Albanians for America Calls for Serbian Archives to Be Opened to Clarify the Fate of the Missing

Opening Serbia’s military and police records is crucial to clarifying the fate of around 1,600 people forcibly disappeared during the war in Kosovo and ensuring justice for the victims, the organization Albanians for America has said.

In a recently published opinion piece, the organization noted that nearly three decades after the end of the war, thousands of families still have not received answers about their relatives. According to the organization, the recent investigations in Kalludra e Vogël and Jabuka have once again highlighted the urgent need to fully uncover the truth about war crimes and the systematic concealment of evidence.

The opinion piece states that around 1,600 people continue to be considered forcibly disappeared, even though nearly three decades have passed since the end of the war in Kosovo. Meanwhile, thousands of families are still waiting to learn the truth about the fate of their loved ones, while the investigations in Kalludra e Vogël and Jabuka demonstrate the urgent need to fully shed light on the war crimes committed by Serbia and the organized concealment of evidence.

Albanians for America says that research and field excavations are important, but they alone are not enough to achieve justice.

According to the organization’s argument, making the Serbian archives available would help establish the chain of responsibility, locate other mass graves and bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice.

The organization emphasizes in the opinion piece that justice delayed is justice denied, and that without uncovering the truth, establishing responsibility and securing justice for the victims, lasting peace in the Western Balkans cannot be achieved.

Albanians for America announced that the full version of the opinion piece has been published in both Albanian and English.

Meanwhile, in recent days, international media outlets have focused attention on the discovery of sites suspected of being mass graves in Zubin Potok.

Al Jazeera, citing reports by AFP and Anadolu, reported that the Kosovar authorities have identified a third location suspected of being a mass grave. At the same time, investigations into suspected war crimes committed in 1998-1999 are continuing.