Drenica massacres
Encyclopedia
The Drenica massacres were a series of mass killings of Kosovo Albanian civilians committed by Serbia
n special police forces in Drenica
region in central Kosovo
.
According to Human Rights Watch
, abuses in the Drenica region during the Kosovo War
1998–1999 "were so widespread that a comprehensive description is beyond the scope of this report". Key atrocities took place in the period of February–March 1998 in the Qirez, Likoshan and Prekaz and during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
, from March to June 1999 in the villages of Izbica
, Rezala, Poklek and Qikatova e vjetër (Staro Ćikatovo).
is a hilly region in central Kosovo inhabited almost exclusively by ethnic Albanians
. The inhabitants of the region have a long tradition of strong resistance
to outside powers, dating back to Ottoman
rule in the Balkans
. The villages of Drenica region are the birthplace of the Kosovo Liberation Army
, which began armed operations in Drenica in 1996. By 1997, Kosovo Albanians had begun to refer to Drenica as "liberated territory" because of the KLA presence.
s. Although the KLA engaged in combat during these attacks, Serbian special forces fired indiscriminately at women, children, and other noncombatants.
On February 28 and March 1, responding to KLA ambushes of the police, special forces attacked two adjacent villages, Qirez (Ćirez) and Likoshan (Likošane). According to Albanian sources there were 29 identified corpses of the Qirez and Likoshan massacres. On March 5, special police attacked the nearby village of Prekaz
- home of Adem Jashari
, the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army
. Jashari was killed along with his entire family, including women and children. The attacks, and the fighting that ensued, left 83 villagers dead, including at least 24 women and children.
On March 3, 1998, some 50,000 people gathered for burial
of 24 Drenica victims in the village of Likoshan. This "brutal and indiscriminate attacks" radicalized the Kosovo Albanian population and helped to crystallize armed opposition to Belgrade
's rule. Many ethnic Albanians who had been committed to the nonviolent politics of Ibrahim Rugova
decided to join the KLA, in part because they viewed the armed insurgency
as the only means of protection. The various armed Kosovo Albanian groups active up to that point began to merge as a more organized popular resistance
in Kosovo took shape.
The Drenica massacres in 1998 marked the beginning of the Kosovo war
. After February 28, 1998, the fighting clearly become an armed conflict. Once armed conflict broke out, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
over Kosovo began. On March 10 the Tribunal stated that its jurisdiction "covers the recent violence in Kosovo".
" against the Albanians of Kosova that involved summary and arbitrary executions, arbitrary detentions, regular beatings, widespread looting, and the destruction of schools, hospitals, and other civilian objects".
Gllogovc (Glogovac)
, a municipality that was a stronghold of the Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA) in Drenica, was especially hard hit in this campaign. In Poklek i Vjetër (Stari Poklek), a village close to Gllogovc, Serb and Yugoslav forces executed two men and the family of one of the men due to KLA links. Out of 47 family members that the Serb and Yugoslav forces attempted to kill with a grenade thrown into a room, there were six survivors. In Vërbovc (Vrbovac), it is believed that 80-150 people were executed. Albanians, KLA members, suspected KLA members and their families in other villages surrounding Gllogovc were also subject to execution by Serb and Yugoslav forces. In Gllogovc, over five days in May, the majority of the population was "expelled from the town…and sent toward the Macedonian border."
In Cikatovo, more than 100 ethnic Albanians were executed by Serb forces and buried at a mass grave
site, according to war crimes investigators.
In 1999, on June 15, the Serb and Yugoslav forces withdrew from Gllogovc following an agreement signed by NATO and the Yugoslavian military leadership.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n special police forces in Drenica
Drenica
Drenica also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering . Located west of the capital Prishtina, its population of 110,000 is largely ethnic-Albanian....
region in central Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
.
According to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, abuses in the Drenica region during the Kosovo War
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
1998–1999 "were so widespread that a comprehensive description is beyond the scope of this report". Key atrocities took place in the period of February–March 1998 in the Qirez, Likoshan and Prekaz and during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...
, from March to June 1999 in the villages of Izbica
Izbica massacre
The Izbica massacre was one of the largest massacres of the Kosovo conflict 1999. Serb paramilitary and military forces killed 146 Kosovo Albanians of all ages in the village of Izbica, in the Drenica region of central Kosovo on 28 March 1999.- Background :...
, Rezala, Poklek and Qikatova e vjetër (Staro Ćikatovo).
Background
DrenicaDrenica
Drenica also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering . Located west of the capital Prishtina, its population of 110,000 is largely ethnic-Albanian....
is a hilly region in central Kosovo inhabited almost exclusively by ethnic Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
. The inhabitants of the region have a long tradition of strong resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
to outside powers, dating back to Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. The villages of Drenica region are the birthplace of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
, which began armed operations in Drenica in 1996. By 1997, Kosovo Albanians had begun to refer to Drenica as "liberated territory" because of the KLA presence.
Massacres in 1998
In January 1998, Serbian special police began operations that raided villages in Drenica linked to the KLA. Between February 28 and March 5, police launched multiple military-style attacks on the villages of Qirez (Ćirez) and Likoshan (Likošane) and Prekaz, using armored vehicles and helicopterHelicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s. Although the KLA engaged in combat during these attacks, Serbian special forces fired indiscriminately at women, children, and other noncombatants.
On February 28 and March 1, responding to KLA ambushes of the police, special forces attacked two adjacent villages, Qirez (Ćirez) and Likoshan (Likošane). According to Albanian sources there were 29 identified corpses of the Qirez and Likoshan massacres. On March 5, special police attacked the nearby village of Prekaz
Attack on Prekaz
The Attack on Prekaz was an operation led by the Serbian police Anti-terrorist Unit, launched on March 5, 1998...
- home of Adem Jashari
Adem Jashari
Adem Jashari was born in Prekaz, in the Drenica region of Kosovo, . He is considered to be one of the chief architects of the Kosovo Liberation Army, along with Zahir Pajaziti...
, the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
. Jashari was killed along with his entire family, including women and children. The attacks, and the fighting that ensued, left 83 villagers dead, including at least 24 women and children.
On March 3, 1998, some 50,000 people gathered for burial
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
of 24 Drenica victims in the village of Likoshan. This "brutal and indiscriminate attacks" radicalized the Kosovo Albanian population and helped to crystallize armed opposition to Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
's rule. Many ethnic Albanians who had been committed to the nonviolent politics of Ibrahim Rugova
Ibrahim Rugova
Ibrahim Rugova was an Albanian politician who was the first President of Kosovo and of its leading political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo ....
decided to join the KLA, in part because they viewed the armed insurgency
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
as the only means of protection. The various armed Kosovo Albanian groups active up to that point began to merge as a more organized popular resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
in Kosovo took shape.
The Drenica massacres in 1998 marked the beginning of the Kosovo war
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
. After February 28, 1998, the fighting clearly become an armed conflict. Once armed conflict broke out, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
over Kosovo began. On March 10 the Tribunal stated that its jurisdiction "covers the recent violence in Kosovo".
Mass graves in Rudnica, Drenica
The mass graves from 1998-99 where found in Rudnica, Drenica with 250 bodies.Massacres in 1999
Between March 19 and June 15, 1999, Serbian and Yugoslav forces in Drenica engaged in "a brutal campaign of "ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
" against the Albanians of Kosova that involved summary and arbitrary executions, arbitrary detentions, regular beatings, widespread looting, and the destruction of schools, hospitals, and other civilian objects".
Gllogovc (Glogovac)
Glogovac
Glogovac is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of central Kosovo.-History:Before the Kosovo War of 1999, the Kosovo Liberation Army had a strong level of influence and controlled large areas of the municipality.-More about Glogovac:...
, a municipality that was a stronghold of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
(KLA) in Drenica, was especially hard hit in this campaign. In Poklek i Vjetër (Stari Poklek), a village close to Gllogovc, Serb and Yugoslav forces executed two men and the family of one of the men due to KLA links. Out of 47 family members that the Serb and Yugoslav forces attempted to kill with a grenade thrown into a room, there were six survivors. In Vërbovc (Vrbovac), it is believed that 80-150 people were executed. Albanians, KLA members, suspected KLA members and their families in other villages surrounding Gllogovc were also subject to execution by Serb and Yugoslav forces. In Gllogovc, over five days in May, the majority of the population was "expelled from the town…and sent toward the Macedonian border."
In Cikatovo, more than 100 ethnic Albanians were executed by Serb forces and buried at a mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
site, according to war crimes investigators.
In 1999, on June 15, the Serb and Yugoslav forces withdrew from Gllogovc following an agreement signed by NATO and the Yugoslavian military leadership.
See also
- List of massacres in Yugoslavia
- Attack on PrekazAttack on PrekazThe Attack on Prekaz was an operation led by the Serbian police Anti-terrorist Unit, launched on March 5, 1998...
- Operation HorseshoeOperation HorseshoeOperation Horseshoe is a name attributed to a large-scale antiterrorism campaign which during the NATO bombing escalated to ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians carried out by Serbian Police and Yugoslav Army during the Kosovo War....
- War crimes in the Kosovo WarWar crimes in the Kosovo WarThe War crimes in the Kosovo War were a series of war crimes committed during the Kosovo War . Yugoslav security forces invaded Kosovo and killed many Albanian civilians; there were also attacks on on Yugoslav security forces and moderate Albanians by the Kosovo Liberation Army...
- The killing of Bytyqi brothersThe killing of Bytyqi brothersThe Bytyqi brothers were three American-Kosovo Albanians killed by Serb police shortly after the end of the war in Kosovo, while they were in custody in Petrovo Selo, Serbia. The bodies of the three brothers were discovered in July 2001 in a mass grave containing 70 Albanians in rural Petrovo Selo,...
- Serbian-Albanian Conflict
- Serbian war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars