Authorities in Kosovo said that at least ten skeletal remains found in three mass graves in Zubin Potok have been sent to The Hague for identification through DNA.
The acting Minister for Labor, Family and Values of the Liberation War, Andin Hoti, during a visit to Kalludër - one of the locations where mortal remains were found - together with the families of the missing, said that the mortal remains found at this location have been sent to the laboratory of the International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague, where a comparison will be made with the samples provided by the families of the missing.
The first results from The Hague are expected to arrive soon after the skeletal remains are sent, the Institute of Forensic Medicine said.
The excavations began in July and on August 21, authorities announced that the process of excavation and exhumation of mortal remains at three locations in Kalludër i Vogël and Jabukë i Zubin Potok had been completed. In the three mass graves, the Special Prosecution Office stated that the mortal remains of at least 23 people were found.
In connection with this case, three people have been arrested on suspicion of war crimes against the civilian population and are currently in custody.
Authorities in Kosovo suspect that the mortal remains found in the mass graves in Kalludër i Vogël and in Jabukë in Zubin Potok may belong to the "group of intellectuals from Mitrovica".
The group of 23 people has been missing since April 19, 1999. Among them were doctors, professors, lawyers and other profiles.
The Kosovo Special Prosecution Office said that they have been handling the case of 23 missing persons for seven years and that the evidence collected so far points the investigation towards them, but only through DNA identification will it be confirmed whether they are the ones involved.
The head of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in the Western Balkans, Samira Krehic, told Radio Free Europe a few days ago that the discovery of mortal 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 samples from family members may make identification difficult. In more complex cases, according to Krehic, additional expertise, analysis and effort may be required.
She stated that the identity of the victims and the incident should not be prejudged before the completion of DNA analyses.
"Only after we know for sure the individual identities of all the victims that have been found can the reconstruction of the event begin, not the other way around," Krehic said.
ICMP has been involved in the search for and identification of persons missing from the war in Kosovo since 1999.
According to the Institute for War Crimes 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 requested cooperation from Serbia to clarify the fate of missing persons and access to military archives that, according to authorities, could help identify possible grave locations./ REL
