International war crimes investigators are gathering testimony from Albanians who were raped by Serb forces in Kosovo to try to ensure the atrocities do not go unpunished. Signalling that war crimes remain high on the agenda as the crisis deepens, the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said yesterday it had boosted its personnel in the region to interview fleeing Kosovan refugees on their treatment.
The Hague tribunal's Canadian prosecutor, Judge Louise Arbour, has been encouraged by Britain and other Western governments to maintain a high-profile presence. British ministers' public comments on the crisis have repeatedly stressed that Serb and Yugoslav officials will be held accountable for their crimes.
Confirmation of the tribunal's intensified investigations came as Britain's International Development Secretary, Ms Clare Short, said the West was now more organised to handle such atrocities following the experience of the Bosnian war.
"This time a much bigger effort is going to be made to collect evidence from refugees," she told yesterday's daily crisis briefing at the Ministry of Defence.
"This time everything is clearly set out and everything is organised."
It was alleged on Tuesday that Serb forces have been using gang rape as a key part of their campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Reports emerged of women being separated from refugee columns to be raped by soldiers while their families were either forced to watch or driven away at gunpoint.