Serbia asking ICTY to reopen probe into Kosovo organ trafficking allegations News
Serbia asking ICTY to reopen probe into Kosovo organ trafficking allegations

[JURIST] Serbia plans to officially request that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] resume a probe into allegations that separatist Kosovo Liberation Army leaders were involved in trafficking organs taken from Serb prisoners during the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo [BBC backgrounder], Serbian government officials said Monday. Former ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte [JURIST news archive] has alleged in her new book [JURIST report] that approximately 300 Serb and other non-Albanian prisoners were victims of organ trafficking, but that a 2003 probe by her ICTY team failed to obtain sufficient evidence to prosecute. Kosovo Justice Minister Nekibe Kelmendi dismissed the allegations as "fabrications."

Last month, the Office of Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor [official website] said that it was investigating "informal statements" [JURIST report] received from ICTY investigators alleging illegal organ harvesting. The ICTY has not commented officially on the alleged organ trafficking. The Turkish Press has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.