English/Nat U-N war crimes investigators are studying what appears to be a Serb-run torture centre in the Kosovan capital Pristina. The centre was discovered by British paratroopers who have now sealed off the five-story concrete building that was the headquarters of departing Serb military police in Pristina. The British were said to have found knives, rubber and wooden batons, baseball bats, brass knuckles and drugs, presumably used to sedate victims. With every day, NATO troops continue to uncover more evidence of alleged mass graves and human rights abuses in Kosovo. Even so, British troops were still appalled to find evidence of torture in this Serb-run police station in Pristina. The troops cordoned off the building before allowing photographers and T-V crews inside to film evidence. Inside the station, the British said they had found a number of knuckle-dusters, a belt strapped to a stripped-down bed and picks and hatchets. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We believe this to be a paramilitary police sector headquarters. It's clear from what we found inside the building. There are a number of weapons and knuckle-dusters and knives. It would appear that certainly interrogations have taken place here. and from the stories we've heard from local people we believe torture has taken place here." SUPER CAPTION: Lt Col Nick Clissett, K-For British Forces Spokesman The office showed signs of a hasty retreat, as clothes were left scattered across the floor and drawers and cupboards left open. Photographs found in the station showed women and children posed like criminals for mug shots. Investigators from the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague have already carried away documents and instruments used during interrogations. Among the torture devices left in the station was a charred trail leading to an incinerator, as it appeared someone tried to eliminate evidence. Investigators had also found drugs that were apparently forced on people arrested. The British Ministry of Defence warned it was likely more such gruesome discoveries would be made. It described the Pristina site as an ordinary police station rather than a special holding centre - indicating that torture was standard police practice. You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ce69a37cde5d4dc9f0d6c426e7c4b09e Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

Be the first to comment