Kurti: The "Yellow House" never existed as a place for organ trafficking by KLA members, but is part of Serbia's hybrid narrative

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has summarized Kosovo's Independence Day, referring to the second international conference of the Institute for War Crimes "From War to Recovery", where he emphasized that the KLA's war was just and necessary for freedom and survival.

He emphasized that the so-called "Yellow House" in Albania never existed as a place for organ trafficking by KLA members, but is part of Serbia's hybrid narrative against the KLA and Albania.

“There is no stronger symbolism than linking Independence Day with our responsibility for scientific and institutional reflection on the wounds of war and the path of our recovery. Beyond an academic activity, the second international conference of the Institute for War Crimes “From War to Recovery” is part of the broader state and social process for confronting the past, for documenting truth and justice. The Institute for War Crimes in Kosovo has significantly strengthened its documentation and archival capacities. Because a state that confronts the past moves stronger towards the future. The KLA war was just and necessary, for freedom and survival, not out of a desire for violence or power. It was a response to an oppressive regime, to systematic repression up to apartheid and the denial of the fundamental rights of our people up to genocide. The court hearings currently taking place in The Hague cannot question the liberating and anti-colonial character of the war ours, nor Kosovo's legitimate aspiration for freedom, equality and human dignity.

The so-called "Yellow House" in Albania has never existed as a place for organ trafficking by KLA members, but is part of the hybrid narrative of Serbia against the KLA and Albania, initiated by Russian MP Konstantin Kosachev on April 15, 2008, not even two months after Kosovo's declaration of independence. There is no "Yellow House", but there is more and more information, evidence and facts that there was a "Sarajevo safari" in which the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is said to have played a role, in which case, for a sum of money, he could shoot Bosnian civilians with snipers in the besieged city from the hills around Sarajevo in the early 90s. A special international court would have to be engaged to investigate and try the crimes of the "Sarajevo safari", he wrote.

Full speech at the opening of the Second International Scientific Conference of the Institute of War Crimes in Kosovo "From War to Recovery":

On this significant day for our country, we are opening the proceedings of the international conference “From War to Recovery.” There is no more powerful symbolism than linking Independence Day with our responsibility for scientific and institutional reflection on the wounds of war and the path of our recovery.

Beyond an academic activity, this conference is part of a broader state and social process to confront the past, to document truth and justice. Because our independence, in addition to being a democratic political act, is also a moral obligation of remembrance towards our loved ones who were killed and a responsibility towards future generations.   

In this context, I cannot fail to mention the court hearings currently taking place in The Hague, within the framework of the Specialized Chambers, in a judicial process, which is still ongoing and will follow its legal path to completion. But despite this, it cannot and will not change a fundamental historical truth: that the war of the Kosovo Liberation Army was a just and necessary war, for freedom and survival, not out of a desire for violence or power. It was a response to an oppressive regime, to systematic repression up to apartheid and the denial of the fundamental rights of our people up to genocide. This process cannot question the liberating and anti-colonial character of our war, nor the legitimate aspiration of Kosovo for freedom, equality and human dignity.

Dear family members, who lost their loved ones during the war,

Our state hears you, sees you, and knows your pain. Your suffering is part of our state history and our national conscience.

Documentation is an act of respect for the lives of each and every person who was killed, disappeared, or tortured during the war.

The Institute of War Crimes in Kosovo has significantly strengthened its documentation and archival capacities. Verification procedures have been standardized, new databases have been built, and work on registering war victims and damages has been advanced. These steps may sound so technical, but they are so essential for transitional justice. Because a state that confronts the past, moves stronger towards the future.

Dear attendees,

The conference agenda, which spans three days, includes sessions on memory, testimony, trauma, memorialization, wartime sexual violence, missing persons, children’s experiences in war, and pathways to justice and healing. This multidimensional approach is vital, as the consequences of war are psychological, legal, social, cultural, and political.

This approach speaks to us about our society that wants to understand deeply, not simplify. To heal, not hide or forget.

Dear young people who are here today,

The Kosovo we are building is a Republic of knowledge, of active universities, of researchers collaborating with the world, of conferences that bring together international and local experts. It is a Kosovo that transforms its difficult experience into a contribution to science, to international law, and to studies on just peace and transitional justice.

The Republic of Kosovo was built on the aspiration for freedom and equality. Our state has a duty to preserve memory, support survivors, and ensure that crimes are not relativized or forgotten. Memory is an institutional responsibility and a guarantee of non-repetition.

In this spirit, we have made an official request regarding the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has requested that any decision on their future guarantee equal and dignified access for the victims and our institutions. These archives constitute an extremely valuable part of the international documentation of the crimes committed during the war in Kosovo, and for this reason they are inseparable from the research, documentation and archival work that is taking place in Kosovo today. The Institute, as a state mechanism for documenting crimes committed during the war, is ready to cooperate with the International Residual Mechanism for the establishment of an information and documentation center in Kosovo, which would ensure access to the public materials of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and support scientific research and education, and strengthen the integrity of collective memory in accordance with international standards. This is a natural link between international justice and our national responsibility for preserving the truth.

Dear attendees,

On this February 17th, as we celebrate our independence, we also reaffirm our commitment to justice, to full documentation, and to an honest confrontation with the past.

We build our future on documented truth, honoring the memory of each victim and the sacrifice of our entire people.

I wish you successful work at the conference, to deepen knowledge, strengthen international cooperation, and consolidate our institutional commitment.

Dear citizens,

The future of Kosovo is not determined only by the challenges we have overcome, but by the way we have addressed them. We have chosen the path of law and justice, the path of institutions and professionalism.

The Kosovo of tomorrow is a Kosovo of knowledge, justice and cooperation.

And we are building it together today and every day. With unwavering dedication, with high professionalism, with great love and complete faith in our future as a sovereign and democratic Republic, as a legal and developmental state that combines equality with solidarity, but also the livelihood of everyone with dignity.

Happy Independence Day!

Glory to the martyrs and martyrs of freedom!

Long live the Republic of Kosovo!