they ordered me to stand up and took us to Rudatsi village. systematic efforts to force Serbs and Roma to leave their homes. response of the international community. Kouchner, KFOR commander Sir Mike Jackson, and the representatives of the United States and other leading NATO governments It is affiliated with the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, The response of KFOR and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to abuses against minority populations has been belated I (Lipljan/Liplan municipality), Gracanica (Pristina municipality), Velika Hoca (Orahovac/Rahovec municipality), and Gorazdevac No Serbs remained. had lived all his life. On July 16, Reuters reported that some 75 percent of Kosovar Serbs--approximately 150,000 people--had fled the province. thirty years old, was taken away, so it was only me and two others. Exactly a week after the decapitation
Human Rights Watch would like to thank all of the individuals who were interviewed for this report. Another Roma man, Bashkim Imeraj, These arrests are mostly for looting and Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum, regardless of their nationality or ethnicity, and European countries must ", Council of Foregin Affairs: Kosovo and Serbia Make a Deal (via Foreign Affairs), NATO's Role in Kosovo (via NATO)NATO's objectives, background on the conflict, facts, and figures Watch: Drone Disrupts Serbia-Albania Soccer Match (via Washington Post). Kosovar Albanians who had fled the province and convinced them of this.
had no news since then. Jonathan Fanton is the chair of the board. During the time [that I was detained] The extensive destruction of civilian property in Kosovo began with the 1998 spring offensive in the Drenica region, when Serbian and. The NATO bombing campaign lasted 11 weeks and eventually expanded to Belgrade, where significant damage to the Serbian infrastructure occurred. concomitant lack of law and order in Kosovo. Human Rights Watch has received additional reports of the murder of Serbs in Kosovo.
Clothing 's husband. (12) Malica Miric, twenty-six, was allegedly killed by around June 17. Council of Foregin Affairs: Kosovo and Serbia Make a Deal, Watch: Drone Disrupts Serbia-Albania Soccer Match. told Panta Filipovic to hand over his arms. protecting the human rights of all of Kosovo's people. Human Rights Watch interview, Prizren, June 14, 1999. German soldiers told Human Rights Watch that Marica Stamenkovic had been nearly decapitated. In others areas, local KFOR units have been unable or unwilling to intervene to prevent displacement KLA soldiers demanded that he too give them weapons. I said, "I don't Human Rights Watch visited the village of Ljubizda outside Prizren on June 30. Sporadic violence occurred, as when anti-Serb riots broke out in March 2004 in numerous cities and towns in the Kosovo region. On July 20, the UNHCR's Belgrade office reportedly However, it is now Serb and Roma homes that are the targets. in Kosovo a mission priority would make a substantial impact on the confidence and security of Serbs and Roma. In order to protect his identity, the witness' real initials have not been used. In the absence of a fully deployed international police force, KFOR contingents have Human Rights Watch interview, Dobratin residents, June 24, 1999. There was a heavy KLA presence in the He was one of nearly a million Albanians forced from their homes in Kosovo by Serbian forces. It came as communism was collapsing in Europe. Pristina. the two victims and their spouses became the target of KLA harassment. the municipalities of Pec, Prizren, Urosevac, and Istok have fled their homes, as have large numbers from Pristina and the town of The KLA commander and two from the Duka family in Stanovic village in Vucitrn municipality and two are from the Busaku family in Pristina. eighties who lives on the outskirts of the village.(35). [6], After NATO's bombing campaign in Kosovo, Albania supported them which resulted in FR Yugoslavia breaking diplomatic relations with Albania. President Milosevic's disregard for diplomatic efforts aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis and the destabilizing role of militant Kosovar Albanian forces was also of concern. Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin (right) and his EU counterpart, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari (left) talk to the media at Belgrade airport on 2 June 1999, prior to talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Approximately 600 Roma from Brekoc and other areas in According to one of the cowherds, the men were questioned and beaten (see section on abductions, below). A Human Rights Watch researcher witnessed the arrest by Italian While the Serb minority is the most obvious target of this retaliatory populations remain in Kosovo Kamenica, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok municipalities. June 6, 1999. 8. European Roma Rights Center, "Press Statement: The Current Situation of Roma in Kosovo," July 9, 1999, p. 1. interviewed the relative of a woman from Kosovo Mitrovica who had been raped on June 20 by six men in KLA uniforms.(34). market on Monday, July 9, sometime between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m, according to KFOR military police in the town.
people from inhumane conduct in wartime. Increase the frequency of patrols in areas with at-risk populations; where security conditions allow, use jeeps rather than kilometers away. unable and unwilling to take the initiatives necessary to build confidence among Serb and Roma communities. Beti Bilandzic, "UNHCR Warns of Critical Refugee Problem troops with one word repeated over and over again: "Gypsies!". X.G. Although KFOR has since expelled the KLA from these buildings, former detainees have also described being held prisoner in houses, barns, and basements. 6. country from the former Yugoslavia without a visa as an illegal immigrant and would return them to their country of origin. According to B.U. In many cases, KFOR officers from all contingents expressed the view that the commission of such crimes was Extensive inquiries by KFOR have so far proved fruitless. relationship with Serbs and beaten during this time, but was eventually released with an apology.(31). and other donor institutions and governments, To the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, PHOTO ESSAY ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE NEW KOSOVO, http://www.decani.yunet.com/slovinje.html. European Roma Rights Center, "Press Statement: The Current Situation of Roma in Kosovo," July 9, 1999, p. 1. The KLA soldiers did not physically abuse the brother-in-law, presumably because he had assisted In Slovinje, most Serb and Roma homes had been looted and burned. moved for safety to an apartment in central Pristina belonging to H.G. with a gun and asked to hand over weapons. ARSON, LOOTING, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, AND TAKEOVER OF HOMES. they took the blunt end of a knife and gave him these two black eyes. In recognition of the special difficulties faced by Serbs and Roma, the two without discrimination. coordinated. attacks on Serbs and Roma, and KLA political leader Hashim Thaqi publicly denounced the July 23 massacre of fourteen Serb Kamenica, Prizren, Klina, Pec (Peje in Albanian), Kosovo Mitrovica, Pristina, Obilic (Obiliq in Albanian), Orahovac (Rahovec in Albanian anger extends to members of the Roma minority, whom many Albanians perceived as willing collaborators in Serb missions are fully staffed and deployed, the deployment of protection staff and opening of offices in areas with at-risk populations international police force, cannot be overemphasized. He hit me in the head. Albanian lawyers to serve as defense counsel, and trials are expected to take place under the Yugoslav penal code. been arrested by the police and where they were. When Filipovic said he had no arms to give them, one of the men hit him in the stomach Later that year, the talks are called off after 16 ethnic Serbs and four NATO peacekeepers are injured in clashes over Kosovo border crossings. Kosovo. the same car parked in the center of the village. 5. arson, but also include some cases of beatings and murders.
4. atrocities. (13) The circumstances of Simic's
on June 23.(15). asylum applications from Serbs and Roma fleeing persecution in Kosovo, and have detained and turned back asylum seekers from [6], There were communist plans to create a Balkan federation which would include Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Later, in November, Kosovo elects Ibrahim Rugova as its first president. violent abuses against them. Human Rights Watch is deeply disturbed by reports that some West European countries, including Italy, have refused to consider A month earlier, on June 20, fifteen men in civilian clothing armed with rifles and sticks entered his home accusing him of "(22), B.U. Although the KLA leadership issued a statement on July 20 condemning 9. B.U.
the allegation, claiming that no paramilitaries lived in their village. Human Rights Watch has not been able to confirm these allegations. No reliable estimates exist for the total number of Roma who have left Kosovo since early June, but there has clearly been significant In the town of Kosovo Kamenica, thirty-year-old Nenad Arsic and fifty-year-old Milovoje Simic were killed on June 19. Corrections? Kosovo becomes a UN protectorate, but still part of Serbia. Meet with Serb and Roma leaders to work out strategies for the reconciliation of the Serb, Roma, and Albanian populations they brought five of my friends and beat all of them. Similarly, the Roma neighborhood in Pec was international civilian agencies. [When we arrived] they beat me until I fainted. More than 200 suspects have been arrested by KFOR While they were beating me they insulted me, called me "Chetnik," and told me to leave forever.(20). It was agreed to convene urgent negotiations between the parties to the conflict, under international mediation. This report was researched and written by Human Rights Watch. steal them." Human Rights Watch interviewed numerous Serb and Roma civilians, many of them men over the age of fifty, who At the beginning of Balkan Wars, one of the important strategic goals of Serbian politics was to acquire a corridor to the Adriatic Sea, as such, its intention had been to share a common border with its ally the Kingdom of Greece thus denying the Albanian state independent status. Four were
eastern Kosovo told a Human Rights Watch researcher that his unit did not even try to keep track of the abductions because of their with the butt of an automatic weapon. presumed dead. its protection functions, and the OSCE, which is the lead agency under the international administration charged with monitoring and They were asking me where I stole things from. There was no evidence to support this assertion. 29. Prominent among explanations for these abuses is the desire of some ethnic Albanians to take revenge for atrocities committed by abductions; Suspend from active duty personnel under investigation by KFOR and/or UNMIK for crimes against the civilian population Most Serbs left the region, and there were occasional reprisals against those who remained. Djakovica are currently in a UNHCR camp in the city guarded by Italian KFOR troops. village and "executed" the three men at approximately 5:30 p.m. One man was killed in the street in front of the Stosic home; With refugees returning to devastated villages and burned and looted homes, it is understandable that June and July, although the circumstances of their deaths are mostly unknown.
one of the principal objectives of both UNMIK and KFOR; Demand that the leadership of the Kosovo Liberation Army take all measures to deter attacks on Serbs and Roma, including cooperating fully with criminal investigations by international civilian police and KFOR; Instruct national KFOR contingents to ensure that its public order functions and the protection of minorities are carried out effectively in all KFOR sectors in Kosovo; and.
While most are subsequently released, some of those abducted remain missing and are Serb and Roma populations. In most cases, the men are detained, The conflict gained widespread international attention and was resolved with the intervention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). that the occupants of the car had been threatening her and were visiting the house on a daily basis. He had a pair of scissors and told me, "We're going to cut your fingers and ears When I was released, others were released with me. against Serb homes in Lipljan town, with four incidents reported to KFOR military police on July 15 alone. Watch that Dragan Madenovic, a forty-year-old night watchman, was killed in the village of Donja Gusterica (Lipljan municipality) (16) Human Rights Watch has also received a report about the killing of four elderly men from the village of is the advocacy director; Fred Abrahams, Cassandra Cavanaugh, Julia Hall, Malcolm Hawkes, Bogdan Ivanisevic, Andr Lommen, 7,000 Roma remain in Kosovo, compared to 1991 Yugoslav census numbers of 30,000 to 40,000 for the province. Albanian), and Urosevac (Ferizaj in Albanian)--all of which housed mixed populations prior to the outbreak of armed conflict. for criminal acts, most of them Albanians, and are being held in the Lipljan detention center. The farmers were reportedly shot at Serb villagers who claimed to have witnessed the attack told Human Rights Watch that ten uniformed KLA soldiers entered the Bekim Mazdreku and Syl Golluba were taken on July 20 from the bridge just outside the Roma camp. The soldiers allowed S.B. While KFOR has found that some persons arrested in KLA uniform have proven to be criminals unaffiliated with the KLA, nothing indicates that these persons were not KLA members. I couldn't find my wife. According to an Italian officer, the village's Serb and Roma populations had left several days earlier. at about 7:00 p.m that evening in exchange for a valuable handcrafted pistol that S.B. leave Kosovo and never return. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). He too was detained. photographed the smouldering ruins of a Serb house three hundred yards from the KFOR post in the village. 35. Local ethnic Albanian villagers interviewed by journalists claimed that (6) Human Rights Watch has received similar reports from Roma leaders in Kosovo Polje. home on June 27. The Albanian People's Army assumed power in the country in 1944. But when the KFOR troops arrived in Drenovac along with priests brought in to conduct funeral As He was then abducted. Another big guy, in uniform, told the guy who was beating me, "enough, enough." The brother-in-law told Human Rights Watch: They took the old man's pants off and threatened him with a gun. and hit him with the butts In his absence, the family had Carlotta Gall, Pristina, Kamenica, Istok, Orahovac, Prizren, and Djakovica. Representatives of humanitarian organizations providing medical care in Prizren told Human Rights Watch that they had treated The badly beaten victims were Serbs, it is likely that their bodies would never be identified, given the large-scale Serb exodus from southern Kosovo been attacked as well, and was dying from his stab wounds. 's brother-in-law, who was worried when S.B. The most recent killing occurred on June 30. The most recent killings of Serb civilians took place on July 23 near the village of Gracko, in central Kosovo. Pec resident not to go to Brestovik because "it was dangerous," Human Rights Watch arrived to discover the village in flames, Then they put there is little evidence of a firm commitment to a new and tolerant Kosovo in which Serb and Roma minority populations can live A Human Rights Watch researcher viewed the remains of the Human Rights Watch was unable to ascertain his condition. Tension between Albanians and Serbs continued, and Kosovo declared independence in 2008. I was in the doorway and I went back outside and saw a German patrol, two jeeps. They also In addition, KFOR (7), Numerous Serb civilians fleeing Kosovo during the initial days of KFOR's presence in the province expressed fears of being killed. the house, G.G. The Task Force released its first assessment report on the treatment of Serbs and Roma in order to Minorities. 36. The ERRC Roma in the Djakovica camp told Human Rights Watch that eight Roma men had been abducted by men in KLA uniforms in the end black eyes, and knife wounds exhibited by former detainees support these allegations. to the village of Drenovac, about forty-five minutes' drive away, where two other Serb civilians were reportedly killed on June 18. [7][8], Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama visited Serbia and met with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vui on 10 November 2014 for the first meeting of its type between the two countries' leadership since the 1947 meeting of Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha with President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito. When I arrived in the village I saw the body of a guy who had been killed. proper or Montenegro. Force on Minorities to coordinate protection efforts in the field.
Talks broke down in 2007. He was then abducted: They put me in a car and took me somewhere for four or five days. There are reports that displaced Serbs from Kosovo have been prevented from entering the city of Belgrade, The first wave of fleeing Serbs and Roma, who left as KFOR entered Kosovo, appear to have left the province out of generalized fear rather than threats or intimidation. said she and her husband were abducted by the KLA from the village of Lutogllava, near Prizren, on June 14. Kosovo had enjoyed a high degree of autonomy within Serbia. They kept saying, "Now you're going to tell us who was in [2] Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). of displaced persons. Both victims had lived Given societal hostility in the former Yugoslavia toward the Roma, their treatment in Serbia is likely to be even more problematic. NATO soldier firing tear gas in an attempt to disperse a group of ethnic Serbs blocking a contested border crossing with Serbia, near Zubin Potok, Kosovo, October 20, 2011. KFOR officials in the town had no information about In Lipljan, a Serb male was decapitated in the middle of the town's busy The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Reed Brody, advocacy director; were detained by the KLA between mid-1998 and March 1999. (32) Having heard that family members in the neighborhood were having difficulties, F.F. Returning refugees, many of whom lost their own property through theft and arson prior to June, KFOR has recruited some Where possible, emphasize protection in place rather than relocation; Produce timely and detailed public reports on abuses against minorities in the framework of the Ad Hoc Task Force on [3] However, their goals were different. Another related motivation for the abuse is to drive members of these minority groups out of Kosovo. Renewed international efforts were made to give new political impetus to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Human Rights Watch interview, Father Jovan, Pec Patriarchate, Pec, July 17, 1999. Human Rights Watch has also interviewed several eyewitnesses to KLA abductions. functions, a more uniform and proactive response and, above all, a force-wide commitment to make protection for vulnerable persons After the war Kosovo was placed under transitional UN administration, while the regions future status was hammered out. More information about the cookie policy on this website. described below, KLA members are also alleged to have forced many Serbs to flee. (36) Given the isolated location of According to his brother-in-law, KLA soldiers kicked S.B. On July 19, CNN television reported that Italian KFOR troops had several tractors loaded with furniture and kitchen appliances, and some twenty Albanians being detained for looting by Italian KFOR 39. prevent them. They praised their neighbors (who questioned and badly beaten while in custody, according to B.V., a seventeen-year-old boy who escaped after several hours with two for five minutes to open the door, G.G., who was extremely distressed, told Human Rights Watch According to information from the Belgrade-based organization Women The European Roma Rights Center report "The Current Situation of Roma in Kosovo, July 9, husband: "But we can't go back [to our village] because of the KLA. to meet Kosovo's public order requirements. 10000, PristinaKOSOVO, Public Affairs Office widow. two men, one in KLA uniform, in Belo Polje on June 26. off." A Euro2016 qualifier betweeen Serbia and Albania was called off on October 14, 2014, after fights among players and supporters, sparked by a drone with a pro-Kosovo flag landing on the pitch. three Roma from the town of Djakovica are believed to have been killed in the town since early June. After her friend pleaded with G.G. 18. in Black, Petrija Piljevic, fifty-seven years old, and Zoran Djosic were abducted from their apartment building in Pristina at around 4 the 1,800 regular international civilian police and the 1,000 special international civilian police authorized by the U.N. had been 25. In some areas, such as Gorazdevac, Podujevo, and Kosovo Polje, KFOR is providing direct protection to at-risk NATO intervention led to a peace accord ending the conflict in June 1999.
There have also been frequent arson attacks As noted above, the two other men, Momcilo Dimic and Cedomir Denic (the boy's uncle), were later found dead. with their spouses in Prizren for decades; Filipovic was born there. David Rohde, "Three Serbs Found Slain at University in Pristina," New York Times, June 25, 1999. members began appearing at their homes demanding money and arms. Carroll Bogert, communications director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Barbara Guglielmo, finance director; Jeri Laber, special Several of Milosevic's top aides are also called to face trial. What is indisputable, however, is that the frequency and severity of such abuses make it incumbent upon the KLA leadership to take swift and decisive action to prevent them. Times, July 23, 1999 (estimating that 80,000 of Kosovo's 200,000 Serb residents had left the province since June). F.F. Relations between Albania and Serbia have been complex and largely hostile due to a number of historical and political events. On 10 June the UN Security Council passed a resolution (. authorities. 2001 - Authorities arrest Milosevic in Belgrade, charged with misuse of state funds and abuse of power. They asked him: "Whose country is this?" 27. At about 1:00 p.m. that day he returned to his home to pick up his medicine and identification papers; it was Human Rights Watch observed extensive arson against Serb homes in the town of Obilic.
with a blunt instrument. whoever is responsible for such abuses, and to press the leadership of the KLA and other Kosovo Albanian leaders to take action to told Human Rights Watch that they fear to do so because of retaliatory attacks by the KLA. frequency. Photographs of the destroyed church are available on the internet at:
Slovenia, Croatia and the Muslim government of Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Serbian special police and, eventually, Yugoslav armed forces attempted to reassert control over the region. The most serious incidents of violence, the message (leave the subject line blank). The United Nations (UN) Security Council condemned this excessive use of force and imposed an arms embargo, but the violence continued. But that changed in 1989 when the then provinces status was rescinded, bringing it under the direct control of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. pending the conclusion of inquiries; and. One of them was beaten in the early morning and then disappeared. Soon after, S.B. is a seventy-seven-year-old ethnic Serb woman who was also held prisoner by the KLA. report is based on dozens of interviews that Human Rights Watch researchers conducted with victims, eyewitnesses, and local looting and burning of Serb and Roma homes in neighborhoods throughout Pristina. UNMIK, UNHCR, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have recently established an Ad Hoc Task 38. (11) The men were Radomir Stosic, fifty, his uncle Steven Stosic, sixty, and their forty-six-year-old friend Filip Kosic. Holly Cartner is the executive director; Rachel Denber is the deputy director; Elizabeth Andersen know how to use it." 2013 - Serbia and Kosovo reach landmark agreement and resume diplomatic relations. As of July 16, no He told Human Rights Watch: A red Opel Ascona came and took me to the KLA base in Dragodan. Fourteen farmers were 2008 - In February, Kosvo declares itself an independent state. 34. As of July 20, Stanisic remained missing, presumed week later he said he and his family were evicted from their apartment by men "from Albania" with automatic weapons.
money from the couple. This report attempts to evaluate the status of at-risk minorities in Kosovo, the role of the KLA and Kosovo Albanian civilians, and the corpse of an elderly Serb male was also found there, according to KFOR.(25). On June 23, the body of Milenko Lekovic, a Serb professor Relatives of thirty-four-year-old Bajram Berisha and twenty-four-year-old Vesel Berisha told Human Rights Watch that the two men were killed in Mitrovica in the third week of June by Widespread cyberattack blocks government and public websites in Albania, Champions League: French errors not Liverpool fans to blame for final chaos, inquiry finds, For Iraqi amputees football team, healing is the goal. Peter temporarily seconded in the interim. Orahovac and Prizren who said that male members of their families have been forcibly abducted by members of the KLA, their Osnos is the chair of the advisory committee and Alice Henkin is vice chair. water on my face and when I woke up they beat me again. hostage. Abductions of Serb and Roma men have been reported throughout Kosovo since early June. The murders occurred in the mid-morning of June 21. Human Rights Watch interview, Prizren, June 23, 1999. Human Rights Watch interview, S.A., Djakovica, July, 24, 1999. uniforms who had apparently beaten an ethnic Albanian man detained there.(19). Then, in 1998, Slobodan Milosevic launched a Serb attack against ethnic Albanians, who were fighting for independence in Kosovo. "We're in a panic," one Serb said candidly as he readied his family to depart Prizren for Serbia. Although the roots of the Kosovo conflict can be traced back many years, substantial fighting began in 1998. During 1998, open conflict between Serbian military and police forces and Kosovar Albanian forces resulted in the deaths of over 1,500 Kosovar Albanians and forced 400,000 people from their homes. 
