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Istok prisoners 'were massacred by Serbs'

Investigators are preparing to exhume bodies at Rakosh in western Kosovo where local people say a series of graves contain the bodies of Kosovo Albanians who had been imprisoned in Istok prison.

There are 97 graves marked with numbers, not names, and it is thought that some of the plots may contain more than one body.

Relatives are desperate for the exhumations to be carried out with all speed so they can find the missing people.

They will have to dig up the bodies and identify them," says Sami Deloshi, who is looking for his nephew.

"They should be given back to the families to be buried in a civilised manner."

Nato bombing

"Nato bombed the prison repeatedly in mid-May, justifying its attacks by saying the prison was a military and police complex.

But Kosovo Albanians say that Serbian police killed most of the remaining prisoners between 25 and 31 May, after the bomb attacks.

Serb officials invited foreign journalists into the prison to see the effects of the bombing. They showed journalists several dozen corpses, though it could not be established how the people had died.

Kosovo Albanians say the killing of the prisoners was one of the worst war crimes in Kosovo during the final three months of the conflict.

Survivor recalls 'massacre'

"We were all gathered in the yard of the prison," recalled Bajrash Gemali, who survived the story.

We were made to stand in four lines. They told us to march to the exit, but when we did, they started to shoot at us.

"First they opened fire with snipers, then they used machine-guns and mortars - it was a massacre."

There are other former prisoners telling similar stories.

The Serbian authorities always deny that their forces carried out war crimes in Kosovo, saying that Albanian witnesses are unreliable.

BBC Correspondent Orla Guerin says the forensic evidence being gathered now may help the international community to establish the truth.

Relevant Stories

Istok prison's unanswered questions (25 May 99 | Europe)
Kosovo: Investigating the killings (22 Jul 99 | Europe)
Kosovo prisoners freed (25 Jun 99 | Europe)
Nato's bombing blunders (01 Jun 99 | Europe)
Nato: Prison bombing 'justified' (22 May 99 | Europe)
The forensics of investigating war crimes (21 Jan 99 | Europe)

Internet Links

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
UN in Kosovo

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