The Government of Kosovo confirmed the continuation of excavation of human remains in Serbia’s southwestern town, Kizevak.
“Assessment excavations and exhumations of the mortal remains of the victims of the war of 1998-‘99 in Kosovo, respectively the works at this location, will continue in the coming days,” says a statement issued by the office of Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Avdullah Hoti on Monday.
The statement reads that representatives of the Kosovo Kosovo Delegation within the Working Group on Missing Persons, visited the location of the mass grave in Kizevak, near the bordering town with Kosovo, Raska.
“The forensic experts of the Republic of Kosovo, on behalf of the Kosovo Delegation, will continue to be present until the end of the process, in accordance with the practices between the two delegations,” Prime Minister’s office says.
Excavation in this location started in 2015 by both Kosovo and Serbia teams, but they were intensified in the last weeks after mortal remains were confirmed on November 16.
The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) explained that the identification of the exact location where the human remains were found in Serbia, was possible through aerial images from 1999.
The International Committee of the Red Cross made the aerial images from 1999 available to the Kosovo Government Commission on Missing Persons and the Serbian Government Commission on Missing Persons at the end of 2019.
“We received aerial images in late 2019. Between late 2019 and early 2020, EULEX’s exhumation coordinator Krassimir Nikolov and I analyzed the photos. Based on our analysis we went back to the site in February 2020 and we pinpointed the exact location of the site. This is when the work started this year,” Javier Santana, EULEX’s forensic archaeologist said.
Over 1600 people are still listed as missing since the end of the war in Kosovo in 1999.
