EMPERORS-CLOTHES.COM September, 25 1999 by Pablo Ordaz, commentary by Jared Israel SPANISH EXPERTS SEE NO SERB GENOCIDE IN KOSOVO The following article from 'El Pais' ('The Country'), a mainstream Spanish magazine, is most important. For months we've been barraged with stories claiming Serbs killed thousands of ethnic Albanians and dumped them in mass graves in Kosovo. Recently I did an internet search for newspaper articles, appearing in the past 90 days, and including the words 'Kosovo' and 'mass grave.' The report came back: 'More than 1000 - too many to list.'I had to limit the search to articles in the NY Times and even then came up with 80, nearly one a day. It has been a giant air balloon of anti-Serbian publicity, but now comes the pin: Spanish forensic experts, just back from NorthernKosovo where, they were told, they would have to inspect the worst Serbian atrocities, found no mass graves and no evidence of torture. We received this article at 11 PM on 9/23 and had a translation the next morning thanks to Herb Foerstal in the U.S. The translation was then checked and cleared for accuracy, again on no notice and within a few hours, thanks to Julio Fernбndez Baraiba in Argentina. Below is the article from El Pais followed by a commentary. EL PAIS by PABLO ORDAZ, Madrid Spanish police and forensic experts have not found proof of Genocide in the North of Kosovo. Prisoners [in the prison in] Istok were shot after the bombardment of NATO. Crimes of War - yes, Genocide - no. This was definitely shown yesterday by the group of Spanish experts formed by officials from the Scientific Police and Civilian Forensics that has just returned from Istok, the Zone in the North of Kosovo under the control of the Legion. {Spanish Legion? - EC} 187 cadavers found and analyzed in 9 villages were buried in individual graves, oriented for the most part toward Mecca out of respect for the religious beliefs of the Albanian Kosovars and without sign of torture. "There were no mass graves. For the most part the Serbs are not as bad as they have been painted," reflected the forensic official Emilio Pйrez Pujo. That was not the only irony. Also questioned were the successive counts that are being offered by the "allies" on the tragedy of Kosovo. "I have been reading the data from UN," said Pйrez Pujol, Director of the Forensic Anatomical Institute of Cartagena. "And they began with 44,000 deaths. Then they lowered it to 22,000. And now they're going with 11,000.I look forward to seeing what the final count will really be." The Spanish Mission which should now submit a report to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, left from Madrid in the beginning of the month of the August with the feeling that they were going on a road to hell. "They told us that we were going to the worst zone of Kosovo. That we should prepare ourselves to perform more than 2000 autopsies. That we would have to work until the end of November. The result is very different. We only found 187 cadavers and now we are going to return," explained the chief inspector, Juan Lуpez Palafox, responsible for the Office of Anthropology and Scientific Police. The forensic people, as well as the police, applied their experience in Rwanda in order to determine what occurred in Kosovo at least in that section assigned to the Spanish detachment and they were not able to find evidence of genocide. "In the former Yugoslavia," said Lуpez Palafox, "crimes were committed, some no doubt horrible, but they derived from the war. In Rwanda we saw 450 corpses of women and children, one on top of another, all with their heads broken open." The Chief Inspector added that in Kosovo, on the contrary, they had found many isolated corpses. "It gives the IMPRESSION that the Serbs gave a choice to the families to leave their homes. If some member of the clan, for whatever reason, decided to remain, upon returning they were found dead from a shot or by whatever other method." {our emphasis} One of the members of the Spanish mission shed light on events in the Istok prison, bombed at the end of May by NATO planes. The work, directed by Lуpez Palafox and Pйrez Pujol was aimed at solving the following mystery: who killed the more than 100 prisoners - the bombs of NATO or the bullets of Serbian soldiers? The answer, according to the preliminary studies, is clear. Some of the cadavers analyzed had shrapnel wounds and therefore clearly appeared to have been killed by the bombardment. But others died of clear clean bullet wounds, perhaps from the bullets of machine guns. The most likely thesis is that after the bombardment, the prison inmates tried to flee and were shot by Serbian guards. *** Commentary by Jared Israel I've been reading mass grave stories for most of 24 hours. I hope to do a detailed analysis soon. Meanwhile, here are a few observations: * You would expect the stories to be horrifying. What is surprising is that they are so repetitious - using the same phrases - that reading them is exhausting. * The stories are often written in semi-fictional style, as in "A cap lay on the ground, stained red near the back. 'Who knew the Serbs would do this,' asked the gaunt Albanian. There were tears in his eyes." This type of writing produces a suspension of disbelief and makes the reader susceptible to unsubstantiated claims. * Evidence, if any, is anecdotal; sources are vague. * The discovery or even the rumor of a grave is cited (often by some authority figure) as proof of Serbian atrocities. These atrocities are then discussed in great, though entirely speculative, detail. Trial by media. It is enough to make you gaga, especially when you read this 'news' for hours at a time. The mental equivalent of smog. * Arguments are circular. Dead bodies are found. The assumptions are made that: they are Albanians; they are civilians; they were killed by Serbs; the Serbs were soldiers or policemen. These speculations, once uttered, become part of the record, cited in later articles as established fact. The Spanish experts were told they'd find 2000 bodies. They saw 187. Many appear to have died when NATO bombed a prison or afterwards, trying to escape. The only war crime involved here is NATO's. It is a war crime to bomb any non military target, let alone a prison, the ultimate sitting duck. The forensic scientists speculate that the remaining cadavers are of Albanian civilians killed by Serbian troops or police. These people are the only possible victims of war crimes. Here we offer a caution. Every official in a NATO country is under pressure to parrot the NATO line. These Spanish experts nevertheless aired their reservations publicly. Note that when they discuss the individuals with bullet wounds they make clear they are speculating: "It gives the IMPRESSION that the Serbs gave a choice to the families to leave their homes..." {our emphasis} Indeed, how could they know these were Albanians ordered by Serbian police to leave their homes and shot when they refused? As they note, there were no witnesses. In any case, given KLA control of Kosovo, Albanian witnesses are most likely their agents or under their domination - and the KLA is infamous for dealing harshly with those who resist. Lying has been a key part of the secessionist arsenal for the past ten years - a weapon in a battle to win international public support. There are, of course, a lot of dead people in Kosovo. For a year and a half, a fierce war raged between the KLA terrorists and the Yugoslav Army and police. The KLA has had a free hand in Kosovo since early June, plenty of time to move bodies around, dress soldiers as civilians, rehearse pro-KLA 'grieving relatives.' So let's take the 'murdered civilians who resisted' with a big grain of salt. We say this NOT because Serbs are incapable of atrocities, but because the Albanian secessionists have made lying a weapon in the war of ideas and because we support what WAS a pillar of American justice: that a person (moreso a people) is innocent until proven guilty. It is not enough to have guilt asserted in the press, or 'proven' by the unchallenged testimony of interested parties in a polarized society. The attempt to use these false proofs merely proves NATO is trying to railroad the Serbs. When an accusation is made, such as NATO's against the Serbs, there are really two parties "on trial": the accused and also the accuser. For if it can be shown that the accusation is false, then the question arises: did the accuser use this false accusation to hide a crime - perhaps a greater crime - of his own? Let us honor these Spanish scientists and policemen. By denying NATO's charges against the Serbs, they have indicted NATO. They have risked NATO's wrath - and their careers - to tell the truth. Their bravery and decency give one hope.