week Nato bombing campaign.
But a section of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population, as well as the territory’s minority Serb and Roma, were targeted by the KLA and feel their suffering has been forgotten.
They refer to their fallen as “second-class victims”.
“This tribunal presents the last chance to shed light on the assassinations in Kosovo,” said Beriana Mustafa, a 36-year-old journalist in Pristina, whose father was murdered outside his house after criticising rebellion commanders.
The world’s attention has focused on atrocities committed by Serbian forces under strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who died in prison in The Hague in 2006 while awaiting trial on 66 counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
While leaders on the Serbian side have been judged and sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), no KLA leaders have been sentenced.
“Hope is always the last to die,” said Natasa Scepanovic, 54, who leads an association of Serb victims still holding out for justice.
Kosovo’s prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, was acquitted by the ICTY for alleged crimes committed when he was a KLA commander.
The court also exonerated ex-commander Fatmir Limaj, who heads a political party now in Kosovo’s governing coalition — a slap in the face for many KLA victims.
The Kosovo conflict left more than 13,000 dead, including some 11,000 ethnic Albanians, 2,000 Serbs, and about 500 Roma.
The territory of some 1.8 million people unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade still regards Kosovo — recognised as a state by over 100 UN members — as its southern province. The EU-funded Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) was created in 2015 to investigate alleged KLA crimes.
Speculation abounds about who will be targeted with indictments, and whether President Hashim Thaci, who was the KLA’s political leader, will be among them. — AFP



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