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[[Image:RCMP in Kosovo.jpg|thumb|desno|250p|U.S. Marines provide security as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Forensics Team investigate a grave site in a village in Kosovo on July 1, 1999.]]
[[Image:RCMP in Kosovo.jpg|thumb|desno|250p|U.S. Marines provide security as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Forensics Team investigate a grave site in a village in Kosovo on July 1, 1999.]]


The '''War crimes in the Kosovo War''' were a series of war crimes committed during the late 1990s in [[Serbia]]'s province of [[Kosovo]]. These include attacks on [[Serbs|Serbian]] civilians and security forces by the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]], as well as criminal actions by [[Serbian military]] and [[Serbian police|police]] against the KLA rebels and [[Albanians|Albanian]] civilians [[Kosovo War|conflict of 1999]].
The '''War crimes in the [[Kosovo War]]''' were a series of war crimes committed during the late 1990s in [[Serbia]]n occupied [[Kosova]]. The crimes were mostly committed by [[Serbian military]] and [[Serbian police|police]] on Albanian civilians with the intention to [[Ethnic cleansing|ethnically cleanse]] Albanian population from Kosovo. However, there were also actions and crimes against Serbian forces and civilians by [[Kosovo Liberation Army]], but to a much lesser extent.

In [[Serbia]], [[Serbian police|Serb policemen]] who fought ethnic Albanians in Kosovo are still revered by many as war [[hero]]es<ref name="independent.co.uk">[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/serbia-jails-expolicemen-for-kosovo-massacre-1673248.html Serbia jails ex-policemen for Kosovo massacre]</ref><ref name="china daily">[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/27/content_488215.htm Serbia detain nine in Kosovo massacre]</ref>, while on Kosovo some of the internationally recognized terrorists<ref name="amazon.com">[http://www.amazon.com/Kosovo-War-Revenge-Tim-Judah/dp/0300083548 Book: Tim Judah, Kosovo, War and Revenge <!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> were awarded "Hero of Kosovo" title.
In [[Serbia]], [[Serbian police|Serb policemen]] who fought ethnic Albanians in Kosovo are still revered by many as war [[hero]]es<ref name="independent.co.uk">[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/serbia-jails-expolicemen-for-kosovo-massacre-1673248.html Serbia jails ex-policemen for Kosovo massacre]</ref><ref name="china daily">[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/27/content_488215.htm Serbia detain nine in Kosovo massacre]</ref>, while on Kosovo some of the KLA fighters were awarded "Hero of Kosovo" title.


==Background==
==Background==
During 1960s Yugoslavia, the Albanians in Kosovo constituted around two thirds of the population. From 1961 to 1981, 103,000 [[Serbs]] and [[Montenegrins]] left Kosovo, largely due to pressures by the Kosovo Albanian government and population.<ref>{{cite book| author=Ruza Petrovic| coauthor=Marina Blagojevic| title=The Migration of Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosovo and Metohija| url=http://www.rastko.org.rs/kosovo/istorija/kosovo_migrations/index.html| chapter=Preface| chapterurl=http://www.rastko.rs/kosovo/istorija/kosovo_migrations/mk_preface.html}}</ref> "''57,000 Serbs have left Kosovo in the last decade''" due to murder, [[rape]] and [[persecution]] - wrote the [[New York Times]] in 1982.<ref name=NYT>[http://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/12/world/exodus-of-serbians-stirs-province-in-yugoslavia.html?scp=1&sq=Exodus%20of%20Serbs%201982&st=cse EXODUS OF SERBIANS STIRS PROVINCE IN YUGOSLAVIA] [[New York Times]], July 12, 1982</ref>
During 1960s Yugoslavia, the Albanians in Kosovo constituted over 99% of Kosova. From 1961 to 1981, 103,000 [[Serbs]] went to live in Kosova to boost the Serb population, largely due to pressures by the Serb government.<ref>{{cite book| author=Ruza Petrovic| coauthor=Marina Blagojevic| title=The Migration of Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosovo and Metohija| url=http://www.rastko.org.rs/kosovo/istorija/kosovo_migrations/index.html| chapter=Preface| chapterurl=http://www.rastko.rs/kosovo/istorija/kosovo_migrations/mk_preface.html}}</ref> "''57,000 Serbs have left Kosovo in the last decade''" due to murder, [[rape]] and [[persecution]] - wrote the [[New York Times]] in 1982.<ref name=NYT>[http://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/12/world/exodus-of-serbians-stirs-province-in-yugoslavia.html?scp=1&sq=Exodus%20of%20Serbs%201982&st=cse EXODUS OF SERBIANS STIRS PROVINCE IN YUGOSLAVIA] [[New York Times]], July 12, 1982</ref>


{{quote|''The nationalists have a two-point platform - first to establish what they call an ethnically clean Albanian republic and then the merger with Albania to form a greater Albania.|Becir Hoti, an executive secretary of the Communist Party of Kosovo<ref name=NYT/>}}
{{quote|''The nationalists have a two-point platform - first to establish what they call an ethnically clean Albanian republic and then the merger with Albania to form a greater Albania.|Becir Hoti, an executive secretary of the Communist Party of Kosovo<ref name=NYT/>}}
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In [[1997]] [[international sanctions]] were applied to [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], because of persecution of Albanians from Kosovo.<ref name="glas19081999">[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/1999/08/20/srpski/P99081917.shtm EU o sankcijama Jugoslaviji početkom septembra: Ništa od ublažavanja]</ref>.
In [[1997]] [[international sanctions]] were applied to [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], because of persecution of Albanians from Kosovo.<ref name="glas19081999">[http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/1999/08/20/srpski/P99081917.shtm EU o sankcijama Jugoslaviji početkom septembra: Ništa od ublažavanja]</ref>.

==Albanian war crimes==
{{Main|1998–present persecution of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo}}

According to a [[Serbian government]] report, from January 1, 1998 to June 10, 1999 the KLA killed 988<ref name="serbia">{{citeweb|url=http://www.arhiva.srbija.gov.rs/news/2002-07/08/325076.html|title= (Killed, kidnapped, and missing persons, January 1998 - November 2001)|publisher=[[Government of Serbia]]}}</ref> people and kidnapped 287<ref name="serbia"/>; in the period from June 10, 1999, to November 11, 2001, when NATO had been in control in Kosovo, 847<ref name="serbia"/> people were reported to have been killed and 1, 154<ref name="serbia"/> kidnapped. This comprised both civilians and security forces personnel: of those killed in the first period, 335<ref name="serbia"/> were civilians, 351 were soldiers, 230 were police and 72 were unidentified; by nationality, 87 of killed civilians were Serbs, 230 Albanians, and 18 of other nationalities.<ref name="serbia"/>

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 February 17–18, 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 [[Llapushnik prison camp|Lapušnik]] between May and July 1998.

[[File:Prizren 004.JPG|thumb| Remains of Serbian Orthodox Church of Holy Salvation from XIV century, destroyed in March 2004.]]

In 2008, [[Carla Del Ponte]] published a book in which she alleged that, 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.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120812796372611429.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Organ smuggling in Wall Street Journal]</ref> ICTY and Serbian War Crimes Tribunal are currently investigating these allegations, as numerous witnesses and new materials have recently emerged.<ref>[http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2008/04/16/01011-20080416FILWWW00481-trafic-d-organeskosovo-aucune-trace.php Le Figaro - Flash actu : trafic d'organes/Kosovo: ''aucune trace''<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

On March 2005, a U.N. tribunal indicted Kosovo Prime Minister [[Ramush Haradinaj]] for war crimes against the Serbs, on March 8 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. The Office of the Prosecutor has appealed his acquittal, and as of July 2008, the matter remains unresolved.

=== List of attacks on Serbs ===

Incomplete list of crimes:
*[[Llapushnik prison camp|Lapušnik prison camp]], 112 Serbian civilians were killed, more of 200 still missing.
*[[Panda Bar Massacre]] in 1998, 14-30 Serbian civilians were killed, including 8 teenager
*[[Podujevo bus bombing]] in 2001 that killed 12 Serbs<ref>"Ruthless murder of Serbs on road to family graves", The Birmingham Post, 17 February 2001</ref>
*[[Goraždevac murders]] in 2003, 6 ethnic Serb children were shot
*[[2004 unrest in Kosovo|Pogrom of Serbs]] in March 2004, which lead to 19 killed, thousands injured and 9,800 expelled Serbs.


==Serbian war crimes==
==Serbian war crimes==

Revision as of 21:05, 3 February 2010

U.S. Marines provide security as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Forensics Team investigate a grave site in a village in Kosovo on July 1, 1999.

The War crimes in the Kosovo War were a series of war crimes committed during the late 1990s in Serbian occupied Kosova. The crimes were mostly committed by Serbian military and police on Albanian civilians with the intention to ethnically cleanse Albanian population from Kosovo. However, there were also actions and crimes against Serbian forces and civilians by Kosovo Liberation Army, but to a much lesser extent.

In Serbia, Serb policemen who fought ethnic Albanians in Kosovo are still revered by many as war heroes[1][2], while on Kosovo some of the KLA fighters were awarded "Hero of Kosovo" title.

Background

During 1960s Yugoslavia, the Albanians in Kosovo constituted over 99% of Kosova. From 1961 to 1981, 103,000 Serbs went to live in Kosova to boost the Serb population, largely due to pressures by the Serb government.[3] "57,000 Serbs have left Kosovo in the last decade" due to murder, rape and persecution - wrote the New York Times in 1982.[4]

The nationalists have a two-point platform - first to establish what they call an ethnically clean Albanian republic and then the merger with Albania to form a greater Albania.

— Becir Hoti, an executive secretary of the Communist Party of Kosovo[4]

Asked about position of Kosovo Serbs before Milosevic's rise to power, Ibrahim Rugova (deceased Albanian leader) answered: "Unfortunately, many crimes were committed against the Serbs."[5] Slobodan Milošević gained great power by pledging to discontinue this repression. He abolished Kosovo's autonomy in 1989. With his rise, the Albanians started boycotting all state institutions and ignoring the laws of the Republic of Serbia. Serbia tried to maintain its political control over the province. With the formation of the Kosovo Liberation Army, a large number of the Kosovo Albanians became radicalized.

In 1997 international sanctions were applied to Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, because of persecution of Albanians from Kosovo.[6].

Serbian war crimes

Main articles: Serbian war crimes, Operation Horseshoe, and Joint Criminal Enterprise

According to the legally binding verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police were in spring 1999. "in an organized manner, with significant use of state resources" conducted a broad campaign of violence against Albanian civilians in order to expel them from Kosovo and thus maintain political control of Belgrade over the province.[7]

File:Racak, Kosovo.jpg
Mass grave of Račak victims.

Federal Army and Serbian police after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia 24 March 1999, systematically attacked villages with Albanian population, abused, robbed and killed civilians, ordering them to go to Albania or Montenegro, burning their houses and destroying by their property.[8] Within the campaign of violence, Albanians were mass expelled from their homes, murdered, sexually assaulted, and their religious buildings destroyed. Serbian forces committed numerous war crimes during the implementation of "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, across the border, the state government to retain control over Kosovo."[7] Ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population is performed by the following model: first the army surrounded a place, then followed the shelling, then the police entered the village, and often with them and the army, and then crimes occurs (murders, rapes, beatings, expulsions...).[8]

Presiding Judge Iain Bonomy was imposing 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."[7]

List of massacres of Albanians

Main article: Massacres of Albanians in the Kosovo War

Incomplete list of massacres:

File:Gjakova victims memorial.jpg
An Albanian woman crying in front of the 1999 war victims memorial in center of Đakovica.

NATO war crimes

The Serbian government and a number of international pressure groups (e.g. Amnesty International) claimed that NATO had carried out war crimes during the conflict, notably the bombing of the Serbian TV headquarters in Belgrade on April 23, 1999, where 16 people were killed and 16 were injured. Sian Jones of Amnesty stated, "The bombing of the headquarters of Serbian state radio and television was a deliberate attack on a civilian object and as such constitutes a war crime".[22] The ICTY conducted an inquiry into these charges,[23] but did not press charges, citing a lack of mandate.

War crimes trials

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia charged Milošević with crimes against humanity, violating the laws or customs of war, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and genocide for his role during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Before the end of the bombing, Yugoslav President 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 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 Łukić. All were indicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. All of them, except Milutinović, found guilty of war crimes in Kosovo.[24]

War crimes prosecutions have also been carried out in Yugoslavia. Yugoslav soldier Ivan Nikolić was found guilty in 2002 of war crimes in the deaths of two civilians in Kosovo.

References

  1. ^ a b Serbia jails ex-policemen for Kosovo massacre
  2. ^ Serbia detain nine in Kosovo massacre
  3. ^ Ruza Petrovic. "Preface". The Migration of Serbs and Montenegrins from Kosovo and Metohija. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b EXODUS OF SERBIANS STIRS PROVINCE IN YUGOSLAVIA New York Times, July 12, 1982
  5. ^ History of Kosovo, the Bloody Diamond: Serbian land or Albanian? European Heritage
  6. ^ EU o sankcijama Jugoslaviji početkom septembra: Ništa od ublažavanja
  7. ^ a b c The verdict of the Hague Tribunal (serbian)
  8. ^ a b Presude "kosovskoj šestorki" (dobavljeno 28.12.2009.)
  9. ^ Racak massacre haunts Milosevic trial
  10. ^ Massacre described at Kosovo war crimes trial
  11. ^ SUĐENJA ZA RATNE ZLOČINE
  12. ^ Article about massacre at Velika Kruša in polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza
  13. ^ CNN: Massacre video matches mass grave evidence
  14. ^ "OSCE Daily Broadcast Media Overview" unmikonline.org 28 March 2000 Link retrieved 05-01-2010
  15. ^ Drenica Region Massacres (Feb-March 1998)
  16. ^ Serbs attack Kosovo massacre reports
  17. ^ The Killings at the Hysenaj Compound of Gornje Obrinje
  18. ^ Qyshk victims
  19. ^ Massacre of Over Sixty Villagers Near Bela Crkva
  20. ^ Survivors describe massacre in Kosovo
  21. ^ Under orders: war crimes in Kosovo
  22. ^ Amnesty: NATO bombing of Serbian TV 'war crime'
  23. ^ "Final Report to the Prosecutor by the Committee Established to Review the NATO Bombing Campaign Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia". United Nations.
  24. ^ 5 Top Serbs Found Guilty of War Crimes in Kosovo
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