-Caveat Lector-
NATO (meaning the US and Britain) rushes to get to the scene of alleged
"atrocities" BEFORE the UN investigators.
Their invasion of the crime scene suggests "tampering with the
evidence."
War Crimes Tribunal Probes Delayed
By ANTHONY DEUTSCH
.c The Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - With efforts to establish a peacekeeping
headquarters in limbo and refugees flooding back to Kosovo, the war crimes
tribunal for Yugoslavia said Wednesday it has been forced to delay
investigations.
Speed is essential for the U.N. court, which had hoped to have investigators
in the region two days ago.
Deputy prosecutor Graham Blewitt warned that evidence of atrocities in the
region may be destroyed if crime scenes aren't swiftly and properly secured.
If work is substantially delayed and winter comes to the region early, some
evidence may never be found, he said.
Blewitt said he hopes investigators will be able to begin on-site operations
within two days.
Causing the delay are troubles the Kosovo peacekeeping force has had in
setting up its headquarters, where at least 150 tribunal investigators are
supposed to be housed.
The Russians' presence at Pristina airport, the planned headquarters site,
has prevented the peacekeepers from setting up there. Tension between NATO
and Russia heightened Wednesday, with Moscow saying it had sent a third batch
of troops to the airport,
Blewitt told reporters the mass return of refugees to Kosovo and the influx
of journalists also could pose problems by causing evidence about atrocities
to be damaged or discredited.
``Any person who arrives at a crime scene and starts picking up the evidence
and interfering with it compromises our ability,'' he said. ``It makes it
easier for an accused ... to say it was planted.''
Once in Kosovo, tribunal investigators will seek evidence to buttress refugee
reports of mass murders, rapes and the plundering of homes and property. The
allegations led to last month's indictments of Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic and four senior associates on charges of crimes against humanity.
Blewitt said the charges against Milosevic and the eventual indictments of
others meant ``a change of government is going to be inevitable in
Yugoslavia.''
The tribunal hopes to eventually have 12 to 14 teams of about 10 people each
operating throughout Kosovo. Some 40 forensic experts from the United States,
Britain, France, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands have already agreed to
aid the court, Blewitt said.
Time is of the essence.
``When winter comes and the snow starts to fall, that puts an end to any
ability to collect or observe the evidence on the ground,'' he said. He
stressed that bullet casings, shell fragments and human remains need to be
gathered swiftly.
Although most of the investigators are waiting to begin their work, there are
already a few tribunal staffers in Kosovo setting up basic facilities without
a permanent base of operations.
Kosovo peace force troops, meanwhile, are themselves securing sites - a job
the tribunal had anticipated doing itself.
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