Remains of 23 People Uncovered in Zubin Potok, Calls to Establish Full Chain of Responsibility and Increase Pressure on Serbia

The Government Commission on Missing Persons announced on Monday the results of excavations at three sites in Zubin Potok, specifically in Kalludër and Jabukë, where the remains of at least 23 victims were exhumed.

According to commission chair Agron Limani, 13 bodies were found at the first site in Kalludër, four in Jabukë and another six at the third site in Kalludër.

The fieldwork, which lasted about a month, was carried out by specialists from the Institute of Forensic Medicine together with teams from EULEX, the Kosovo Police and other competent institutions.

Kushtrim Gara, a representative of the Commission, said the investigations have also focused on the case known as the “Intellectuals Group” — 23 Albanians from Mitrovica and Skenderaj who are believed to have been abducted and disappeared on April 19, 1999, in the area between Dren, Kalludër and Jabukë.

He added that the discoveries at the sites may be linked to this event, but the definitive identification of each victim will be confirmed only after DNA analysis.

The examination and identification of the remains are continuing at the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the remains of at least 23 people had been recovered and exhumed at the three sites. He confirmed the breakdown: 13 at the first site in Kalludër, four in Jabukë and six at the third site, also in Kalludër.

Kurti announced that the identification phase has already begun. Samples from the remains found in Jabukë have been sent for DNA analysis, while the rest are undergoing further examination at the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

The figure of 23 people matches that of the “Intellectuals Group,” who are suspected of having been detained, abducted and executed by Serbian forces on April 19, 1999, he said. However, full identification may take several months, meaning the victims’ identities will be known with certainty only after the analyses have been completed.

Kurti described the families’ years-long wait and anguish over their missing loved ones as “indescribable” and called both for their fate to be clarified and for justice to be served. He accused Serbia of refusing to open state archives that would help clarify the cases and called on the international community to increase pressure on Belgrade to implement the Declaration on Missing Persons, adopted in Brussels on May 2, 2023. The acting prime minister specifically called for the opening of the archives of the Yugoslav Army’s 37th Motorized Brigade, whose file has been classified for 30 years.

Bekim Blakaj, executive director of the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo, described the discovery as extremely important but stressed that its significance does not end with identification. Mass graves, he said, are also crime scenes.

“The position of the remains, damage to the bones, personal belongings, ammunition and other materials can help determine how the victims were killed, when they were buried and which structures took part in the crime and its concealment. The case is particularly significant because information about the killing and the possible burial site was provided to UNMIK and the Kosovo Police as early as 2003. Therefore, in addition to uncovering the crime, it must also be clarified why it took more than two decades for that information to be verified on the ground,” Blakaj told “Bota Sot.”

He insisted that the investigation should not be limited to the direct perpetrators but should extend across the entire chain of responsibility: who detained the victims, who ordered and carried out the killings, who organized the burial, which police or military structures knew about it and who obstructed the discovery of the site. According to a statement from the Center, Serbian police were informed of the killing as early as April 19, 1999, and, instead of investigating the crime, ordered the victims to be buried, making the concealment of the bodies part of the crime itself rather than merely a subsequent act.

Blakaj warned that, at this stage, it should not be taken as established that the bodies were moved after the war unless this is proven by forensic analysis and the criminal investigation. He noted that the possibility that the remains were dispersed by the terrain and the flow of water should also be examined.

He further emphasized that Kosovo should use this case to increase pressure on Serbia to open its archives, locate other sites and take responsibility for the crimes. According to him, the issue should not remain merely at the level of political statements. He called for the opening of archives and the verification of suspected sites to be established as specific, measurable obligations in the EU-mediated dialogue. Serbia’s responsibility, Blakaj stressed, does not end with handing over documents — its institutions must investigate and prosecute everyone involved in the killings, relocation or concealment of the bodies.

Asked whether Kosovo’s institutions should focus after this discovery on identifying the victims, investigating the perpetrators or seeking international accountability, Blakaj replied that all three processes should proceed in parallel. He said the forensic examination and DNA identification must be completed carefully, with the families notified before the identities are made public; each site must be treated as a crime scene, with evidence and the chain of custody preserved; an independent criminal investigation must be conducted into the perpetrators, those who gave the orders, their superiors and those who helped conceal the bodies; it must be investigated why the information provided in 2003 did not lead to an effective search and whether there was negligence or obstruction; and international legal cooperation and access to Serbia’s archives must be sought. Immediate priority remains identification, but he stressed that identification without justice would be an incomplete process.

Former Kosovo Liberation Army officer Naim Miftari interpreted the discovery as evidence of the Serbian occupier’s brutality and hatred toward Albanians. He recalled that the victims were unarmed civilians attempting to leave Kosovo for Montenegro. Miftari said their relatives will now have an opportunity to bury their loved ones after 27 years, but emphasized that this is a source of immense pain.

According to him, the state of Kosovo should sue the Serbian state for genocide and numerous massacres and relentlessly pursue those responsible, just as Mossad pursued Nazi criminals. He criticized previous governments, claiming they had pardoned Serbian criminals, particularly in the north, and that efforts to pursue them had begun only recently. Miftari said the trial in absentia of Serbian General Goran Radosavljević Guri, who took part in and led Serbian forces in the Prekaz and Reçak massacres, is expected to begin soon.

He stressed that the state and justice institutions must never stop pursuing war crimes, regardless of whether the perpetrators are Serbs or Albanians, and that they must not be granted amnesty. According to Miftari, had Serbian criminals in the north been pursued in time, the heroic police officers Enver Zymberi and Afrim Bunjaku would not have been killed. He said only the most recent government has taken major steps in the north and in strengthening the rule of law.