Kosovo has started excavations at newly discovered mass graves from the 1998-99 war. Erblin Ademi, whose father went missing during the conflict, hopes to finally find his remains. The excavations near the village of Kalluder e Vogel in the northern municipality of Zubin Potok began in late July after the discovery of human remains.

Background

The 1998-99 war in Kosovo saw ethnic Albanians launch a rebellion to gain independence from Serbia, resulting in the deaths of approximately 13,000 people. Roughly 1,600 individuals are still missing, believed to be scattered in unmarked mass graves. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has stated that the authorities believe the victims could be the missing intellectuals who allegedly were caught as they were trying to flee Kosovo to avoid being rounded up by Serb troops.

Erblin Ademi was just 9 years old when he last saw his father, Adem Ademi, a prominent surgeon who disappeared along with 22 other intellectuals in April 1999. Ademi’s family has endured years of anguish and disappointments at failed efforts to find his father’s remains. They are now cautiously optimistic because the newly found graves are near to where Ademi was last seen.

Investigations and Arrests

Police in Kosovo arrested two ethnic Serbs on suspicion of war crimes in connection with the mass graves, several days before the latest excavations started. The two men remain in custody. Several top Serbian political and military officials have been tried and convicted of war crimes in Kosovo at a U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.

Erblin Ademi clutched the photo of his father holding him as a little boy. “Every human being has the right to have a grave where they can be visited, where they can be honored, where they can be remembered,” Ademi said. “We are very hopeful that this will be the end, no matter how long the whole process will take, we will wait until we can honor them as they deserve.”

Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.