UNMIK/PR/822
Thursday, 19 September 2002

Investigations Show No Mass Grave in Orahovac

PRISTINA -A thorough investigation conducted by a team of 17 UNMIK personnel, including 3 forensic experts from the Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, has concluded that Serbian media reports that a cemetery in Orahovac/Rahovac may contain a mass grave of Kosovo Serbs killed after June 1999 are completely unfounded. The CCK coordinator for missing and kidnapped persons, Vesna Boskovic, witnessed the investigation.

A Serbian pathologist working for the CCK, Dr. Slavisa Dobricanin, visited the site on Tuesday and confirmed the previous finding of the UNMIK Missing Persons Unit that it contained no fresh graves. The Missing Persons Unit had previously dug 17 test sites in the area.

Dr. Dobricanin’s presence at the site conformed with protocols on the identification of remains signed by UNMIK and the government of Serbia on June 6, 2002.

The police conducted the excavations following guidance of a Serbian family who believed suspicious activity had taken place at the cemetery in the past three years.

Apart from the family, no civilians were allowed to inspect the cemetery while the investigation was underway because at the time it was considered a potential crime scene. Now that it has been determined not to be, anyone is free to visit the site.