Persecution of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo

A Serbian Orthodox Holy Trinity church in Petrić destroyed during the war.

Persecution of non-Albanians, mostly Serbs, by Kosovo Albanian groups occurred during and after the 1998-1999 Kosovo War.

Podujevo church of St. Elijah, after its destruction by Albanians

Destroyed Saint Elijah Church in Podujevo.

Graffiti saying "Death to Serbs" on the destroyed Serbian Orthodox St. George cathedral in Kosovo, after the War 1999.

The United Nations Special Representative for Kosovo and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Lamberto Zannier, has warned that a lack of reconciliation between the communities in Kosovo, coupled with economic difficulties, posed a "risk of social unrest".

Notable Events

1999

Carla Del Ponte, a long-time ICTY chief prosecutor claimed in her book The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals that there were instances of organ trafficking in 1999. According to the book about 300 non-Albanians, mostly ethnic Serbs, were kidnapped and transferred to Albania in 1999 where their organs were extracted. These allegations were denied by Kosovan and Albanian authorities. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had said of Del Ponte's allegations: "The Tribunal is aware of very serious allegations of human organ trafficking raised by the former Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, in a book recently published in Italian under her name. No evidence in support of such allegations was ever brought before the Tribunal's judges."

The Human Rights Watch called Del Ponte's allegations "serious and credible" and issued a public call to Tirana and Pristina for cooperation.

A Serbian newspaper, Večernje Novosti, published photos in 2003 of men in Kosovo Liberation Army uniforms holding decapitated heads. According to the paper, the crimes were committed in April 1999, during the Kosovo War.

The notorious Gnjilane Group was active in Gnjilane, committing brutal crimes and murders against ethnic Serbs during June-October 1999, after the KFOR had arrived.

The Kosovo Organ Theft is an atrocity of systematic organ theft and killing of at least 300 ethnic Serbs during and after the Kosovo War in 1999, committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army.

2008

Main article: 2008 unrest in Kosovo

The 2008 unrest in Kosovo follows Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence on February 17, 2008.
The day after Kosovo's declaration of independence two bombs in the flashpoint town of Kosovska Mitrovica damaged several UN vehicles, though there were no injuries. After several attacks in northern Kosovska Mitrovica an advance team of the EU administrative force withdrew over security concerns. On March 3, 2008, a sniper fired two bullets at a UN office in the northern half of Kosovska Mitrovica without any injuries reported.
On March 28, 2008, a police checkpoint manned by Serb officers came under fire in northern Kosovo apparently from a semi-automatic weapon fired from the ethnic Albanian village of Košutovo, north of the town of Kosovska Mitrovica and the officers returned fire. No injuries were reported.

2010

Several Serbian cultural and religious sites have been vandalized in 2010. Including:

• The desecration of some 20 Orthodox cemetery gravestones in the predominantly Kosovo Serb village of Laplje Selo near Pristina and the nearby village of Lismir in Kosovo Polje. Six 19th century Montenegrin Orthodox gravestones in the zone have been partially damaged.
• The Orthodox church vandalism in Perkovac in Gornji Strmac village, near Zubin Potok. On 9 March, the Kosovo Police announced that they had opened an investigation.
• The Orthodox church vandalism in Rabovce near Liljan. The KFOR later condemned this incident.
• The desecration of the grave of Živka Jovanović in Gnjilane, which was condemned by the OSCE and the Kosovo government.
• The ruins of Buzovik monastery in Vitina municipality, included in the list of special protective zones, continue to be used as a waste-dump.

Other incidents include:

• The detainment of two journalists from a local Serbian newspaper and radio.
• The attack of Ljubiša Šćepanović near Žač, Istok by three Albanian men. Perpetrator of this incident is arrested.
• The death of Dragan Denić near village Srbovac.
• The attack on Bojan Pešić attacked near Paralovo by two Albanian men.
• The looting of six Serbian houses in Gojbulja.
• The abduction, beating, and car theft of Ivica Živić by four Albanian men near Gračanica.
• Following three days of protests by Albanians who oppose return of Serbs in their village stones thrown at tents of Serbian returnees (refugees) near village Žač in Metohija.

• Terrorist attack in Kosovska Mitrovica, July 2, 2010. An explosive device was thrown at a group of Serbs that were peacefully protesting against the Kosovo Albanians' intention to open a governmental office in the Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, where Serbs live. One person was killed, 11 injured.

2011

• In 2011, numerous Serbs who have requested "Kosovar" papers have been forced to a process of Albanianization by the Kosovo authorities. Apparently, the Serbs' papers have their names Albanianized (ending in i instead of ic/vic) and their ethnicity is listed as "Kosovar", not as Serb.^{[citation needed]}
• Peć, October 20: In Dobruša, near Peć, one person was murdered while three Serbs were injured. The incident took place 12.30 CET, at which time the KFOR tried to remove the barricades in the north. The perpetrator is allegedly an Albanian.

Gallery

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  Dug up and desecrated Serbian Orthodox cemetery, Saint Elijah Church

External links

• Video of the destruction and desecration of St. Elijah's Church

See also

• Persecution of Serbs
• Ethnic persecution
• Ethnic cleansing
• War crimes in Kosovo