Friday, May 14, 2010
Editorial in The Nation on Garzón
Professors Sebastiaan Faber and Geoff Pingree of Oberlin College (Ohio) have published a comment piece in the The Nation, "Garzón on Trial." Available in PDF here.
Videos on Garzón Case
Supporters of Judge Garzón await him upon his departure from the Supreme Court today. They are shouting, "Garzón, amigo, el pueblo está contigo!" ("Garzón, friend, the people are with you!"). The title of the first video is "Garzón leaves the court of the Audiencia Nacional in tears."
Garzón Suspended!
I still cannot believe the news to which I have awoken this morning. Judge Baltasar Garzón has been suspended today from the Audiencia Nacional FOR INVESTIGATING THE CRIMES OF FRANCOISM. Spanish reports say Garzón left the court crying. This is not the end, because the judge will still need to stand trial, but his prospects are not looking good at this point. I hold firm to my belief that this is a politically-motivated attempt to remove a judge that has gone above and beyond to support human rights worldwide. In addition, we are witnessing the attempt to silence, once again, the Francoist past and those who dare speak out against it. Whatever happens to Garzón in the end, his case has at least heightened awareness about forced disappearences and executions of the Franco era, and what the judge has called Francoist "crimes against humanity." There will be a protest in front of the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid tonight at 8 (2 pm E.S.T.). More on this story later in the day.
Leer más en español
From: BBC News
Spanish judge Garzon is suspended
High-profile Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon has been suspended from his post by the country's judicial body.
The decision was unanimously adopted by the General Council of the Judiciary.
He is due to face trial on charges that he abused his powers by opening an inquiry in 2008 into crimes committed during Francisco Franco's rule.
Mr Garzon was later forced to drop the investigation into the crimes committed during the 1936-39 Civil War in Spain, which are covered by an amnesty.
Controversial judge
In February, a Supreme Court investigating magistrate ruled that Mr Garzon had ignored the 1977 amnesty by launching the investigation.
Mr Garzon, 54, who is highly popular among the Spanish political left and international human rights campaigners, appealed against the ruling, saying his inquiry was legitimate.
But some on the right accuse Mr Garzon of launching cases that are politically motivated.
Tens of thousands of people disappeared during Spain's Civil War and under Gen Franco's regime that followed.
Mr Garzon is also famous for targeting international figures, including late Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet, and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Earlier this week, Mr Garzon reportedly asked to take a leave of absence to work for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Judicial sources at Spain's National Court say Mr Garzon wants to work as an adviser for the ICC for seven months.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8682948.stm
Published: 2010/05/14 12:47:23 GMT
© BBC MMX
Leer más en español
From: BBC News
Spanish judge Garzon is suspended
High-profile Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon has been suspended from his post by the country's judicial body.
The decision was unanimously adopted by the General Council of the Judiciary.
He is due to face trial on charges that he abused his powers by opening an inquiry in 2008 into crimes committed during Francisco Franco's rule.
Mr Garzon was later forced to drop the investigation into the crimes committed during the 1936-39 Civil War in Spain, which are covered by an amnesty.
Controversial judge
In February, a Supreme Court investigating magistrate ruled that Mr Garzon had ignored the 1977 amnesty by launching the investigation.
Mr Garzon, 54, who is highly popular among the Spanish political left and international human rights campaigners, appealed against the ruling, saying his inquiry was legitimate.
But some on the right accuse Mr Garzon of launching cases that are politically motivated.
Tens of thousands of people disappeared during Spain's Civil War and under Gen Franco's regime that followed.
Mr Garzon is also famous for targeting international figures, including late Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet, and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Earlier this week, Mr Garzon reportedly asked to take a leave of absence to work for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Judicial sources at Spain's National Court say Mr Garzon wants to work as an adviser for the ICC for seven months.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8682948.stm
Published: 2010/05/14 12:47:23 GMT
© BBC MMX
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Judge Garzón, about to be tried for investigating crimes of Francoism
From Typically Spanish
Oral hearing opened in the Supreme Court against Judge Baltasar Garzón
By h.b. - May 12, 2010 - 12:02 PM
Garzón faces suspension on charges of perversion of the course of justice
The Supreme Court magistrate, Luciano Varela, on Wednesday opened the oral court case against National Court judge, Baltasar Garzón, who is accused of perversion of the course of justice by starting to investigate the disappearances of people during the Franco years. There is no appeal possible against the decision which is the last step before Spain’s star judge is put on the accused bench, and which will imply his immediate temporary suspension from his National Court post while the case continues.
It comes a day after it was learnt that Garzón has applied for a post at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and whether he is allowed to take up that post now depends on the General Council for Judicial Power, the body which oversees the judiciary in Spain. They are the same body which could announce the temporary suspension of the judge from his post, and some consider there will be more news from them later today.
Garzón commented on Wednesday that he is not leaving either the judiciary, nor his place in the National Court.
Oral hearing opened in the Supreme Court against Judge Baltasar Garzón
By h.b. - May 12, 2010 - 12:02 PM
Garzón faces suspension on charges of perversion of the course of justice
The Supreme Court magistrate, Luciano Varela, on Wednesday opened the oral court case against National Court judge, Baltasar Garzón, who is accused of perversion of the course of justice by starting to investigate the disappearances of people during the Franco years. There is no appeal possible against the decision which is the last step before Spain’s star judge is put on the accused bench, and which will imply his immediate temporary suspension from his National Court post while the case continues.
It comes a day after it was learnt that Garzón has applied for a post at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and whether he is allowed to take up that post now depends on the General Council for Judicial Power, the body which oversees the judiciary in Spain. They are the same body which could announce the temporary suspension of the judge from his post, and some consider there will be more news from them later today.
Garzón commented on Wednesday that he is not leaving either the judiciary, nor his place in the National Court.
Garzón to work at the Hague?
I am not sure what to make of the news that Judge Garzón has asked to take a leave of absence. At this point, it seems rather like a face-saving measure. Were Garzón to work for the International Criminal Court (see below), it would certainly give him increased visibility on the world stage, making "el caso contra Garzón" in Spain seem even more provincial and ridiculous.
From: BBC
Spain judge Garzon 'seeks leave'
High-profile Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon has asked to take a leave of absence to work for the International Criminal Court (ICC), reports say.
Judicial sources at Spain's National Court say Mr Garzon wants to work as an adviser for the ICC for seven months.
The judge was indicted last month for exceeding his authority by launching an inquiry in 2008 into crimes committed by General Francisco Franco's rule.
The crimes during Spain's 1936-39 Civil War are covered by an amnesty.
Spanish judicial sources say that Mr Garzon, 54, has received a job offer by the ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo.
They say Spain's judicial oversight board has to decide whether to grant Mr Garzon the leave of absence.
Mr Garzon has not publicly commented on the issue.
Popular with the left
In February, a Supreme Court investigating magistrate ruled that Mr Garzon had ignored the 1977 amnesty by launching the investigation into atrocities committed during the four-decade rule of Gen Franco.
Mr Garzon, who is highly popular among the Spanish political left and international human rights campaigners, appealed against the ruling, saying his inquiry - now shelved - was legitimate.
But some on the right accuse Mr Garzon of launching cases that are politically motivated.
Tens of thousands of people disappeared during Spain's Civil War and under the Franco regime that followed.
Mr Garzon is also famous for targeting international figures, including late Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8675548.stm
Published: 2010/05/11 14:53:24 GMT
© BBC MMX
From: The New York Times
World Briefing | Europe
Job Offer for Noted Spanish Judge
By MARLISE SIMONS
Published: May 11, 2010
Spain’s well-known investigating magistrate, Baltasar Garzón, left, who is being prosecuted in a case filed by far-right Spanish groups, has been offered a temporary post as an external adviser to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a court official there said. The judge gained an international reputation as a fearless prosecutor of cases including those on Basque and Islamist terrorism, drug traffickers and the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Mr. Garzón was indicted last month on charges of abusing his powers. He has denied the charges.
Para leer más en español, pinchar aquí
From: BBC
Spain judge Garzon 'seeks leave'
High-profile Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon has asked to take a leave of absence to work for the International Criminal Court (ICC), reports say.
Judicial sources at Spain's National Court say Mr Garzon wants to work as an adviser for the ICC for seven months.
The judge was indicted last month for exceeding his authority by launching an inquiry in 2008 into crimes committed by General Francisco Franco's rule.
The crimes during Spain's 1936-39 Civil War are covered by an amnesty.
Spanish judicial sources say that Mr Garzon, 54, has received a job offer by the ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo.
They say Spain's judicial oversight board has to decide whether to grant Mr Garzon the leave of absence.
Mr Garzon has not publicly commented on the issue.
Popular with the left
In February, a Supreme Court investigating magistrate ruled that Mr Garzon had ignored the 1977 amnesty by launching the investigation into atrocities committed during the four-decade rule of Gen Franco.
Mr Garzon, who is highly popular among the Spanish political left and international human rights campaigners, appealed against the ruling, saying his inquiry - now shelved - was legitimate.
But some on the right accuse Mr Garzon of launching cases that are politically motivated.
Tens of thousands of people disappeared during Spain's Civil War and under the Franco regime that followed.
Mr Garzon is also famous for targeting international figures, including late Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8675548.stm
Published: 2010/05/11 14:53:24 GMT
© BBC MMX
From: The New York Times
World Briefing | Europe
Job Offer for Noted Spanish Judge
By MARLISE SIMONS
Published: May 11, 2010
Spain’s well-known investigating magistrate, Baltasar Garzón, left, who is being prosecuted in a case filed by far-right Spanish groups, has been offered a temporary post as an external adviser to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a court official there said. The judge gained an international reputation as a fearless prosecutor of cases including those on Basque and Islamist terrorism, drug traffickers and the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Mr. Garzón was indicted last month on charges of abusing his powers. He has denied the charges.
Para leer más en español, pinchar aquí
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Conference: Forms and Functions of Social Memories
From UPENN CFP:
Call for Papers (see website here):
Forms and Functions of Social Memories -- Perspectives from Social and Cultural Sciences
The conference "Forms and Functions of Social Memories -- Perspectives from Social and Cultural Sciences" takes place at the Institute for Sociology of the University of Erlangen. It starts at December 10th and ends December 12th around noon. It is planned as a mixture between plenary and panel sessions.
Please send a 500 words proposal for a 30 min. paper by September 30th, 2010 to: info@soziale-erinnerung.de.
The conference aims at collecting and re-considering the manifold empirical research on social memories on behalf of their theoretical potential. It is an astonishing fact, that despite of a lot of research in social and cultural sciences on social memories there are rather few comprehensive theoretical considerations. Therefore, we want to set the focus on the integration of different theoretical approaches and empirical research.
In the self-definition of modernity multiple social memories take the place of the "Great Narrative" on different levels that don't have to be compatible. A theory of social memories faces the problem of integrating social dynamics, cultural pluralisation and processes of social differentiation without ignoring contexts of interactions like families or milieus. However, the circulating terms and definitions of forms of social memories should not just be placed side by side. Instead we want to focus, empirically and theoretically, on the processes of formation and constitution that underlie these conceptualizations to work out both lines of conflict and potentials of integration.
The conference would like to discuss theoretical concepts and empirical studies concerning social memories in an interdisciplinary framework. Based on these discussions we would like to ask for theoretical enhancements. From performative acts to narrative situations of interaction or discourse, constructions and representations of the past should be observed in conjunction with problems like oblivion, authenticity, factuality and validity or breaches in the transmission of the past. On the one hand the future directedness of social memories in form of again and again constituted horizons of expectations should be clarified. On the other hand it is deemed to analyse social memories in their function as mechanisms of "Transmission" regarding the specific selectivities that evolve at the intersections (of persons, groups, generations, discourses, etc.) and that constitute the specific relationship between remembrance and oblivion. According to this, the definition of the particular functionality of memories for the processes of social and individual formation of meaning is important, on both counts biographically and systemically.
Of equal importance is the reflection of institutionalised remembrance and of the own position of a speaker: Scientists are directly or indirectly involved in the practice of (institutionalised) remembrance and therefore are facing the challenge of concerning themselves with its contexts, conditions, (political) purpose and the implicit ideologies.
We have invited the following speakers: Paul Connerton (Oxford/UK), Elena Esposito (Modena/Reggio Emilia/ Italy), Mary Fulbrook (London/UK), Jeffrey K. Olick (Virginia/USA), Gabriele Rosenthal (Goettingen/Germany), Joanna Tokarska-Bakir (Warsaw/Poland), Christian Gudehus (Essen/Germany)
Topics include:
* Individual -- Interaction -- Society: boundaries and transitions between the different forms of memories
* Metaphors, terms and forms of social memories and their conditions of formation
* Influence of social differentiation on social remembrance (generations, classes, cultural pluralisation, gender, etc.)
* Transformation of social memories (interdependency of social transformations, processes and social memories)
* Facticity, authenticity and the realm of experience
* Media, discourse and their functions for remembrance
* Re-presentations of the past (body memory, rituals, sites of remembrance, etc.)
* Social and individual practices of remembrance
* Transgenerational transmission and breaches of tradition
* Remembrance and oblivion between institution, power and ideology
The conference languages will be English and German. The presentations are intended to be published in a special volume of a sociological journal after the conference.
Deutsch
Call for Papers (see website here):
Forms and Functions of Social Memories -- Perspectives from Social and Cultural Sciences
The conference "Forms and Functions of Social Memories -- Perspectives from Social and Cultural Sciences" takes place at the Institute for Sociology of the University of Erlangen. It starts at December 10th and ends December 12th around noon. It is planned as a mixture between plenary and panel sessions.
Please send a 500 words proposal for a 30 min. paper by September 30th, 2010 to: info@soziale-erinnerung.de.
The conference aims at collecting and re-considering the manifold empirical research on social memories on behalf of their theoretical potential. It is an astonishing fact, that despite of a lot of research in social and cultural sciences on social memories there are rather few comprehensive theoretical considerations. Therefore, we want to set the focus on the integration of different theoretical approaches and empirical research.
In the self-definition of modernity multiple social memories take the place of the "Great Narrative" on different levels that don't have to be compatible. A theory of social memories faces the problem of integrating social dynamics, cultural pluralisation and processes of social differentiation without ignoring contexts of interactions like families or milieus. However, the circulating terms and definitions of forms of social memories should not just be placed side by side. Instead we want to focus, empirically and theoretically, on the processes of formation and constitution that underlie these conceptualizations to work out both lines of conflict and potentials of integration.
The conference would like to discuss theoretical concepts and empirical studies concerning social memories in an interdisciplinary framework. Based on these discussions we would like to ask for theoretical enhancements. From performative acts to narrative situations of interaction or discourse, constructions and representations of the past should be observed in conjunction with problems like oblivion, authenticity, factuality and validity or breaches in the transmission of the past. On the one hand the future directedness of social memories in form of again and again constituted horizons of expectations should be clarified. On the other hand it is deemed to analyse social memories in their function as mechanisms of "Transmission" regarding the specific selectivities that evolve at the intersections (of persons, groups, generations, discourses, etc.) and that constitute the specific relationship between remembrance and oblivion. According to this, the definition of the particular functionality of memories for the processes of social and individual formation of meaning is important, on both counts biographically and systemically.
Of equal importance is the reflection of institutionalised remembrance and of the own position of a speaker: Scientists are directly or indirectly involved in the practice of (institutionalised) remembrance and therefore are facing the challenge of concerning themselves with its contexts, conditions, (political) purpose and the implicit ideologies.
We have invited the following speakers: Paul Connerton (Oxford/UK), Elena Esposito (Modena/Reggio Emilia/ Italy), Mary Fulbrook (London/UK), Jeffrey K. Olick (Virginia/USA), Gabriele Rosenthal (Goettingen/Germany), Joanna Tokarska-Bakir (Warsaw/Poland), Christian Gudehus (Essen/Germany)
Topics include:
* Individual -- Interaction -- Society: boundaries and transitions between the different forms of memories
* Metaphors, terms and forms of social memories and their conditions of formation
* Influence of social differentiation on social remembrance (generations, classes, cultural pluralisation, gender, etc.)
* Transformation of social memories (interdependency of social transformations, processes and social memories)
* Facticity, authenticity and the realm of experience
* Media, discourse and their functions for remembrance
* Re-presentations of the past (body memory, rituals, sites of remembrance, etc.)
* Social and individual practices of remembrance
* Transgenerational transmission and breaches of tradition
* Remembrance and oblivion between institution, power and ideology
The conference languages will be English and German. The presentations are intended to be published in a special volume of a sociological journal after the conference.
Deutsch
Monday, May 10, 2010
Mass Grave Uncovered in Serbia
From: The New York Times
May 10, 2010
Mass Grave of Kosovo Victims Found in Serbia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:26 a.m. ET
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) -- Acting on tips from witnesses, Serbian war crimes prosecutors have discovered a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of 250 Albanians who were killed in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war there, then transported to Serbia and secretly buried to hide the atrocities, officials said Monday.
The burial site -- hidden beneath a small building and a newly built parking lot -- is the fourth mass grave of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo that has been found in Serbia since 2001. Two others were discovered in Kosovo. In each case, most of the bodies were those of civilians, including women and children.
The latest discovery is another example of the mass atrocities that were committed during the bloody Serb crackdown on the Kosovo separatists that killed at least 10,000 people and left nearly a million displaced.
Hundreds of bodies of slain ethnic Albanians have been exhumed in Serbia and returned to Kosovo since Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from power in a popular revolt in 2000. The previously discovered mass graves in Serbia represented the bulk of genocide charges filed against Milosevic at a U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Netherlands, where he died of a heart attack during his trial in 2006.
Serbia has since tried to deal with its wartime past as it seeks European Union membership, which requires the prosecution of those who committed atrocities during the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. Milosevic's policies still have strong support among ultranationalists in Serbia.
''According to witness testimonies, there are 250 bodies of Kosovo Albanians inside'' the newly discovered grave, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said at a news conference Monday in Belgrade, Serbia's capital.
He said exhumations would begin soon at the site, which was discovered based on witness accounts and in cooperation with a European Union mission in Kosovo.
Serbia's war crimes prosecutor's office said the grave is located in a hilly, rural area of Rudnica, near the town of Raska, 180 kilometers (108 miles) south of Belgrade.
Aerial photos of the site showed a house and a small parking lot near a road nestled between the hills. Vukcevic's deputy, Bruno Vekaric, said the mass grave is believed to be located beneath the building and the parking lot.
Officials did not say when the grave was discovered.
During the Kosovo war, the bodies of Kosovo victims were brought to Serbia by Milosevic's regime in an attempt to cover up the atrocities against civilians.
Some 1,860 ethnic Albanians are still missing from the Kosovo war, many believed to have been buried by Serb forces in similar mass graves in Serbia.
''Serbia has the democratic capacity to face what happened,'' Vukcevic said. ''It is our obligation to the victims who have the right to bury the dead.''
The brutality of Serbia's crackdown in Kosovo prompted NATO to bomb the country in 1999, forcing Milosevic to pull out his troops. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade refuses to recognize it.
In Kosovo on Monday, officials urged Serbia to face up to its past and overcome its troubled relations with Kosovo Albanians.
Kosovo deputy Prime Minister, Rame Manaj, claimed the discovery was a result of pressure from the EU.
''This comes too late, but this pressure from the international community is welcome as it is the only force that can move things from point zero,'' Manaj said of the discovery of the bodies.
''It is painful news,'' said Xhavit Beqiri, the spokesman for Kosovo's president.
''We suspect there are more Kosovo victims in other such mass graves around Serbia which Belgrade has always known about, but has selectively unearthed them to reduce the scope of the crimes committed in Kosovo,'' Beqiri said.
Vukcevic urged Kosovo's authorities to investigate the fate of about 500 Kosovo Serbs who he said remain unaccounted for since the 1998-99 war after revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians.
------
Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Nebi Qena in Pristina contributed to this report.
Eds: CORRECTS that 4 of the mass graves were found in Serbia, 2 in Kosovo.
From: BBC News
New Serbian mass grave discovered
A new mass grave thought to hold the bodies of about 250 Kosovo Albanians has been found in Serbia, the country's war crimes prosecutor has told the BBC.
It said the information had come from Eulex, the EU police mission in Kosovo, and Serbia was sending investigators.
The victims are believed to have been killed during the 1998-99 conflict, when Serbian forces fought ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo.
The grave is near the town of Raska, close to the border with Kosovo.
There had been rumours two years ago that the grave existed, but searches at that time found nothing.
'Beneath building'
The war crimes prosecutor's office said it would be several days before exhumations could begin at the site in Rudnica, about 180km (110 miles) south of Serbia's capital, Belgrade.
Officials said the remains were buried beneath a building whose foundations had been deliberately constructed to hide the site, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Belgrade.
The prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, said the discovery was a sign that Serbia was committed to coming to terms with its history.
"This is more proof that Serbia does not shy away from its dark past and is ready to bring to justice all those who have committed crimes," Mr Vukcevic was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Our correspondent says identifying the victims through DNA analysis is likely to take several more years - and prolong the painful period of reconciliation.
It is not the first time mass graves from the conflict have been found in Serbia. The bodies of more than 800 Kosovo Albanians were found in several locations in Serbia in 2001, including police compounds.
The bodies were moved out of Kosovo before a Nato bombing campaign forced Serbian security forces out of the region.
Other, smaller mass graves have been found containing Serbian victims of ethnic Albanians.
Researchers in Serbia and Kosovo say more than 11,000 people died in the Kosovo conflict, most of them ethnic Albanian, but at least 2,300 Serbs.
Hundreds missing
A further 1,800 people are classified as missing, according to Eulex figures, but are presumed to be dead.
A former top Serbian police official, Vlastimir Djordjevic, is currently on trial at the UN's Hague-based war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslovia.
He was allegedly involved in the murders of hundreds of ethnic Albanians and the deportation of 800,000 others from Kosovo during the conflict, when he was in charge of police forces in Serbia.
He denies charges of deportation, murder and persecution.
He was a close aide to the late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in tribunal custody in 2006 before a verdict was reached in his trial for war crimes.
Belgrade withdrew forces from the Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999 after a Nato bombing campaign, and the area was put under UN control.
Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 has been recognised by more than 50 countries, including the US and most EU states, but not recognised by more than 100, including Serbia and Russia.
Recent Serbian governments have been pro-Western and last year the country submitted a formal application to join the EU.
But membership negotiations cannot begin in earnest until two war crimes suspects - including the former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic - have been captured.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8671783.stm
Published: 2010/05/10 12:36:48 GMT
© BBC MMX
May 10, 2010
Mass Grave of Kosovo Victims Found in Serbia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:26 a.m. ET
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) -- Acting on tips from witnesses, Serbian war crimes prosecutors have discovered a mass grave believed to contain the bodies of 250 Albanians who were killed in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war there, then transported to Serbia and secretly buried to hide the atrocities, officials said Monday.
The burial site -- hidden beneath a small building and a newly built parking lot -- is the fourth mass grave of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo that has been found in Serbia since 2001. Two others were discovered in Kosovo. In each case, most of the bodies were those of civilians, including women and children.
The latest discovery is another example of the mass atrocities that were committed during the bloody Serb crackdown on the Kosovo separatists that killed at least 10,000 people and left nearly a million displaced.
Hundreds of bodies of slain ethnic Albanians have been exhumed in Serbia and returned to Kosovo since Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from power in a popular revolt in 2000. The previously discovered mass graves in Serbia represented the bulk of genocide charges filed against Milosevic at a U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Netherlands, where he died of a heart attack during his trial in 2006.
Serbia has since tried to deal with its wartime past as it seeks European Union membership, which requires the prosecution of those who committed atrocities during the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. Milosevic's policies still have strong support among ultranationalists in Serbia.
''According to witness testimonies, there are 250 bodies of Kosovo Albanians inside'' the newly discovered grave, Serbia's war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said at a news conference Monday in Belgrade, Serbia's capital.
He said exhumations would begin soon at the site, which was discovered based on witness accounts and in cooperation with a European Union mission in Kosovo.
Serbia's war crimes prosecutor's office said the grave is located in a hilly, rural area of Rudnica, near the town of Raska, 180 kilometers (108 miles) south of Belgrade.
Aerial photos of the site showed a house and a small parking lot near a road nestled between the hills. Vukcevic's deputy, Bruno Vekaric, said the mass grave is believed to be located beneath the building and the parking lot.
Officials did not say when the grave was discovered.
During the Kosovo war, the bodies of Kosovo victims were brought to Serbia by Milosevic's regime in an attempt to cover up the atrocities against civilians.
Some 1,860 ethnic Albanians are still missing from the Kosovo war, many believed to have been buried by Serb forces in similar mass graves in Serbia.
''Serbia has the democratic capacity to face what happened,'' Vukcevic said. ''It is our obligation to the victims who have the right to bury the dead.''
The brutality of Serbia's crackdown in Kosovo prompted NATO to bomb the country in 1999, forcing Milosevic to pull out his troops. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade refuses to recognize it.
In Kosovo on Monday, officials urged Serbia to face up to its past and overcome its troubled relations with Kosovo Albanians.
Kosovo deputy Prime Minister, Rame Manaj, claimed the discovery was a result of pressure from the EU.
''This comes too late, but this pressure from the international community is welcome as it is the only force that can move things from point zero,'' Manaj said of the discovery of the bodies.
''It is painful news,'' said Xhavit Beqiri, the spokesman for Kosovo's president.
''We suspect there are more Kosovo victims in other such mass graves around Serbia which Belgrade has always known about, but has selectively unearthed them to reduce the scope of the crimes committed in Kosovo,'' Beqiri said.
Vukcevic urged Kosovo's authorities to investigate the fate of about 500 Kosovo Serbs who he said remain unaccounted for since the 1998-99 war after revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians.
------
Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade and Nebi Qena in Pristina contributed to this report.
Eds: CORRECTS that 4 of the mass graves were found in Serbia, 2 in Kosovo.
From: BBC News
New Serbian mass grave discovered
A new mass grave thought to hold the bodies of about 250 Kosovo Albanians has been found in Serbia, the country's war crimes prosecutor has told the BBC.
It said the information had come from Eulex, the EU police mission in Kosovo, and Serbia was sending investigators.
The victims are believed to have been killed during the 1998-99 conflict, when Serbian forces fought ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo.
The grave is near the town of Raska, close to the border with Kosovo.
There had been rumours two years ago that the grave existed, but searches at that time found nothing.
'Beneath building'
The war crimes prosecutor's office said it would be several days before exhumations could begin at the site in Rudnica, about 180km (110 miles) south of Serbia's capital, Belgrade.
Officials said the remains were buried beneath a building whose foundations had been deliberately constructed to hide the site, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Belgrade.
The prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, said the discovery was a sign that Serbia was committed to coming to terms with its history.
"This is more proof that Serbia does not shy away from its dark past and is ready to bring to justice all those who have committed crimes," Mr Vukcevic was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Our correspondent says identifying the victims through DNA analysis is likely to take several more years - and prolong the painful period of reconciliation.
It is not the first time mass graves from the conflict have been found in Serbia. The bodies of more than 800 Kosovo Albanians were found in several locations in Serbia in 2001, including police compounds.
The bodies were moved out of Kosovo before a Nato bombing campaign forced Serbian security forces out of the region.
Other, smaller mass graves have been found containing Serbian victims of ethnic Albanians.
Researchers in Serbia and Kosovo say more than 11,000 people died in the Kosovo conflict, most of them ethnic Albanian, but at least 2,300 Serbs.
Hundreds missing
A further 1,800 people are classified as missing, according to Eulex figures, but are presumed to be dead.
A former top Serbian police official, Vlastimir Djordjevic, is currently on trial at the UN's Hague-based war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslovia.
He was allegedly involved in the murders of hundreds of ethnic Albanians and the deportation of 800,000 others from Kosovo during the conflict, when he was in charge of police forces in Serbia.
He denies charges of deportation, murder and persecution.
He was a close aide to the late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in tribunal custody in 2006 before a verdict was reached in his trial for war crimes.
Belgrade withdrew forces from the Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999 after a Nato bombing campaign, and the area was put under UN control.
Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 has been recognised by more than 50 countries, including the US and most EU states, but not recognised by more than 100, including Serbia and Russia.
Recent Serbian governments have been pro-Western and last year the country submitted a formal application to join the EU.
But membership negotiations cannot begin in earnest until two war crimes suspects - including the former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic - have been captured.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8671783.stm
Published: 2010/05/10 12:36:48 GMT
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