Belgrade launches a database on crimes in Kosovo to counter the War Crimes Institute in Pristina

Serb authorities have formed the first database of crimes committed in Kosovo between 1998 and 2000. The database consists of 7,000 documents of Serb security bodies and institutions, international sources, as well as the KLA itself, which testify to a total of 3,540 events. The database was formed to systematize crimes, but also help shed light on KLA crimes, the Working Group of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo-Metohija, claims. That is why a significant part of the collected data was forwarded to the Special Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague, claimed its author. At the same time, it is supposed to „counter“ the announcements from Pristina on the establishment of the War Crimes Institute, as well as Pristina’s „campaign of lies“.

 

The Serbian Parliament Committee for Kosovo-Metohija met on Thursday with security agencies to present the report on crimes against Kosovo Serbs and other ethnic communities. The report was compiled by the Working Group initially established back in 2015, to be reappointed with the new parliament committee in 2020. In 2016, a task force team was also formed within the Working Group assigned to harmonize and systematize data.

 

The head of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia and a member of the Working Group, Veljko Odalovic, said that their goal was to create a database that would include the scope, gravity, and depth of crimes committed in Kosovo against Serbs and other non-Albanians from 1998 to 1999.

 

The database consists of over 7,000 documents covering 3,540 events that took place in seven KLA operational zones in Kosovo. The documents in question come from Serb security bodies and institutions – BIA, Commission for Missing Persons, Military Intelligence and Military Security Agency, international organizations and institutions such as UNMIK, The Hague tribunal, KFOR, but also documentation of the KLA itself.

 

At yesterday’s session, Odalovic presented a part of this database within the presentation on closed cases and documents on committed crimes. He presented both previously known cases and new data – such as the video published last year concerning the murder of a Russian volunteer (allegedly).

 

While waiting for Pristina’s approval of excavations

 

Speaking about the “Yellow House”, Odalovic noted that the report included in the database is actually correspondence between the Hague Tribunal, UNMIK, and others. Among other things, it contains witness statements on the destiny of Serbs suspected to be transported from illegal detention centers and imprisoned in the Yellow House and their final destiny, Odalovic claims.

 

He claimed that this document cannot be disputed and which was already forwarded to the Special Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague.

 

Part of the database is the Bunker location near Djakovica/Djakova, where the Sutakovic family – husband, wife, and three children – was killed. The representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons in Belgrade, together with the Pristina delegation and EULEX, visited the site back in 2018.

 

The database also includes the Lugovo case, where three bodies belonging to women who were presumed to be of Serb ethnicity were found on July 30th, 1999. Odalovic added that the documents on the case were submitted to them by the representatives of the Swedish contingent of KFOR, noting that they could not identify the persons due to a lack of information on what was done with the bodies.

 

The data on the murder of five soldiers of the former Yugoslavia, known as the Klecka case, is also included in the database. This crime, like the previous ones, has not been solved. The database also contains data on the case known as „Livadice“ – when a bus was blown up, the Slivovo case – the murder of four Simic brothers, the murder of fourteen harvesters in Staro Gracko, as well as the location Volujak. This location, where 26 bodies of members of several families that disappeared in 1998 were found in a pit, was visited by the Commission on Missing Persons in 2007, Odalovic said.

 

One of the documents is the UNMIK report from the autopsy of an Army member, which shows that 97 serious wounds were detected on his body.

 

Odalovic then spoke about potential sites in Kosovo that the Serb sides suspects could contain mass graves. He revealed that they have been unable to visit these 15 additional sites due to Pristina’s refusal to allow them to do so.

 

One of these sites is the Javor location, presented in the database with an aerial photograph taken by the German contingent of KFOR on May 5th, 1999. The Belgrade Commission for Missing Persons visited the site more than a year ago. Odalovic claims that Pristina refused to allow the search of the site.

 

The commission has also requested excavations at the Dojnica location under the suspicion that the bodies of 17 locals were buried there, as well as the Budisavci location, where the remains of Vujadin Vujovic and hieromonk Stefan, who were abducted and killed after leaving the monastery, are located – according to this commission.

 

The Commission for Missing Persons visited, identified, and marked both locations.

 

The database also mentions Mahala Valjevac, and Lapusnik, where the Commission suspects six more bodies are located. Belgrade is demanding new excavations at these sites, as well as at Livacko Lake, however, Odalovic claims that Pristina allegedly refuses to allow this.

 

He also confirmed that the members of the Commission for Missing Persons also visited Kosare in search of missing soldiers, where demining was carried out in 2011 so that they could enter the zone.

 

New locations connected to the murder of soldiers, including a Russian volunteer – as revealed after a video clip appeared in the Pristina media, were recently identified. Odalovic emphasized that they are searching for four more soldiers who were stationed at Kosare.

 

He furthermore accused Pristina of refusing to cooperate on this issue, and of „avoiding“ excavations at locations requested by Serbia.

 

After the Serb army withdrew, 400 Albanians were killed

 

The head of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic, said at this session that the „highest number“ of crimes were committed in Kosovo after June 1999, i.e. in the presence of international officials – „who came with a mandate to prevent that from happening.“

 

„They allowed it and it happened and we must never forget that,“ he said.

 

Odalovic added that the analysis concluded that approximately 400 Albanians were killed after the withdrawal of the Serb army and police.

 

„Kadri Veseli – master of life and death“

„Their hostilities continue. By June 10th, 1999, forest rangers, postmen, distribution workers, local government employees, and all those who did not fit into their concept – the one they advocated, were killed. They were a legitimate target for them and they encountered the same brutality that the Serbs did at the time. In some places, they were even perceived as a greater danger, entire families were killed. Kadri Veseli was not accidentally marked as the one in charge, after all, he was the master of life and death,“ Odalovic said.

Odalovic added that the „conspiracy of silence“ of Albanians and the international community concerning crimes committed “still continues”.

 

Drecun: UNMIK and KFOR covered up KLA crimes

 

Hague tribunal investigators exhumed a total of 4,019 remains from 1999 to 2000, of which only 50% have been identified, said parliamentary committee chairman Milovan Drecun.

 

„Unidentified bodies were reburied in locations that are partially known to this day. After the activities of the Hague Tribunal were completed, it was determined that there are at least 1,150 bodies from 80 locations which are still unaccounted for,“ he stressed.

 

Apart from the fact crimes still remain unsolved, Drecun also highlighted the lack of data exchange and lack of interest. He emphasized that Serbia, for its part, has repeatedly called on international missions and governments to monitor the work of this commission in Belgrade through their embassies and help shed light on crimes.

 

In the previous period, the Working Group held a series of meetings with Serb institutions and bodies, but also with representatives of the OSCE, the UN, and the Special Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague.

 

In 2018, this Working Group also held a presentation, inviting representatives of the embassies of Great Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy and the UN Office in Serbia, the OSCE, the Red Cross, the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, and the office of the Council of Europe in Serbia.

 

Drecun said that the embassies staff were invited to attend the meetings as Serbia believes their countries might and should have some evidence on the committed crimes as their KFOR military troops have areas of responsibility in Kosovo. He specified that the Working Group wanted to ask them for help in shedding light on KLA crimes.

 

However, he says that the representatives of the embassies of Great Britain, Italy, and France did not respond to the invitation, adding that presentations were forwarded to them.

 

Commenting on why not everyone responded, Drecun states this can be determined based on missing person data in the areas of responsibility of KFOR members.

 

Missing persons in KFOR’s areas of responsibility

 There are 25 persons on the list of missing in the area of responsibility of the US contingent of KFOR. In the area of responsibility of Great Britain, there are 134 missing persons, Germany – 145, French KFOR – 56, and Italian – 223 persons – Odalovic revealed the data Serbia previously collected, emphasizing that these military units must have at least some knowledge about these missing persons.

According to Drecun, this Working Group, based on the collected documentation, concluded that UNMIK and KFOR, despite being aware and in possession of documentation on numerous crimes committed against Serb and other non-Albanian civilians in Kosovo, did not take the necessary steps to prosecute the perpetrators.

 

„Thus, it can be concluded that they deliberately covered up the crimes committed by the terrorist KLA. They were not allowed to form a negative image of the terrorist KLA and the Albanians. They carried out investigations, wrote forensic reports, then hid them somewhere, which is their democratic approach to finding the truth and reconciliation,“ Drecun said.

 

KLA command structure and goal of action discovered – ethnic cleansing and formation of Great Albania

 

Addressing the documents in the database thanks to which the KLA command structure was established, the chairman of the Assembly Committee for Kosovo-Metohija said that proving the command structure was of key essence in determining responsibility for the crimes that took place in Kosovo.

 

He specified that the activities of the KLA were divided into seven operational zones – Drenica, Dukagjini, Lab, Karadak, Nerodimlje, Pastrik, and Sala and that the expert-analytical team systematized and consolidated data for all zones.

 

Drecun also emphasized that the database demonstrated the strategic goals of the KLA’s activities – „ethnic cleansing and the creation of a Greater Albania.“

 

The solution for most of the missing Albanians lies in the KLA archives

 

Milovan Drecun also commented on the OSCE report related to “the Albanians kidnapped by the KLA in the village of Racak.”

 

„We have persistently proved that the Albanian KLA kidnapped and killed a large number of Albanians. When it comes to resolving the issue of missing – especially missing Albanians – the majority of cases can probably be solved from the KLA archives. It is a public secret in Kosovo,“ Drecun said.

 

Speaking about the reports of wartime rape – such as Pristina’s allegations on the number of raped Albanian women, but also reported cases of rape of Serb women by KLA members, Drecun stated that the number of 20,000 raped Albanian women is incorrect. He also specified that many Serb women were unwilling to report such cases.

 

„Establish communication with Albania – major crimes took place there“

 At the session, it was also proposed that communication between Serbia and Albania should be established through parliamentary committees.

„You have no reason to keep quiet about anything, most of them were not involved in these events. We need to discuss this topic with them precisely because major crimes occurred on the territory of Albania. If they have any responsibilities towards their people and state, it is in their interest to get that burden off their backs, if they are smart. They may not have a direct interest, but we have it and it is up to us,“ Veljko Odalovic told the chairman of the meeting – Milovan Drecun.

He claims that the goal of the report and database is to point out the truth and the crimes that took place.

 

Odalovic: We exchanged a significant part of data with the SPO

 

Odalovic also spoke about cooperation with the Special Prosecutor’s Office. He says that they exchanged a significant part of data that will be useful for the proceedings in The Hague.

 

He revealed that the document that helped in determining the command responsibility of the KLA was obtained in cooperation with the Special Prosecutor’s Office. Odalovic also stated that the Special Prosecutor’s Office requested their help in connection with one of the KLA zones – Dukagjini.

 

Drecun also said that this Working Group was created to „meet the requests for assistance to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, by delivering documentation on the crimes KLA committed“, i.e. by assisting in the prosecution of criminals.

 

Crime database – a debt to the victims and a pledge for future generations

 The database is in “a safe place”, Drecun said, adding that it is not only a pledge to future generations to find out what happened but also a kind of debt of current generations to those who died in the last war.

„The army defended the state and the people, and that is our debt to them,“ he said.

 He also said that a high level of coordination of state services of the Republic of Serbia was achieved in obtaining and consolidating the documentation, as well as that a mechanism of cooperation with the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office was established via the competent body.

 „This database will help shed light on crimes and provide plenty of evidence to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators and those responsible for the horrific mass crimes committed by the KLA terrorist organization,“ Drecun underlined.

A special body should be formed to continue to collect data and cooperate with The Hague

 

Work on a database on crimes investigated by Serbia is not done. The goal is to make the channel of cooperation with Specialist Chambers more efficient through a special body so that the court would continue its work and file new indictments, and so that the Special Court does not end its work with several indictments – it was said at yesterday’s session.

 

The Working Group believes that a special state body should yet to be formed to continue to collect data, evidence, and facts about crimes committed in Kosovo from the beginning of the KLA actions, in the form of a documentation center – formed either as part of the state bodies or independently.

 

An effort to “counter” the Pristina War Crimes Institute and the “campaign of lies”

 

Milovan Drecun concluded that a great effort should be made and that all state resources should be used to „counter the campaign Pristina is preparing with the establishment of the War Crimes Research Institute.“

 

„They will try to make senseless and marginalize the trial of Thaci and others via lies and impose a false thesis about the genocide of Albanians in Kosovo,“ Drecun emphasized.

 

Criticism of the media for its lack of interest

During the session of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo-Metohija, the members of the committee criticized what they described as the lack of interest of the press, noting that only one media outlet responded to their call.

In their words, the media in Serbia do not pay attention to crimes against Serbs, alleging that the situation would be different if the report dealt with crimes committed by Serbs.

A member of this committee, Srbislav Filipovic from the SNS, remarked that family members of the journalists themselves could also be found in the pits. The same MP, on the other hand, criticized the opposition media who are trying „to knock down and spit“ on the Serb authorities.

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