Organ Theft in Kosovo - Del Ponte's Book (2008)

Del Ponte's Book (2008)

The allegations first appeared in the media in The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals, written in 2008 by Carla Del Ponte, a former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). In her book, Del Ponte states that Kosovo Albanians harvested organs of kidnapped ethnic Serbs after the armed conflict ended in 1999. These accusations were backed by her own visit to the site; several witnesses both in and out of the ICTY, one of whom "personally made an organ delivery" to an Albanian airport for transport abroad; and "confirmed information directly gathered by the tribunal."

Del Ponte concluded that if the case had been opened before Kosovo's declaration of independence, world governments might not have had the same stance on the Kosovo question. The Swiss government ordered Del Ponte not to discuss the case. She was accused of spreading unfounded rumors and her former press secretary distanced herself from Del Ponte. Bernard Kouchner, former top UN representative in Kosovo, stated in April 2011: "We were aware of the extortions, but we never heard of organ trafficking," rejecting the accusations made by Del Ponte.