Jump to content

War crimes in the Kosovo War

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Organ theft in Kosovo)
US Marines provide security as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Forensics Team investigate a grave site in a village in Kosovo on 1 July 1999.

Numerous war crimes were committed by all sides during the Kosovo War, which lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. According to Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of abuses were attributable to the government of Slobodan Milošević, mainly perpetrated by the Serbian police, the Yugoslav army, and Serb paramilitary units. During the war, regime forces killed between 7,000–9,000 Kosovar Albanians,[1] engaged in countless acts of rape,[2] destroyed entire villages, and displaced nearly one million people.[1] The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or the UÇK) has also been implicated in atrocities, such as kidnappings and summary executions of civilians.[3] Moreover, the NATO bombing campaign has been harshly criticized by human rights organizations and the Serbian government for causing roughly 500 civilian casualties.[4][5]

In 2015, the Humanitarian Law Center released a list of people who were killed or went missing from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2000, including 8,676 Kosovo Albanian civilians, 1,196 ethnic Serbs and 445 civilians who were members of other ethnicities such as Romani people and Bosniaks.[6][7]

Background

[edit]
Main articles: 20th century history of Kosovo and Kosovo War

By the 1980s, the Kosovo Albanians constituted a majority in Kosovo. During the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of Serbs and Montenegrins left Kosovo, including some 57,000 during the 1970s alone.[8][9] Social-economic, migration from underdeveloped areas, an increasingly adverse social-political climate and direct and indirect pressures were cited as the reasonings behind the departures.[9] Slobodan Milošević gained political power by exploiting the grievances of Kosovo Serbs and pandering to the rising nationalist movement in Serbia.[10]

Milošević abolished Kosovo's autonomy in 1989. With his rise to power, the Albanians started boycotting state institutions and ignoring the laws of the Republic of Serbia, culminating in the creation of the Republic of Kosova which received recognition from neighbouring Albania. Serbia (now in union with Montenegro as FR Yugoslavia) tried to maintain its political control over the province. With the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army, a large number of the Kosovo Albanians joined and supported the movement. The Serbian police and Yugoslav army response was brutal. In 1997, international sanctions were applied to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia because of persecution of Kosovo's Albanians by Yugoslav security forces.[11]

Yugoslav war crimes

[edit]

Serbian military, paramilitary and police forces in Kosovo have committed a wide range of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law: forced expulsion of Kosovars from their homes; burning and looting of homes, schools, religious sites and healthcare facilities; detention, particularly of military-age men; summary execution; rape; violations of medical neutrality; and identity cleansing.[12]

— Report released by the U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, May 1999
Ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians
Part of the Kosovo War
Streetscape of destroyed village during Kosovo War, 1999
LocationAP Kosovo and Metohija
Date1998–1999
TargetKosovo Albanians
Attack type
Ethnic cleansing, identity cleansing, genocidal massacres,[13] gendercide,[14] reprisals, rape
Deaths7,000–9,000
Victimsc. 850,000 expelled
590,000 internally displaced[15]
c. 10,000–20,000 women and girls raped[16][17][18]
PerpetratorsFR Yugoslavia, Serbian paramilitaries
DefendersKosovo Liberation Army
MotiveAlbanophobia

Persecution and ethnic cleansing

[edit]
See also: Operation Horseshoe

During the armed conflict in 1998, the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police used excessive and random force, which resulted in property damage, the displacement of the population and the death of civilians.[19] Belgrade unleashed the alleged Operation Horseshoe in the summer of 1998, in which hundreds of thousands of Albanians were driven from their homes.[20][21][22]

The withdrawal of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitors on 20 March 1999, together with the start of NATO's bombing campaign, encouraged Milošević to implement a "campaign of expulsions".[23] With the beginning of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Operation Horseshoe was implemented, though the Yugoslav government maintained that the refugee crisis was caused by the bombings.[24][25] The Yugoslav Army, Serbian police and Serb paramilitary forces in the spring of 1999, in an organized manner, initiated a broad campaign of violence against Albanian civilians in order to expel them from Kosovo and thus maintain the political control of Belgrade over the province.[19][26][27]

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations in a refugee camp in Kukës, Albania

According to the legally binding verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Federal Army and Serbian police systematically attacked Albanian-populated villages after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia that began on 24 March 1999; abused, robbed and killed civilians, ordering them to go to Albania or Montenegro, burned their houses, and destroyed their property.[28] Nemanja Stjepanović claimed that within the campaign of violence, Kosovo Albanians were expelled from their homes, murdered, sexually assaulted, and had their religious buildings destroyed. The Yugoslav forces committed numerous war crimes during the implementation of a "joint criminal enterprise" whose aim was to "through the use of violence and terror, force a significant number of Kosovo Albanians to leave their homes and cross the border in order for the state government to retain control over Kosovo."[19] The ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population was performed in the following way: first the Army surrounded a location, followed by shelling, then the police entered the village and often with them and the Army, and then crimes occurred (murders, beatings, expulsions, sexual violence ...).[28]

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, by June 1999, the Yugoslav military, Serbian police and paramilitaries had expelled around 850,000 Albanians from Kosovo,[29] and several hundred thousand more were internally displaced, in addition to those displaced prior to March.[26] Approximately 440,000 refugees crossed the border into Albania and 320,000 fled to North Macedonia, while Bosnia and Herzegovina received more than 30,000.

Presiding Judge Iain Bonomy, who imposed the sentence, said that "deliberate actions of these forces during the campaign provoked the departure of at least 700,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in the short period from late March to early June 1999."[19]

Destruction of settlements

[edit]

HRW claims that the Yugoslav Army indiscriminately attacked Kosovo Albanian villages.[30] Police and military forces had partially or completely destroyed thousands of Albanian villages in Kosovo by burning or shelling them.[30] According to a UNHCR survey, nearly 40% of all residential houses in Kosovo were heavily damaged or completely destroyed by the end of the war. Out of a total of 237,842 houses, 45,768 were heavily damaged and 46,414 were destroyed.[31] In particular, residences in the city of Peja was heavily damaged. More than 80% of the 5,280 houses in the city were heavily damaged (1,590) or destroyed (2,774).[32]

Rapes

[edit]
"Heroinat" (Heroines) monument in Pristina. It is dedicated to the female victims of sexual violence during the Kosovo War

Widespread rape and sexual violence occurred during the conflict and the majority of victims were Kosovo Albanian women.[33][34] In 2000, Human Rights Watch documented 96 cases while adding that "it is likely that the number is much higher".[35][17] Years after the war, the figure put forward for the number of rape victims was 10,000–20,000.[16][17] The figure of 20,000 however has not been verified, given the lack of serious investigations into wartime rapes, though the number is often cited in public opinion and by politicians in Kosovo.[35] This number originated from a World Health Organization report and the US Center for Disease Control from information gathered by local NGOs.[35][17] The Kosovo Women's Network gave the figure of over 10,000 girls and women who experienced wartime rape.[17] Due to a lack of prosecutions against perpetrators, there has been a reluctance for women to come forward or testify.[17][35]

Throughout the duration of the war, members of the Yugoslav army, police and paramilitaries would remove girls and women fleeing for safety from refugee columns and rape them, at times more than once and later released them to continue their journey.[33] Other women had been subjected to rape in their homes, at times in front of their family or in temporary refuges located by the women for their elderly parents or children as they attempted to flee the conflict.[33] Other women stayed in Kosovo and were without protection.[33] The crimes by the Yugoslav military, paramilitary and police amounted to crimes against humanity and a war crime of torture.[33]

Although numbers are difficult to determine, following the conflict, there were cases of women committing suicide, aborting their pregnancies, giving birth to children and later raising them or placing them up for adoption with a few instances of attempted strangulation of their babies.[36] Postwar, the issue of wartime rape did not receive enough attention in the media and in political discourse within Kosovo and victims were left to deal with their experiences in private.[34]

The government has founded a programme to help those victims. As by October 2018, 250 women have signed up, despite pushing on behalf of the Kosovan government by giving free specialized healthcare and trauma counseling for wartime rape survivors.[37] Many of the girls were young girls, from 13 to 19 years old.[38] Mostly rape were committed paramilitaries associated with Arkan group, where the majority of rapes are carried out in the presence of children and men who later were killed.[39]

Vasfije Krasniqi-Goodman was first woman to break a taboo in Kosovo society by telling her story of sexual violence publicly. On April 14, 1999 paramilitaries and Serbian police in the village of Stanovc, Vushtrri entered the house of Krasniqi, who was 16 years old and took her to the Church of Babimovc where she was raped. Afterwards, she was threatened with the lives of her family if she revealed what happened.[16][40]

Victims from rural areas however face difficulties obtaining documents which prove they had medical treatment, gave birth or had abortions as a result of rape from medical centres that were set up for refugees in Albania, North Macedonia or Montenegro after they were expelled from their homes. Victims have also been asked to provide statements they gave to prosecutors in investigations which they were interviewed as victims of rape.[41]

Destruction of mosques, churches, shrines, monuments and other traditional architecture

[edit]
Main article: Destruction of Albanian heritage in Kosovo
Destroyed mosque and houses

Numerous Albanian cultural sites in Kosovo were destroyed during the Kosovo conflict (1998–1999) which constituted a war crime violating the Hague and Geneva Conventions.[42] Religious objects were also damaged or destroyed. Of the 498 mosques in Kosovo that were in active use, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) documented that 225 mosques sustained damage or destruction by the Yugoslav Serb army.[43] In all, eighteen months of the Yugoslav Serb counterinsurgency campaign between 1998 and 1999 within Kosovo resulted in 225 or a third out of a total of 600 mosques being damaged, vandalised, or destroyed alongside other Islamic architecture during the conflict.[44][45][43] Other islamic momuments were also targeted, two sufi shrines/lodges dating from the 15-18th century were destroyed, A 15th century hamam and all nine quran reading schools were also destroyed. [46]Additionally 500 Albanian owned kulla dwellings (traditional stone tower houses) and three out of four well preserved Ottoman period urban centres located in Kosovo cities were badly damaged resulting in great loss of traditional architecture.[47][44] Kosovo's public libraries, in particular 65 out of 183 were completely destroyed with a loss of 900,588 volumes, while Islamic libraries sustained damage or destruction resulting in the loss of rare books, manuscripts and other collections of literature.[48][49] Archives belonging to the Islamic Community of Kosovo with records spanning 500 years were also destroyed.[48][49] During the war, Islamic architectural heritage posed for Yugoslav Serb paramilitary and military forces as Albanian patrimony with destruction of non-Serbian architectural heritage being a methodical and planned component of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.[44][50]

Identity cleansing

[edit]
Main article: Identity cleansing

Identity cleansing was a strategy employed by the government of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War.[51] Identity cleansing is defined as "confiscation of personal identification, passports, and other such documents to make it difficult or impossible for those driven out to return".[52]

Expelled Kosovo Albanians claimed that they were systematically stripped of identity and property documents including passports, land titles, automobile license plates, identity cards and other documents.[53] In conjunction with the policy of expelling ethnic Albanians from the province, the Yugoslavs would confiscate all documents that indicated the identity of those being expelled. Physicians for Human Rights reports that nearly 60% of respondents to its survey observed Yugoslav forces removing or destroying personal identification documents.[54] Human Rights Watch also documented the common practice of "identity cleansing": refugees expelled toward Albania were frequently stripped of their identity documents and forced to remove the license plates from their vehicles.[55] The occurrence of these acts suggested that the government was trying to block their return.[55]

In addition to confiscating the relevant documents from their holders, efforts were also made to destroy any actual birth records (and other archives) which were maintained by governmental agencies, so as to make the "cleansing" complete[56] (this latter tactic sometimes being referred to as archival cleansing).[57]

Massacres of civilians

[edit]
Main article: List of massacres in the Kosovo War
Memorial to Albanian victims in Vushtrri

Incomplete list of massacres:

  • Meja massacre – at least 377 persons were killed by Serbian police and paramilitary forces in May 1999.[58][59]
  • Pastasel massacre – Serbian forces entered the village of Pastasel and expelled the women to Albania. Men from the village were gathered and 106 were executed.
  • Vushtrri massacre – More than 100 Kosovo refugees were killed by Serbian Police.[60]
  • Krusha massacres – The ICTY discovered 98 bodies at Velika Kruša and, according to HRW, the number of people killed could exceed this number.[61] According to the ICTY, Sava Matić participated in the murder 42 persons on March 26, 1999.[62] There were also allegations of mass rape.[63]
  • Izbica massacre – Serbian forces killed about 93 Albanian civilians.[64][65]
  • Rezala massacre – About 83 Albanian civilians were captured and most of them were executed, leaving only two survivors.[66]
  • Orahovac massacre – Serbian forces executed 79 ethnic Albanians
  • Dubrava Prison massacre – Prison guards killed more than 70 Albanian prisoners in Dubrava Prison.[67]
  • Bela Crkva massacre – 62 known fatalities[68]
  • Suva Reka massacre on 26 March 1999 – 48 Albanian civilians killed, among them many children.[69]
  • Poklek massacre – 17 April 1999 – at least 47 people were forced into one room and systematically gunned down. The precise number of dead is unknown, although it is certain that 23 children under the age of fifteen were killed in the massacre.[70]
  • Račak massacre (or "Operation Račak") on 15 January 1999 – 45 Albanians were rounded up and killed by Serbian special forces. The first forensic report, by a joint Yugoslavian and Belarusian team, concluded that those killed were not civilians. The massacre provoked a shift in Western policy towards the war.[71][72][73][74]
  • Ćuška massacre – 41 known victims.[75]
  • Attack on Prekaz – Serbian forces launched an operation aimed at killing Adem Jashari and his family. 30 civilian members of the Jashari family were killed along with 28 insurgents.[76]
  • Drenica massacre – there were 29 identified corpses discovered in a mass-grave, committed by Serbian law enforcement.[77]
  • Likoshan and Çirez massacres – 26 Albanian civilians were killed.
  • Mala Kaludra massacre on 19 April 1999 – 23 Albanian refugees were killed by Serbian paramilitaries as they fled towards Montenegro.[78]
  • Imeraj massacre on 26 March 1999 – Serbian forces entered the village of Pemishtë/Cërkolez and killed 19 Albanian civilians including 13 women and children.[79]
  • Gornje Obrinje massacre – 18 corpses were found,[80] but more people were slaughtered.[81]
  • Podujevo massacre – 14 Albanian civilians were killed and 5 wounded, including women, children and the elderly.[82]
  • Albanian leaders massacre – 5 Albanian leaders were killed after they had attended the funeral of Albanian lawyer Bajram Kelmendi.[83][84]

Cover-up

[edit]

Soon after NATO started bombing Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević ordered that all bodies in Kosovo that could be of interest to The Hague Tribunal should be removed.[85] The Yugoslav Army systematically transported the corpses of Albanians to places like the Trepča Mines near Mitrovica, where their remains were allegedly cremated.[30] Thus, according to one source, it was estimated that between 1,200 and 1,500 bodies were burned in the Trepča Mines.[19] However, these allegations surrounding the Trepča mines turned out to be false.[86][87] More corpses of Kosovo Albanians were transported into Serbia,[19] where the bodies were buried in mass-graves such as those at Batajnica.[88][89]

In May 2001, the Serbian government announced that 86 bodies of Kosovo Albanians were thrown into the river Danube during the Kosovo War.[30] After four months of excavations, Serbian forensic-experts located at least seven mass graves and some 430 bodies (including the corpses of women and children) in Central Serbia.[85] Those sites included the graves at Batajnica near Belgrade, at Petrovo Selo in eastern Serbia and near Perućac Dam in western Serbia.[85] So far,[when?] about 800 remains of Albanians killed and buried in mass graves in Serbia have been exhumed and returned to their families in Kosovo.[90] Most of the bodies were discovered near Special Anti-Terrorist police bases where Serbian Anti-Terrorism units were stationed and trained in clandestine operations.[91]

As a witness in the trial of eight police officers for war crimes against Albanian civilians during the Suva Reka massacre, Dragan Karleuša, the investigator of the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, testified that there are more graves in Serbia.[92]

He commented, "why would they remove bodies in this way if the people had died normally," and concluded that they did not die normally and that the campaign to remove the bodies was, in fact, a cover-up for a "terrible crime".[85]

According to the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade and Kosovo, in the period largely covering NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia (20 March-14 June 1999), Yugoslav forces killed 6,901 Albanian non-combatants.[93]

KLA war crimes

[edit]
Albanian war crimes
Part of the Kosovo War
Monument to Serbian victims in Mitrovica
LocationKosovo
Date1998–2001
TargetSerbs and other Non-Albanians, Albanians who allegedly collaborated with the FR Yugoslavia
Attack type
Ethnic cleansing, summary executions, massacres, kidnappings, organ theft
DeathsUntil June 1999:
  • 335-464 civilians killed by the KLA

After June 1999:

  • Serbian Claim: 847 (both security forces and civilians)
VictimsUntil June 1999:
  • 560 non-Albanians presumably kidnapped by the KLA

After June 1999:

  • Serbian Claim: 1,154 kidnapped (both security forces and civilians)

Expulsions:

  • Tens of thousands expelled
PerpetratorsKosovo Liberation Army, Albanian gangs and extremists
DefendersSerbian police, Yugoslav Army
MotiveSerbophobia, Greater Albania

Kidnappings and summary executions

[edit]

In some villages under Albanian control in 1998, militants drove ethnic-Serbs from their homes. Some of those who remained are unaccounted for and are presumed to have been abducted by the KLA and killed. The KLA detained an estimated 85 Serbs during its 19 July 1998 attack on Rahovec. 35 of these were subsequently released but the others remained. On 22 July 1998, the KLA briefly took control of the Belaćevac mine near the town of Obiliq. Nine Serb mineworkers were captured that day and they remain on the International Committee of the Red Cross's list of the missing and are presumed to have been killed.[94] In August 1998, 22 Serbian civilians were reportedly killed in the village of Kleçkë, where the police claimed to have discovered human remains and a kiln used to cremate the bodies.[94][95] In September 1998, Serbian police collected 34 bodies of people believed to have been seized and murdered by the KLA, among them some ethnic Albanians, at Lake Radonjić near Gllogjan in what became known as the Lake Radonjić massacre.[94]

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the ICTY, 97 Kosovo Serbs were kidnapped in 1998.[94][96] According to a Serbian government report, from 1 January 1998 to 10 June 1999 the UÇK killed 988 people and kidnapped 287; of those killed, 335 were civilians, 351 were soldiers, 230 were police and 72 were unidentified; by nationality, 87 of the civilians killed were Serbs, 230 were Albanians, and 18 were of other nationalities.[97] According to the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade and Kosovo, in the period largely covering NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia (20 March-14 June 1999), the KLA killed 328 Serb civilians and 136 Roma and other non-Albanian civilians.[93] 1,257 people died or went missing in connection with the war in its aftermath, until December 31, 2000; 717 of whom were Serbs, 307 Albanians, and 233 Roma, Bosniak and other non-Albanian ethnicities.[7]

According to the Kosovo government's Commission on Missing Persons, 560 non-Albanians are still missing from the war, including 360 Serbs. They are believed to have been kidnapped by KLA in Kosovo beginning in 1998 with the majority disappearing between June 1999 and December 2000 following the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from the region.[98]

Massacres of civilians

[edit]
Staro Gracko massacre memorial

Incomplete list of massacres:

  • Gnjilane killings in 1999 – The remains of 51 Serbs were discovered in mass graves after they were killed by Albanian militants.[99]
  • Orahovac massacre – More than 100 Serbian and Roma civilians were kidnapped and placed in concentration camps, 47 were killed.[100]
  • Lake Radonjić massacre – 34 individuals of Serb, Roma and Albanian ethnicity were discovered by a Serbian forensic team near the lake.[101][102][103][104]
  • Volujak massacre – 25 male Kosovo Serb civilians were murdered by members of the KLA in July 1998.[105]
  • Klečka killings – 22 Serb civilians were murdered and their bodies were cremated.[106][107]
  • Peć massacre – 20 Serbs were murdered and their corpses were thrown down wells.[108]
  • Ugljare massacre – 15 Serbs were murdered by Albanian separatists.[106]
  • Staro Gračko massacre – 14 Serbian farmers were murdered by Albanian militants.[106]
  • Malisevo massacre – 12 Kosovo Serbs and a Bulgarian were executed after being taken prisoner.

Ethnic cleansing

[edit]
Serbian and other non-Albanian refugees

According to a 2001 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW):[109]

The KLA was responsible for serious abuses... including abductions and murders of Serbs and ethnic Albanians considered collaborators with the state. Elements of the KLA are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on Serbs, Roma, and other non-Albanians, as well as ethnic Albanian political rivals... widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to Serbs, Roma, and other minorities and the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries... combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities... elements of the KLA are clearly responsible for many of these crimes.

Use of child soldiers

[edit]

Around 10% of all KLA insurgents engaged in fighting during the conflict were under the age of 18, with some being as young as 13. The majority of them were 16 and 17 years old. Around 2% were below the age of 16. These were mainly girls recruited to cook for the soldiers rather than to actually fight.[110][111]

Prison camps

[edit]
The "Missing" monument in Gračanica dedicated for the Serb victims missing from the Kosovo War

Some of the prison camps[112][113] in Kosovo were:

  • Lapušnik prison camp – A KLA prison camp in Glogovac where 23 Serbs and Albanians were killed. Hardina Bala; An UÇK prison guard was found guilty of torture, mistreatment of prisoners and murder for crimes committed at the camp.[114][115]
  • Prison Camp Jablanica – 10 individuals were detained and tortured by KLA forces including: one Serb, three Montenegrins, one Bosnian, three Albanians, and two victims of unknown ethnicity.[116][117]
  • Detention camps in Albania – Serbs and Roma civilians kidnapped by Albanian militants and taken across the border into Albania where they were held, interrogated, tortured and in most cases killed. Several investigations into these camps have led to evidence detailing that several prisoners had their organs removed.[118]

Organ theft allegations

[edit]

During and after the 1999 war, accusations were made of people being killed in order to remove their organs to sell them on the black market. Various sources estimated that the number of victims ranged from a "handful",[119] up to 50,[120] between 24 and 100[121] to over 300.[122] The allegations were first publicized by then Chief Prosecutor for the ICTY Carla Del Ponte in her book The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals in 2008,[123] causing a large response. According to the book after the end of the war in 1999, Kosovo Albanians were smuggling organs of between 100 and 300 Serbs and other minorities from the province to Albania.[123] The perpetrators are said to have strong links to the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK). Claims were investigated first by the ICTY who found medical equipment and traces of blood in and around the house in Albania that had allegedly been used as an operating theater to remove the organs.[122] They were then investigated by the UN, who received witness reports from many ex-UÇK fighters who stated that several of the prisoners had their organs removed.[124]

In 2011; French media outlet; France24 released a classified UN document written in 2003 which documented the crimes.[125] In 2010, a report by Swiss prosecutor Dick Marty to the Council of Europe (CoE) uncovered "credible, convergent indications"[126] of an illegal trade in human organs going back over a decade,[127] including the deaths of a "handful" of Serb captives killed for this purpose.[127]

On 25 January 2011, the report was endorsed by the CoE, which called for a full and serious investigation. Since the issuance of the report, however, senior sources in the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and many members of the European Parliament have expressed serious doubts regarding the report and its foundations, believing Marty failed to provide "any evidence" concerning the allegations.[128] A EULEX special investigation was launched in August 2011. Responding to this allegation, the head of the war crimes unit of Eulex (the European Law and Justice Mission in Kosovo), Matti Raatikainen, claimed "The fact is that there is no evidence whatsoever in this case, no bodies. No witnesses. All the reports and media attention to this issue have not been helpful to us. In fact they have not been helpful to anyone."[129] He described these allegations as a "distraction" that prevented the war crimes unit from finding the remains of close to 2,000 individuals of Serb, Albanian, and Roma ethnicity still missing in the conflict.[129] The EU Report which was released in 2014 concluded that organ theft and trafficking took place but "on a very limited scale with a few individuals involved".[130]

NATO

[edit]
A monument to the children killed in the NATO bombing located in Tašmajdan Park, Belgrade, featuring a bronze sculpture of Milica Rakić
The NATO cluster munition in the Aeronautical Museum Belgrade

Civilian casualties

[edit]
Main article: Civilian casualties during Operation Allied Force

The Serbian government and a number of international human rights groups (e.g., Amnesty International) claimed that NATO had carried out war crimes by bombing civilians. The chief prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Carla del Ponte, concluded that its investigation found no basis for charging NATO or its leaders with war crimes.[131] According to Human Rights Watch, between 489 and 528 civilians were killed by NATO airstrikes of which 207 civilians were of Serbian and Montenegrin ethnicity, 219 were Albanian, 14 civilians were Roma, and 14 were of other nationalities.[4][132] According to Serbian sources, the number of civilian casualties caused by the NATO bombing stood at 2,500.[5][133]

Incomplete list of civilian casualties caused by NATO:

Aftermath

[edit]

Refugees

[edit]

An estimated 200,000 Serbs and Roma fled Kosovo after the war.[136] Romani people were also driven out after being harassed by Albanian gangs and vengeful individuals.[94] The Yugoslav Red Cross registered 247,391 mostly Serb refugees by November 1999. During the Kosovo War, over 90,000 Serbian and other non-Albanian refugees fled the war-torn province. In the days after the Yugoslav Army withdrew, over 164,000 Serbs (around 75%) and 24,000 Roma (around 85%) left Kosovo and many of the remaining civilians were victims of abuse.[108][137][138][139][140] After Kosovo and other Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to the highest number of refugees and IDPs (including Kosovo Serbs) in Europe.[141][142][143]

In 2007, tens of thousands of Serbs were preparing to flee the province of Kosovo, packing their bags, fearing a new wave of ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Kosovo's new Albanian-led administration.[144]

Serbian refugees

Killings

[edit]

According to a 2001 Human Rights Watch report, as "many as one thousand Serbs and Roma have been murdered or have gone missing since 12 June 1999."[94]

According to a Serbian government report, in the period from 10 June 1999 – 11 November 2001, when NATO had been in control in Kosovo, 847 people were reported to have been killed and 1,154 kidnapped.[97] This comprised both civilians and security forces personnel.

Number of victims in the war in Kosovo

[edit]

Estimates for the number of people killed during the Kosovo War vary but is estimated to be nearly 10,000. Between 7,000–9,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed by Yugoslav forces according to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.[1] In 2014, the Humanitarian Law Centre in Serbia and Kosovo compiled a list of people who were killed or went missing during the war and in its aftermath, from January 1998 to December 31, 2000. The list totaled 13,517 people and included 8,661 Albanian civilians, 1,196 Serbs, and 447 Roma, Bosniaks and other non-Albanians; the rest were combatants.[145]

Destruction of Serbian heritage

[edit]
Main article: Destruction of Serbian heritage in Kosovo

In total, 155 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed between 11 June 1999 and 19 March 2004, after the end of the Kosovo War and including the 2004 unrest in Kosovo.[146] KLA fighters are accused of vandalizing Devič monastery and terrorizing the staff. The KFOR troops said KLA rebels vandalized centuries-old murals and paintings in the chapel and stole two cars and all the monastery's food.[147] Many other churches were the target of attacks by Albanian militants.[148][149]

War crimes trials

[edit]
Main article: International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Criminal prosecutions of Serbian leaders before the ICTY

[edit]
Main article: Joint Criminal Enterprise

Slobodan Milošević, along with Milan Milutinović, Nikola Šainović, Dragoljub Ojdanić and Vlajko Stojiljković were charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with crimes against humanity including murder, forcible population transfer, deportation and "persecution on political, racial or religious grounds". Further indictments were leveled in October 2003 against former armed forces chief of staff Nebojša Pavković, former army corps commander Vladimir Lazarević, former police official Vlastimir Đorđević and the current head of Serbia's public security, Sreten Lukić. All were indicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. Milosevic died in ICTY custody before sentencing.

The Court has pronounced the following verdicts:[28]

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
  • Milan Milutinović, former president of the Republic of Serbia and Yugoslav Foreign Minister, acquitted.
  • Nikola Šainović, Yugoslav deputy prime minister, guilty on all counts, sentenced to 22 years in prison.
  • Dragoljub Ojdanić, Chief of General Staff of the VJ, guilty to two counts, sentenced to 15 years in prison.
  • Nebojša Pavković, commander of Third Army, guilty on all counts, sentenced to 22 years in prison.
  • Vladimir Lazarević, commander of the Pristina Corps VJ, guilty of two counts, sentenced to 15 years in prison.
  • Sreten Lukić, Chief of Staff of the Serbian police, guilty on all counts, sentenced to 22 years in prison.
  • Vlastimir Đorđević, Chief of the Public Security Department of Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, guilty of five counts, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Šainović, Pavković and Lukić were convicted as members of a joint criminal enterprise, while the others were convicted of aiding and abetting crimes.[19]

Domestic Trials

[edit]

First cases

[edit]

The first trials in Serbia & FRY regarding the atrocities against Kosovar Albanians had occurred in 2000 in front martial courts, as accounts of murder. The Niš Military Court had in late 2000 found guilty for the murder of 2 Albanian civilians on 28 March 1999 in the village of Gornja Sušica near Pristina: Captain Dragiša Petrović and army reservists sergeant Nenad Stamenković and Tomica Jović. Petrović got 4 years and 10 months, while Stamenković and Jović sentenced to four and a half years each. The trial had dragged on as the Supreme Military Court had abolished the verdicts and issued a retrial, until finished in late 2003 in front of it when all three indictees were found guilty for the same crime, however their sentences increased – 9 years for Petrovic and 7 for Stamenkovic and Jovic each – guilty of a "war crime".

However, the very first domestic "war crimes" (under that classification) trial in FRY regarding Kosovo had occurred in 1999–02, against a Yugoslav Army soldier called Ivan Nikolić, indicted for murdering 2 ethnic Albanians in a village near the Kosovan town of Podujevo called Penduh on 24 March 1999. They were originally charged for murder, and being the very first trial regarding an atrocity committed against Albanians it was paved with a lot of controversy. Nikolic was originally acquitted of all charges, but in June 2000 the Supreme Court of Serbia had abolished the verdict and ordered for a retrial. Instead of murder, the indictment was changed by the prosecution mid-trial to "a war crime against civilian population" (according to Article 142 of the FRY Criminal Code), paving the way for prosecution of war crimes against ethnic Albanians in Serbia and Yugoslavia. The trial, organized in front of the District Court in Prokuplje, finally ended with a guilty verdict in 2002, Nikolic sentenced to 8 years of prison.[150]

Rahovec Case

[edit]

One of the first cases to be tried was that of Boban Petković, a Yugoslav army reservist and Đorđe Simić, a policeman; Petković was suspected of murdering 3 Albanian civilians in May 1999 in the village of Rija near Rahovec with Simić acting as an accomplice.[151][152] In July 2000, a court in Požarevac found Petković guilty and sentenced him to 4 years and nine months in prison, while Simić was sentenced to one year for providing Petković with the gun he used in the killings.[152]

Serbia's Supreme Court abolished the judgements in 2001 and ordered a retrial. In a new trial, in which according to the new procedure the individuals were indicted for a "war crime", the District Court of Pozarevac sentenced Petkovic to 5 years of prison with obligatory psychiatric assistance, while acquitting Simić of all charges.[153] The Supreme Court again abolished the judgements in 2006.[153] In February 2013, Petković was found guilty by the Požarevac High Court for committing a war crime against the civilian population and sentenced to 5 years. Upon appeal, the Court of Appeals in Belgrade reduced the sentence to three years in 2014, acquitting Petković of two of the murders citing mitigating circumstances.[154]

War Crimes System

[edit]

In dedication to the very big issue of prosecuting war crimes committed in the 1990s and due to their sensitive nature, Serbia had founded a special "War Crimes Prosecution" dedicated to investigating and prosecuting war crimes, as well as having special War Crimes divisions within its court system with specific panels. It is the only country in Former Yugoslavia which has done so, all the others prosecuting war crimes under normal judicial procedures.[155]

Suva Reka
[edit]

Among the more notable results is the "Suva Reka Case" (the Suva Reka massacre), the trial for began in 2006. Ex policemen Milorad Nišavić and Slađan Čukarić and State security member Miroslav Petković were found guilty by the War Crimes Panel of the Belgrade High Court, for the murder of 49 or 50 Albanian civilians in Suva Reka on 26 March 1999, including a total of 48 members of a Berisha family. Nišavić got 13, Petković 15 and Čukarić 20 years of prison. Three other policemen were acquitted, while in a separate trial Suva Reka police commander Radojko Repanović was found guilty due to command responsibility and sentenced to 20 years of prison. Two other policemen were acquitted, as well as a 3rd one, against whom the prosecution had dropped the case mid-trial.[156] In 2010 Belgrade's Appeal Court had confirmed all verdicts against the 6 directly responsible indicted, but has dismissed Repanovic's verdict and ordered for a retrial.[157] One of the acquitted, the commander of the 37th Police Unit Radoslav Mitrović, remains in custody as of 2013 along with several other members suspect for other accounts of war crimes. Repanović was found guilty on same counts and sentenced to 20 years of prison in late 2010 by Belgrade's War Crimes Panel[158] and in 2011 Belgrade's Appeal Court had confirmed the judgement.[159]

More findings of war crimes against civilians
[edit]

Lawful authorities in Serbia do not deny war crimes accuses, which were made public by Slobodan Stojanovic, the retired commander of Serbian Police, who is a protected witness by Serbian state.

During 1998, as a member of Serbian Police, he had taken part in a series of actions for which he testifies that were taken against Albanian civilians across Kosovo.

While on the Radio Free Europe, he said that Serbian Senior Officials were informed about every action that Serbian Forces members had taken in the territory of Kosovo, through the chain of command that was called "territory's clearance".

He says that he has seen enough horror, carried out by Serbian Forces, which influenced his withdrawal from Serbian Police.

He explained one of the occasions which he says were routine.

"I have been everywhere and when I saw what was happening, I pulled out. Simply, without any reason, they would approach to people and threat them, by demanding money from them. If one lacked money, they would kill them, without any other reason" he said, explaining that he knew names of those who had killed innocent people by just saying "A good Albanian is good only as a dead Albanian".

He accused his former commander, Nenad Stojkovic for burning of villages in Mitrovica and crimes committed there.

"Nenad Stojkovic is responsible for what we had done in Mitrovica. They burnt down the whole village, that's what they would do. They would take the order and that is it, some short words. When they took the order "matches" it meant 'burn the whole village down', whereas when they took the order 'tyres' it meant kill people. When the commander Mitrovic used to say 'take him for tanning', this would mean that Albanian man must be killed" says Stojanovic.

He has also talked about other cases, which according to him were crimes, for which, however no one has claimed the responsibility. [160]

Indictments to KLA leaders

[edit]

The ICTY also leveled indictments against KLA members Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala, Isak Musliu and Agim Murtezi, indicted for crimes against humanity. They were arrested on 17–18 February 2003. Charges were soon dropped against Agim Murtezi as a case of mistaken identity, whereas Fatmir Limaj was acquitted of all charges on 30 November 2005 and released. The charges were in relation to the prison camp run by the defendants at Lapušnik between May and July 1998.

In March 2005, a UN tribunal indicted Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj for war crimes against the Serbs, on 8 March he tendered his resignation. Haradinaj, an ethnic Albanian, was a former commander who led units of the Kosovo Liberation Army and was appointed prime minister after winning an election of 72 votes to three in the Kosovo's Parliament in December 2004. Haradinaj was acquitted on all counts, but was recalled due to witness intimidation and faces a retrial. However, on 29 November 2012, Haradaniaj and all KLA fighters were acquitted from all charges.[161]

Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office.

According to Human Rights Watch, senior leaders of the KLA accused of killings and body transfers to Albania remain at-large, some in high government posts.[162] In 2016, a special court was established in the Hague to investigate crimes committed in 1999–2000 by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army against ethnic minorities and political opponents.[163]

In late September 2020, The Hague court, a special court for the international justice began a long-delayed hearing on the war crimes committed by Kosovo fighters. The proceedings were started with an aim of affecting the tense relation between Kosovo and Serbia.[164]

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office is investigating Kosovo's president Hashim Thaçi, senior Kosovar politician Kadri Veseli, and other KLA figures for war crimes and crimes against humanity. A preliminary indictment of Thaçi, Veseli, and several others was announced in June 2020.[165] In September 2020, Salih Mustafa, the former commander of the KLA's BIA Unit, was arrested. His indictment, which accuses him of being responsible for the torture and murder of "persons taking no active part in hostilities", was released at the same time.[166]

The charges against Kosovo's president Hashim Thaçi were not announced, but his alleged involvement in war crimes prevented him from attending the signing ceremony for an agreement on limited steps taken towards economic normalisation with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vučić.[164]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Simons, Marlise (10 July 2006). "Tribunal focuses on Serbia's Kosovo war – Europe – International Herald Tribune". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  2. ^ Kakissis, Joanna (6 April 2018). "In Kosovo, War Rape Survivors Can Now Receive Reparations. But Shame Endures For Many". NPR. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Kosovo War Crimes Chronology". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign – The Crisis in Kosovo Archived 2008-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b "Demystifying "NATO Aggression and the Fight Against Shiptar Terrorists" – Fond za humanitarno pravo/Humanitarian Law Center/Fondi për të Drejtën Humanitare – Fond za humanitarno pravo/Humanitarian Law Center/Fondi për të Drejtën Humanitare". www.hlc-rdc.org. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Kosovo Memory Book Database Presentation and Expert Evaluation" (PDF). Humanitarian Law Center: 2. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2019.
  7. ^ a b "The Kosovo Memory Book Database" (PDF). recom.link. Reconciliation Network.
  8. ^ Ruza Petrovic; Marina Blagojevic. "Preface". The Migration of Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosovo and Metohija. Archived from the original on 7 April 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  9. ^ a b EXODUS OF SERBIANS STIRS PROVINCE IN YUGOSLAVIA Archived 4 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine New York Times, 12 July 1982
  10. ^ Bugajski, Janusz (1994). Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties (First ed.). M.E. Sharpe. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-56324-282-3. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  11. ^ EU o sankcijama Jugoslaviji početkom septembra. Ništa od ublažavanja Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  12. ^ "We're sorry, that page can't be found". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Country Report: Kosovo November 2020". Genocide Watch. 22 November 2020.
  14. ^ Jones, Adam (1 June 2000). "Gendercide and genocide". Journal of Genocide Research. 2 (2): 185–211. doi:10.1080/713677599. ISSN 1462-3528. S2CID 143867857.
  15. ^ Albrecht, James; den Heyer, Garth; Stanislas, Perry (31 July 2019). Policing and Minority Communities: Contemporary Issues and Global Perspectives. Springer. p. 216. ISBN 978-3-030-19182-5. By the time the Serbian Army and government withdrew from Kosovo, between 848,000 and 863,000 ethnic Albanians had been expelled from Kosovo and up to 590,000 had become internally displaced.
  16. ^ a b c Kadriu, Arber; Morina, Die (18 October 2018). "Pioneering Kosovo Rape Victim Relives Battle for Justice". Birn. Balkaninsight. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Subotić, Gordana; Zaharijević, Adriana (2017). "Women between War Scylla and Nationalist Charybdis: Legal Interpretations of Sexual Violence in Countries of Former Yugoslavia". In Lahai, John Idriss; Moyo, Khanyisela (eds.). Gender in Human Rights and Transitional Justice. Springer. pp. 253–254. ISBN 9783319542027. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  18. ^ "We Need a Better Way to Prosecute Sexual Assault in Conflict".
  19. ^ a b c d e f g The verdict of the Hague Tribunal Archived 18 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine (Serbian)
  20. ^ Mark A. Wolfgram Democracy and Propaganda: NATO’s War in Kosovo Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. DOC file, Oklahoma State University
  21. ^ "Operation Horseshoe" —propaganda and reality Archived 28 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Wsws.org (29 July 1999). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  22. ^ Daniel Byman; Kenneth Michael Pollack (2007). Things fall apart: containing the spillover from an Iraqi civil war. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8157-1379-1. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  23. ^ "Report of UK Committee on Foreign Affairs". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  24. ^ John Norris (2005). Collision course: NATO, Russia, and Kosovo. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-0-275-98753-4. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  25. ^ Jeremy Black (2004). War since 1945. Reaktion Books. pp. 157–. ISBN 978-1-86189-216-4. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  26. ^ a b Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Human Right Watch report)
  27. ^ Heinz Loquai: Der Kosovo-Konflikt. Wege in einen vermeidbaren Krieg. Die Zeit von Ende November 1997 bis März 1999 (in German)
  28. ^ a b c Presude "kosovskoj šestorki" Archived 1 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine (dobavljeno 28 December 2009.)
  29. ^ Statistic from: "The Kosovo refugee crisis: an independent evaluation of UNHCR's emergency preparedness and response," UNHCR Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, February 2000.
  30. ^ a b c d "Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  31. ^ UNHCR GIS Unit, Pristina, Kosovo, "UNHCR Shelter Verification: Agency Coverage," 9 November 1999.
  32. ^ UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 4. March–June 1999: An Overview Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Hrw.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  33. ^ a b c d e "Wounds that burn our souls": Compensation for Kosovo's wartime rape survivors, but still no justice" (PDF). Amnesty International. 13 December 2017. pp. 6, 13, 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  34. ^ a b De Lellio, Anna; Schwandner-Sievers, Stephanie (2006). "The Legendary Commander: the construction of an Albanian master-narrative in post-war Kosovo". Nations and Nationalism. 12 (3): 522. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8129.2006.00252.x.
  35. ^ a b c d Limanu, Lura; Marku, Hana (23 July 2014). "The Problem with the Kosovo War Rape Petition". Balkan Insight. BIRN. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  36. ^ Haxhiaj, Serbeze (20 June 2019). "Kosovo's Invisible Children: The Secret Legacy of Wartime Rape". Birn. Balkaninsight. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  37. ^ Kakissis, Joanna. "In Kosovo, War Rape Survivors Can Now Receive Reparations. But Shame Endures For Many". npr.org. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  38. ^ "The Enduring Agony of Wartime Rape in Kosovo". Serbeze Haxhiaj. balkaninsight. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  39. ^ The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974–1999. University of Cambridge. 2001. p. 58. ISBN 0-521-80071-4. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  40. ^ "Sie will nicht mehr schweigen". RTK. tagesanzeiger.ch. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  41. ^ "Kosovo War Rape Victim Registration Process Falters". Serbeze Haxhiaj. BIRN. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  42. ^ Herscher & Riedlmayer 2000, pp. 109–110.
  43. ^ a b Mehmeti, Jeton (2015). "Faith and Politics in Kosovo: The status of Religious Communities in a Secular Country". In Roy, Olivier; Elbasani, Arolda (eds.). The Revival of Islam in the Balkans: From Identity to Religiosity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 72. ISBN 9781137517845. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2020. "Islamic heritage in general has received meagre legal attention although such heritage was severely damaged during the war. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) documented that, of 498 mosques that were in active use, approximately 225 of them were damaged or destroyed by Serbian military during the years 1998—1999."
  44. ^ a b c Bevan, Robert (2007). The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War. Reaktion books. p. 85. ISBN 9781861896384. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2020. "Although the priceless Serbian Orthodox heritage of Kosovo was damaged during the Kosovo conflict and after (and Serbia itself did indeed lose some buildings to NATO raids), it is the Muslim heritage, as in Bosnia, that was devastated by the war. A third of Kosovo's historic mosques were destroyed or damaged, as were 90 per cent of the traditional kulla (stone tower-houses), as part of the Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing that followed the pattern set in Bosnia, and made worse by the efficiency lessons learned there. The destruction of Kosovo's non-Serb architectural heritage was a planned and methodical element of ethnic cleansing."
  45. ^ Herscher 2010, p. 87. ""The attack on Landovica's mosque was reprised throughout Kosovo during the eighteen months of the Serb counterinsurgency campaign. Approximately 225 of Kosovo's 600 mosques were vandalized, damaged, or destroyed during that campaign."
  46. ^ Andrew, Herscher; Andras, Riedlmayer; Donna, Viscuglia. "ТНЕ DESTRUCTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN KOSOVO, 1998-1999" (PDF). sense transitional justice center. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  47. ^ Herscher, Andrew; Riedlmayer, András (2000). "Monument and crime: The destruction of historic architecture in Kosovo". Grey Room (1): 111–112. JSTOR 1262553.
  48. ^ a b Riedlmayer, András (2007). "Crimes of War, Crimes of Peace: Destruction of Libraries during and after the Balkan Wars of the 1990s". Library Trends. 56 (1): 124. doi:10.1353/lib.2007.0057. hdl:2142/3784. S2CID 38806101.
  49. ^ a b Frederiksen, Carsten; Bakken, Frode (2000). Libraries in Kosova/Kosovo: A General Assessment and a Short and Medium-term Development Plan (PDF) (Report). IFLA/FAIFE. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9788798801306. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  50. ^ Herscher, Andrew (2010). Violence taking place: The architecture of the Kosovo conflict. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 13. ISBN 9780804769358. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  51. ^ Erasing History: USIA Report Part II Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Ess.uwe.ac.uk (19 March 1999). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  52. ^ Phillip J. Cooper; Claudia María Vargas (2008). Sustainable development in crisis conditions: challenges of war, terrorism, and civil disorder. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-7425-3133-8. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  53. ^ Michael Kuby; John Harner; Patricia Gober (2002). Human geography in action. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-40093-6. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  54. ^ "Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting". Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  55. ^ a b Human Rights Watch (Organization) (1 November 2001). Under orders: war crimes in Kosovo. Human Rights Watch. pp. 6–. ISBN 978-1-56432-264-7. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  56. ^ Human Rights Practices – 2002 Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  57. ^ Rebecca Knuth (2003). Libricide: the regime-sponsored destruction of books and libraries in the twentieth century. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-0-275-98088-7. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  58. ^ "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 6. Djakovica Municipality". www.hrw.org. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  59. ^ Stojanovic, Milica (16 August 2022). "Kosovo War Criminal Elected VP of Serbian Parliament". Genocide Watch.
  60. ^ "ICTY: THE KOSOVO CASE, 1998–1999". Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  61. ^ "THE PRIZREN-DJAKOVICA (Gjakove) Road Orahovac (Rrahovec) and Prizren Municipalities". Human Rights Watch.
  62. ^ SUĐENJA ZA RATNE ZLOČINE – Presuda Savi Matiću zasnovana je na dokazima – Fond za humanitarno pravo Archived 28 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Hlc-rdc.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  63. ^ Dla Myvedete wojna się nie skończyła Archived 24 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Serwisy.gazeta.pl. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  64. ^ U.S. Massacre video matches mass grave evidence Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. CNN (19 May 1999). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  65. ^ "OSCE Daily Broadcast Media Overview" Archived 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine UNMIKonline.org 28 March 2000 Link Retrieved 5 January 2010
  66. ^ "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 5. Drenica Region". Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  67. ^ Human Rights Watch (Organization) (1 November 2001). Under orders: war crimes in Kosovo. Human Rights Watch. pp. 244–. ISBN 978-1-56432-264-7. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  68. ^ "Balkan Witness: News and Progressive Perspectives on the Yugoslav Wars". citycellar.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2001. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  69. ^ Serbia jails ex-policemen for the Kosovo massacre – Europe, World Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. The Independent (23 April 2009). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  70. ^ UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo – 5. Drenica Region Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Hrw.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  71. ^ Human Rights Watch. "Yugoslav Forces Guilty of War Crimes in Racak, Kosovo". Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  72. ^ PBS. "Interviews – Ambassador William Walker". PBS. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  73. ^ Washington Post. "Slaughter in Racak Changed Kosovo Policy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  74. ^ Europe | Racak massacre haunts Milosevic trial Archived 12 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News (14 February 2002). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  75. ^ Qyshk Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Americanradioworks.publicradio.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  76. ^ Krieger, Heike (2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974–1999. Cambridge University Press. p. 96. ISBN 0-521-80071-4.
  77. ^ "Drenica Region Massacres (Feb–March 1998)". Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  78. ^ Idriz Rreci dhe grupi i tij u vra nga Jovica Utviq Archived 26 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine. ekonomia (albanian) (07 January 2013).
  79. ^ Milosevic faces justice for the Serbs' crimes against humanity Archived 11 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2022-02-26.
  80. ^ Europe | Serbs attack Kosovo massacre reports Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News (1 October 1998). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  81. ^ "A WEEK OF TERROR IN DRENICA". www.hrw.org. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  82. ^ Massacre described at Kosovo war crimes trial – International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. FOXNews.com (11 December 2008). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  83. ^ Washington Post (29 March 1999). "NATO: Five Kosovo Albanian Leaders Executed". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  84. ^ Document – Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Kosovo -Outrageous Execution of ethnic Albanian leaders | Amnesty International Archived 22 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Amnesty.org (29 March 1999). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  85. ^ a b c d American RadioWorks | The Promise of Justice: Burning the Evidence Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Americanradioworks.publicradio.org (24 March 1999). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  86. ^ The Trepca mining complex: How Kosovo’s spoils were distributed Archived 11 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Wsws.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  87. ^ Erlanger, Steven; Wren, Christopher S. (11 November 1999). "Early Count Hints at Fewer Kosovo Deaths". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  88. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Europe | The charges against Milosevic Archived 30 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Newsvote.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  89. ^ "Kosovo Albanian mass grave found under car park in Serbia". The Guardian. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  90. ^ Srbija zagorčava život Kosovu Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. e-novine.com (30 August 2008). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  91. ^ American RadioWorks | The Promise of Justice: Burning the Evidence Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Americanradioworks.publicradio.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  92. ^ Tajne grobnice u Srbiji Archived 22 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine. e-novine.com (20 November 2009). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  93. ^ a b "754 Victims of NATO Bombing". hlc-rdc.org. Humanitarian Law Centre. 23 March 2018.
  94. ^ a b c d e f Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo Archived 13 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Human Rights Watch.
  95. ^ The Guardian, "Kosovo, drugs and the West". Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2010., 14 April 1999
  96. ^ Po naređenju: ratni zločini na Kosovu Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (Izveštaj Human Right Watch-a)
  97. ^ a b "(Killed, kidnapped, and missing persons, January 1998 – November 2001)". Government of Serbia.
  98. ^ Stojanovic, Milica; Haxhiaj, Serbeze (30 August 2019). "Families Lose Hope of Finding Kosovo's Missing Serbs". Balkan Insight. BIRN. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  99. ^ "Ex-KLAs sent to prison for 101 years". The B92. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  100. ^ "13 years since massacre of Serbs and Roma in Kosovo". The B92. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  101. ^ Heike Krieger (2001). The Kosovo conflict and international law: an analytical documentation 1974–1999. Cambridge University Press. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  102. ^ "Kosovo Forensic Expert Team – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (complete)". balkanwitness.glypx.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  103. ^ Human Rights Watch (1998). World Events 1999. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9781564321909. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  104. ^ "Fourth Revised Public Indictment Against Ramush Haradinaj et al para: 47–48". U.N. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  105. ^ "KLA members suspected of 1998 war crime". B92. 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  106. ^ a b c United Nations (22 February 2002). Yearbook of the United Nations 1999. United Nations Publications. pp. 367–. ISBN 978-92-1-100856-2. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  107. ^ KLECKA MASSACRE – kosovo and metohija. Members.fortunecity.com (27 August 1998). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  108. ^ a b "Abuses against Serbs and Roma in the new Kosovo". Human Rights Watch. August 1999. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  109. ^ "UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo" (PDF). refworld.org. Human Rights Watch. 2001. pp. 13–14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  110. ^ Refworld|Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 – Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Archived 12 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. UNHCR. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  111. ^ Worst Form of Child Labour – Yugoslavia: Global March Against Child Labour Archived 18 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Globalmarch.org. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  112. ^ Israel, Jared. "Concentration Camps and Gangster/Terrorism in Kosovo". Reporter. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  113. ^ Filipovic, Miroslav (3 April 2000). "'We have seen five concentration camps' in Kosovo". Danas.
  114. ^ Jennifer Trahan; Human Rights Watch (Organization) (9 January 2006). Genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-1-56432-339-2. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  115. ^ Mishra, Pramod (17 March 2018). Human Rights Reporting. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 9788182053830. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2018 – via Google Books.
  116. ^ "Summary Judgment of ICTY in case Prosecutor vs. Ramush Haradinaj et al page 7". U.N. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  117. ^ "UN-Tribunal spricht Kosovo-Führer Haradinaj frei". Die Welt. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  118. ^ Horrors of KLA prison camps revealed Archived 12 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News (10 April 2009). Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  119. ^ Lewis, Paul (14 December 2010). "Kosovo physicians accused of illegal organs removal racket". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  120. ^ Flottau, Renate (22 September 2008). "Albania's House at the End of the World: Family Denies Organ Harvesting Allegations". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  121. ^ "United Nations Document" (PDF). France24.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  122. ^ a b Chuck Sudetic, Carla Del Ponte, La caccia: Io e i criminali di guerra, Feltrinelli, Milano, (2008), ISBN 88-07-17144-9
  123. ^ a b Champion, Marc (14 April 2008). "Horrors Alleged in Kosovo". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  124. ^ UN knew about Kosovo organ trafficking, report says – EXCLUSIVE Archived 13 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine. FRANCE 24. Retrieved on 2011-04-30.
  125. ^ "UN knew about Kosovo organ trafficking, report says". france24. 16 January 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  126. ^ "New Details Emerge in Kosovo Organ Trafficking Case". Balkan Insight. 14 December 2010. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  127. ^ a b Lewis, Paul (14 December 2010). "Kosovo physicians accused of illegal organs removal racket". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  128. ^ Politician angers MEPs over Kosovo organ harvesting claim Archived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine (The Irish Times)
  129. ^ a b "End of the road for Kosovo Organ Claims?". BBC. 27 May 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  130. ^ Ristic, Marija (4 September 2015). "Kosovo Organ-Trafficking: How the Claims were Exposed". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  131. ^ "Human-rights Group Assails Nato For Yugoslavia Bombing Campaign - Chi…". archive.ph. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  132. ^ Krieger, Heike (2001). The Kosovo conflict and international law. Cambridge University Press. p. 323. ISBN 978-0-521-80071-6. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  133. ^ "Serbia marks anniversary of NATO bombing". B92. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  134. ^ Steven Pearlstein (21 May 1999). "NATO Bomb Said to Hit Belgrade Hospital". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  135. ^ "NATO bomb hits hospital". BBC News. 20 May 1999.
  136. ^ "Kosovo/Serbia: Protect Minorities from Ethnic Violence (Human Rights Watch, 19-3-2004)". hrw.org. 18 March 2004. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  137. ^ Hudson, Robert; Bowman, Glenn (2012). After Yugoslavia: Identities and Politics Within the Successor States. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 30. ISBN 9780230201316.
  138. ^ "Kosovo Crisis Update". UNHCR. 4 August 1999. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  139. ^ "Forced Expulsion of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians from OSCE Participated state to Kosovo". OSCE. 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  140. ^ Siobhán Wills (26 February 2009). Protecting Civilians: The Obligations of Peacekeepers. Oxford University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-19-953387-9. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  141. ^ "Serbia home to highest number of refugees and IDPs in Europe". B92. 20 June 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  142. ^ "Serbia: Europe's largest proctracted refugee situation". OSCE. 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  143. ^ Cross, S.; Kenetera, S.; Vukadinovic, R.; Nation, R., eds. (7 May 2013). Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration. Springer. p. 169. ISBN 9781137010209. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  144. ^ Chamberlain, Gethin (2 December 2007). "Ethnic 'cleansing' threat to Serbs in Kosovo". The Telegraph. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  145. ^ Domanovic, Milka (10 December 2014). "List of Kosovo War Victims Published". Balkan Insight.
  146. ^ Edward Tawil (February 2009). "Property Rights in Kosovo: A Haunting Legacy of a Society in Transition" (PDF). New York: International Center for Transitional Justice. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  147. ^ "KLA rebels accused of vandalizing Serb monastery". New York: CNN. 17 June 1999. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  148. ^ "In pictures: Kosovo's devastated churches". BBC. 18 December 2001. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  149. ^ "In pictures: Kosovo's reports" (PDF). UNESCO. 18 December 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  150. ^ "Final report on OSCE monitoring and empowering of domestic courts to deal with war crimes – OSCE". osce.org. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  151. ^ Pearl, Daniel; Block, Robert (31 December 1999). "Despite Tales, the War in Kosovo Was Savage, but Wasn't Genocide". The Wall Street Journal.
  152. ^ a b "Serbian Court Sentences Policeman for Killing Albanians". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 20 July 2000.
  153. ^ a b "War Crimes Trials in Serbia" (PDF). hlc-rdc.org. Humanitarian Law Center.
  154. ^ "Court of Appeals in Belgrade: Three Years Imprisonment For War Crime Against Frail Old Man". hlc-rdc.org. 19 December 2014.
  155. ^ "O NAMA". Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  156. ^ "Presude za zločin u Suvoj Reci". Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  157. ^ "Potvrđena presuda za zločine u Suvoj Reci". Radio Television of Serbia. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  158. ^ "Radojko Repanović ponovo osuđen za zločin u Suvoj Reci – Fond za humanitarno pravo/Humanitarian Law Center/Fondi për të Drejtën Humanitare – Fond za humanitarno pravo/Humanitarian Law Center/Fondi për të Drejtën Humanitare". www.hlc-rdc.org. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  159. ^ "Potvrđena presuda bivšem komandiru policije Suva Reka". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  160. ^ "Ballina". www.kosovapress.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  161. ^ "Kosovo ex-premier Haradinaj acquitted in Hague retrial – AlertNet". Trust.org. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  162. ^ Abrahams, Fred (13 June 2019). "Justice Gap For Kosovo 20 Years On". HRW.org. Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  163. ^ "Kosovo court to be established in The Hague". government.nl. Government of the Netherlands. 15 January 2016. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  164. ^ a b "Hague court begins long-delayed hearings on Kosovan war crimes". TheGuardian. 29 September 2020. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  165. ^ Marusic, Sinisa Jakov (2 September 2020). "North Macedonia Albanian Leader Testifies to Kosovo War Prosecutors". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  166. ^ Bami, Xhorxhina (25 September 2020). "Hague Prosecutors Publish Kosovo Guerrilla's War Crimes Indictment". Balkan Insight. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=War_crimes_in_the_Kosovo_War&oldid=1245883014#Organ_theft_allegations"