Authorities in Kosovo said that at least ten bone samples recovered from three mass graves in Zubin Potok have been sent to The Hague for DNA identification.
Acting Minister for Labor, Family and Liberation War Values Andin Hoti, during a visit to Kalludër, one of the locations where human remains were discovered, together with relatives of missing persons, said that the remains found at the site had been sent to the laboratory of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in The Hague. There, DNA will be compared with samples provided by relatives of missing persons.
Police tape was placed near the excavation site in Kalludër e Vogël, Zubin Potok.
Meanwhile, Valon Hyseni from the Institute of Forensic Medicine said they expect to receive the first results very soon following the submission of ten bone samples, which could help determine the identities of the victims.
Excavations began in July, and on August 21, authorities announced that the excavation and exhumation of human remains at three locations in Kalludër e Vogël and Jabukë, Zubin Potok, had been completed. The Special Prosecution said that remains belonging to at least 23 people had been found in the three mass graves.
In connection with the case, three people have been arrested on suspicion of war crimes against the civilian population and are currently being held in pre-trial detention.
Kosovo authorities suspect that the human remains discovered in the mass graves in Kalludër e Vogël and Jabukë, Zubin Potok, may belong to the so-called “Mitrovica intellectuals group.”
The group of 23 people has been missing since April 19, 1999. Among them were doctors, professors, lawyers and people from other professions.
Kosovo’s Special Prosecution said it has been investigating the case of the 23 missing people for seven years and that the evidence gathered so far points the investigation toward them. However, only DNA identification will confirm whether the remains belong to those individuals.
Samira Krehić, head of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) program in the Western Balkans, told Radio Free Europe days earlier that the discovery of human remains is only the beginning of a complex identification process.
According to her, the condition of the remains, DNA degradation and the lack of sufficient reference samples from relatives could make identification more difficult. In more complex cases, Krehić said, additional expertise, analysis and further efforts may be required.
She stressed that neither the identities of the victims nor the circumstances surrounding the case should be presumed before DNA analysis is completed.
“Only once we know with certainty the individual identities of all the victims who have been found can the reconstruction of events begin, not the other way around,” Krehić said.
The ICMP has been involved in efforts to locate and identify people missing from the Kosovo war since 1999.
According to the Institute for Crimes Committed During the War in Kosovo, 1,577 people remain missing from the 1998–1999 war, while a total of 12,230 war victims have been documented.
Kosovo has repeatedly called on Serbia to cooperate in determining the fate of missing persons and to provide access to military archives which, according to Kosovo authorities, could help identify the locations of possible gravesites.
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