ABDUCTIONS AND DISAPPEARANCES OF NON-ALBANIANS IN KOSOVO

24 March 1999 – 31 December 2000

At least 932 non-Albanians disappeared¹ or were abducted² in the period from the deployment of the international peacekeeping force (KFOR) in Kosovo on 12 June 1999 up to 31 December 2000. Field research by the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) brought out that Serbs, Roma, Montenegrins and Bosniacs went missing on a daily basis from 12 June to 1 September 1999, in which period 835 non-Albanians were abducted or disappeared. The whereabouts of 593 remain unknown. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) released 141 persons, 24 were able to escape from KLA prisons, 13 were set free by KFOR, and 62 were killed after being abducted.

¹  Term denotes persons who disappeared in unclear circumstances, with no eyewitnesses of the incident.
²  Term denotes persons who were unlawfully deprived of their liberty, either by the KLA or persons acting in its name.

The missing persons are mainly civilians.  Of the 593 non-Albanian missing registered by the HLC, 257 were taken by KLA members or individuals acting in its name and all trace of them was subsequently lost, while 336 disappeared in unclear circumstances. The greatest number of disappearances was registered in cities and towns in which there was no violence on a larger scale by Serbian forces against ethnic Albanians during the NATO bombing.  In the period from 12 June to 1 September 1999, 121 non-Albanians disappeared in Prizren: 51 were taken by KLA members and their whereabouts remain unknown; 42 disappeared in unclear circumstances; five were killed after being taken; and 23 were released by the KLA or through the intervention of KFOR. In Priština in the same period, 142 non-Albanians disappeared, of whom 27 were released by the KLA a few days later. Up to 1 September, families or KFOR found the bodies of seven of the Priština missing. In Gnjilane, 120 persons disappeared: 47 were released by the KLA after questioning and eight were set free by KFOR. The bodies of 10 non-Albanians who were killed after being taken were found. According to information collected by the HLC, 63 Serbs and Roma³ disappeared in Djakovica within a period of two and a half months.  Fourteen were released by the KLA after being questioned for a few hours or several days, two were able to escape, the remains of four taken from their homes were found, and the fate of 41 is unknown.
HLC research indicates that several tens of Yugoslav Army members and police disappeared during the NATO bombing and fighting with the KLA, whose whereabouts remain unknown. In the same period, over 1,500 Albanians went missing after being taken into custody, most frequently after men were separated out of refugee columns. Their fate, too, is unknown.

³  Indications are that the number of Roma missing is higher than that registered by the HLC.  Roma displaced from Kosovo often change their places of residence in Serbia and Montenegro, owing to which the HLC was unable to locate eyewitnesses of abductions and verify statements on the disappearance of over 150 Roma in Djakovica following the deployment of KFOR.

After 1 September 1999, abductions and disappearances occurred as isolated incidents. This was primarily the result of the fact that Serbs had either fled Kosovo or sought refuge in enclaves protected by KFOR. HLC data shows that 97 non-Albanians went missing from 1 September 1999 up to the end of December 2000 and that nothing is known about 72 of them. Involuntary disappearances, however, continue in Kosovo.  Over 300 Albanians went missing in the second half of 1999 and during 2000 and the indications are that their abduction was politically motivated. The fate of the majority remains unclear.

Allegations on the existence of KLA prisons were independently confirmed by numerous witnesses interviewed by the HLC. There is no doubt that the KLA held prisoners in many public buildings, private houses and in the open. The information collected brought out that the KLA had over 100 prisons up to 1 September 1999, which is directly connected with the number of disappearances and abductions of non-Albanians. No independent confirmation was available for allegations that secret KLA prisons existed during 2000. It is certain that the KLA made it a practice to frequently move prisoners from one location to another in order to preclude discovery of the secret prisons by KFOR. Witnesses and victims stated that the locations of a number of KLA prisons were reported to KFOR in June 1999 but that KFOR failed to take any action. The HLC learned that, after the abduction of five Serbs in Orahovac on 29 October 1999, KFOR in Peć checked out allegations of secret KLA prisons in the building of the Yugoslav Army Cultural Center and an abandoned industrial plant in the Piskote neighborhood of Djakovica but found no prisoners there. The abducted included two Orahovac Serbs into whom the Prizren public prosecutor had requested an investigation on suspicion that they committed war crimes against the civilian population.

It is certain that the KLA maintained prisons in the basement of the Paštrik Hotel, the Start driving school, the building of the former Yugoslav Army Cultural Center and in the abandoned factory in the Piskote neighborhood in Djakovica; in the boarding school, the basement of the supermarket in Bojanina Street, the Čenar Ćesma neighborhood and the Starti stadium in Gnjilane; in the buildings of the district prison and former police station, the school for deaf-mutes, the basement of the Yugoslav Program apartment complex, the former Yugoslav Army Cultural Center and the abandoned house of a Serb, Dragan Spasić, in Prizren; in private houses in Zlatare and Matićevo villages, in the Dragodan, Taslidže and Ulpijana districts and the Meto Barjaktari elementary school in Priština. All these locations were used by the KLA in the second half of June, July and August 1999 when non-Albanians disappeared or were abducted on a daily basis.

The HLC was able to investigate the disappearances which occurred following the deployment of KFOR in Kosovo thanks to the assistance and support of Father Sava and clergy and monks of the Gračanica and Visoki Dečani Monasteries.  The present report is not a full and completely accurate account of the missing Serbs, Roma, Bosniacs, Montenegrins, Yugoslav Army members and police as it does not include the disappearances and abductions in 1998 or cases after the arrival of KFOR, which the HLC was unable to research independently either because of lack of sufficient data or because witnesses were unavailable.

DEČANI (DEÇAN)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA

DJAKOVICA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.2. Escaped

GLOGOVAC

1. Missing

GNJILANE

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.3. Set free

ISTOK

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.2. Released

KAČANIK (KAÇANIK)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1 Killed

KOSOVSKA KAMENICA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA

KLINA (KLINE)

1. Missing
2. Abducted

KOSOVO POLJE (FUSHE E KOSOVËS)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (MITROVICE)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.1.1. Released by the KLA

LIPLJAN

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
2.1.1. Escaped

NOVO BRDO

1. Missing
3. Abducted
2.1 Free
2.1.1. Released by the KLA
2.1.1. Escaped
2.2. Detained

OBILIĆ (OBILIQ)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed

ORAHOVAC (RRAHOVEC)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.2. Escaped
1.1.3. Set free

PEĆ

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA
1.2.2. Escaped
3. Detained

PODUJEVO (PODUJEVË)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed

PRIŠTINA (PRISHTINË)

1. Missing
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.2. Escaped
2.2.3 Set free
3. Detained

PRIZREN

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.2. Escaped
2.2.3. Set free

SRBICA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Free
1.1.1. Escaped

ŠTIMLJE

1. Missing
2. Abducted

ŠTRPCE

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Escaped

SUVA REKA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.3. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA

UROŠEVAC

1. Missing
3. Abducted
1.1. Free
1.1.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.2. Escaped

VITINA

1. Missing
2.Abducted
2.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA

VUČITRN (VUSHTRRI)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Free
1.1.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.1. Escaped

ZVEČAN

1. Missing
2. Abducted

Mailsenden