Organ trade report hurts Kosovo's image
2011-01-26 17:01
Pristina - Kosovo's image in the international community has sunk to a new low following a European report linking Prime Minister Hashim Thaci with organised crime and organ trafficking, Kosovo's Zeri paper said on Wednesday.
The Council of Europe on Tuesday endorsed the report calling on Albania and Kosovo authorities to investigate alleged trafficking of organs taken from bodies of dead prisoners, mostly Serbs, held by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Albania in the 1990s.
Authored by the Council of Europe's special rapporteur on human rights, Dick Marty, the 27-page report outlined alleged abductions, disappearances, executions, organ trafficking and other serious crimes co-ordinated by Thaci and former leaders of the KLA who are now leading Kosovo politicians.
"The image of Kosovo abroad has sunk below every level, ushering a new black cloud over the country," the independent Daily Zeri, said, adding "it will be very difficult" to restore it even over the long run.
"In the coming days, weeks and months, whenever something will be written or said about Kosovo, the new (Council of Europe) resolution will be mentioned in a footnote," the broadsheet said.
The Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly also called for a probe into the "existence of secret detention centres and inhuman treatment" against Serb and Albanian prisoners from Kosovo, in a resolution adopted by 169 votes.
Zeri backed the probe saying Kosovo and its people also needed an independent investigation.
"Kosovo and its citizens cannot be anybody's hostage," the paper said.
"The country needs to respond to (the questions): Who will be investigated, why they will be investigated and when the investigation will be over."
