Organ Trade
Two years ago, the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council mandated the Swiss member of the EU Parliament, Dick Marty, to head the investigation. The investigation was triggered by a book written by the former International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte. In her book, Del Ponte describes how she, already back in 2001, had received credible accounts indicating that, in the summer of 1999 - following NATO'S occupation of Kosovo - between 100 and 300 people had been abducted in the Serbian Province and carried off to Northern Albania, where their organs had been removed by doctors. The organs were then smuggled abroad via an airport near the Albanian capital Tirana and the victims killed.[1] Del Ponte writes that she had begun to investigate, but was constantly confronted with a wall of silence - erected not only by the administrations in Tirana and the Kosovo Albanians, but also by the western occupation forces. This had also been the case in 2002 and 2003, when the current Special German Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Michael Steiner, headed the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Medicus
In November 2008, an incident provided decisive evidence for the investigation, when a young Turkish man fainted in the airport of the Kosovo capital, Priština. When airport personnel sought to help him, they discovered a fresh, conspicuous scar on his abdomen and called the police. The next day the police discovered a "clinic" known as "Medicus", only a few kilometers away, where organs were being removed illegally. Legal proceedings surrounding this case were opened today in Priština. Germans are said to have been among those profiting from the illegal removal of organs, receiving organ transplants in Priština. The defendants include Doctor Yusuf Sonmez, considered by observers as the world's most renowned organ trafficker, renowned doctors from Kosovo and a high-ranking official in the Kosovo ministry of health.[2]
The "Drenica Group"
A report that will be presented this Thursday to a commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council by Dick Marty will make this case particularly explosive. Marty speaks of clear indications that the two cases of organ trade are linked - the one in the summer of 1999 described already by Del Ponte and the "Medicus" case. According to Marty, the current Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi was involved in the case in the summer of 1999. He reports that at the time, a KLA detention centre was located in the Albanian town of Fushë-Krujë under the control of the "Drenica Group", a clique that dominated the KLA and was known to be particularly brutal and successful in organized crime. Already at that time, this group had ties to KLA chief Thaçi. According to the Marty report, the group organized the removal of the organs and the subsequent murder of the victims in Fushë-Krujë and the organ traffic via the airport near the Albanian capital, Tirana. Dr Shaip Muja is a member of this group. He has also been involved for more than a decade in networks dealing with organ trafficking. Muja, today, is a close confident of Prime Minister Thaçi.[3]
Western Values
Thaçi and Muja have both been cooperating with NATO countries at least since 1999. In the spring of 1999, Muja was the KLA chief of logistics in Tirana. At the time, German media described him as appearing "particularly civilian" in his "elegant dark suit" and that he would not like anything more than being able to enforce "western values" in Kosovo and to help Kosovo to become "part of the West".[4] Thaçi collaborated with the western aggressor countries not only during NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia; he had also prepared his political career with a visit to Berlin. At the invitation of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (SPD), he had talks in the German capital in early 2006, including in the German Foreign Ministry. In 2007, he was elected Prime Minister of Kosovo. Just last Sunday, another election was held in Kosovo and Thaçi's party claims a victory. Observers point out that individual polling stations have noted a participation of up to 149 percent. If the results of Marty's investigations are confirmed, peculiarities such as these will appear as ridiculous fringe anecdotes.
"No Interest in Rule of Law"
Berlin can have no doubts about Thaçi. Already in 2005, excerpts of a German foreign intelligence service (BND) report were made public, stating that he was among the "key-players" in the "close ties between politics, business and international crime operating in Kosovo." The "networks behind it" have "no interest in establishing a functioning rule of law that could affect their flourishing dealings."[5] This was confirmed two years later by a Bundeswehr analysis.[6] It is quite cynical that the German government is supporting a "key player," also in his function as Prime Minister, whose "networks" are known to have "no interest in the establishment of a functioning rule of law." After all, Berlin is one of the leading powers among the western occupiers of Kosovo, claiming to seek to establish state structures. Two years ago, the German government had promised to intensify its support for Kosovo: 100 million Euros was earmarked. How this financial transfer was used has remained obscure. With an official 45 percent unemployment, Kosovo has the highest unemployment rate in Europe. Almost two-fifths of the population lives in poverty, according to World Bank statistics. Even the German development ministry notes that in Kosovo "an economic upswing (...) cannot yet be detected."[7]
You can find more information on German Kosovo policy here: Political Friendships, "Thank You Germany!", Arbitrariness in Power, In Accordance With NATO Standards, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Mafiosi State (II) and A Success Story.
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