2004 unrest in Kosovo
Encyclopedia
Violent unrest in Kosovo
, which at the time was under United Nations administration
, broke out on 17 March 2004. Kosovo Albanians, numbering over 50,000, took part in widescale attacks on the Serbian people, compared by the then Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
to ethnic cleansing
but not by the UN or NATO, it was the largest violent incident in the province since the Kosovo War
of 1999. During the unrest, 19 civilians were killed (8 ethnic Serbs and 11 ethnic Albanians), over 4000 Serbs were forced to leave their homes, 935 Serb houses, 10 public facilities (schools, health care centers and post offices) and 35 Serbian Orthodox church-buildings were desecrated
, damaged or destroyed.
The events are known in Serbia as the "March Pogrom".
and Roma. Ethnic tensions and territorial dispute have been a major problem in Kosovo for many years that sparked the Kosovo War of 1999 in which an estimated 10,000 people died, almost entirely Albanian civilians, which is also the reason cited by the U.S. State Department on the grounds of human rights abuses in order to justify the attacks on Yugoslavia. Since the end of the war, the province has been administered by the UN under the auspices of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK), with security provided by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).
Those that remained organized themselves into enclaves
guarded by peacekeeping forces. Low-level violence continued after the war. Serbian minorities in Kosovo claimed to have been subjected to "persistent intimidation and harassment" , though the level of violence is reported to have declined somewhat since the end of the war. There have also been repeated attacks on Serbian Orthodox churches, shrines and other cultural monuments, with over a hundred being destroyed or damaged. Clashes had also broken out between Serbs and Albanians in the ethically Serb-dominated north of Kosovo, with Albanians harassing Serbs and chasing them out of their homes.
in the central region of Kosovo. Local Serbs from the village staged demonstrations and blocked traffic in protest at the shooting tragedy.
. A fourth boy survived. It was speculated that he and his friends had been chased into the river by Serbs in revenge for the shooting of Ivić the previous day, but this claim has not been proven.
The investigation of the UNMIK police determined that the Albanian accusations were false and spokesperson of the international police Neridz Sing stated that the Albanian boys who survived the tragedy were under great pressure exerted by Albanian journalists and politicians to accuse Serbs from the nearby village of the incident.
, which divides the Serbian and Albanian districts of the town. A large crowd of Serbs gathered at the north end to prevent the Albanians from crossing. Peacekeepers from the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) blockaded the bridge, using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to keep the crowds apart. However, gunmen on both sides opened fire with sub-machine guns and grenades, killing at least eight people (two Albanians and six Serbs) and wounding over 300. Eleven peacekeepers were also injured, of which two seriously.
The violence continued on 18 March with further demonstrations in many localities across Kosovo, notably at Čaglavica again and also in Kosovska Mitrovica, Lipljan, Obilic
and Pristina
. The casualty toll at the end of the day was 28 and 600 people were injured, including 61 peacekeepers and 55 police officers. U.N. spokeswoman Isabella Karlowitz said 110 houses and 16 churches were destroyed. She also reported that around 3,600 people had been made homeless by the violence, including but not limited to Serbs, Roma, and Ashkali
.
The violence quickly spread to other parts of Kosovo, with Kosovo Serb communities and religious and cultural symbols attacked by crowds of Albanians. Some of these locations were ostensibly under the protection of KFOR at the time. During the riots and violence, eight Kosovo Serbians were killed. Among damaged property was the targeted cultural and architectural heritage of the Serb people, and as a result 35 churches, including 18 monuments of culture, were demolished, burnt or severely damaged.
The sites of violence included:
In a statement on 18 March, the Serbian Orthodox Church
reported that a number of its churches and shrines in Kosovo had been damaged or destroyed by rioters. These included:
, Novi Sad
and Niš
to demonstrate against the treatment of the Kosovo Serbs. Despite appeals for calm by Metropolitan Amfilohije
of the Serbian Orthodox Church
, the 17th century historic Bajrakli Mosque
was attacked and set on fire. Islam Aga mosque in the southern city of Niš was also attacked and set on fire, while demonstrators chanted “Kill, kill Albanians!” When police arrived the mosque was already burning and some media reported that the police didn't move the crowd, so they blocked the fire fighters access to the mosque, leaving them unable to extinguish the fire. Both buildings were extensively damaged but were saved from complete destruction by the intervention of police and firefighters. Also properties of Muslim minorities, such as Goranis, Turks or Albanians were vandalized in Novi Sad and other cities throughout Serbia. Human Rights Watch has concluded that the Serbian State failed to prosecute violence in Novi Sad.
The Serbian government publicly denounced the violence in Kosovo. Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
gave a speech blaming organized Albanian separatists: "The events in northern Kosovo-Metohija reveal the true nature of Albanian separatism, its violent and terrorist nature ... [The government will] do all it can to stop the terror in Kosovo". Koštunica strongly criticized the failure of NATO and the UN to prevent the violence, and called for a state of emergency to be imposed on Kosovo.
The Minister of Minority Rights of Serbia and Montenegro
, Rasim Ljajić, himself a Muslim, said "What is now happening in Kosovo confirms two things: that this is a collapse of the international mission, and a total defeat of the international community."
Nebojsa Čović, the Serbian government's chief negotiator on matters relating to Kosovo, was sent to Kosovska Mitrovica on March 18 in a bid to calm the situation there. Serbian security forces also guarded the internal border between central Serbia and Kosovo in a bid to prevent demonstrators and paramilitaries from entering the province to foment further unrest.
The Serbs, represented by the "Union of Serbs in Kosovo and Metochia", describe the ordeal as "genocide" in a letter sent to the Serbian and Russian patriarchs, to Russian President Vladimir Putin
and the Serbian government, where, besides that, they quote the burning of 7 villages during the German occupation in World War II to the "several hundreds" burnt "under the rule of the troops of christian Europe and America" and according to which the "occupation of Kosovo surpasses all we had to sustain under fascism." The spared Serbian villages are compared to "concentration camps" because of the missing liberty of moving, electrical current and heating. According to the letter after 1999 there were 8500 homicides or disappearances of non-Albanian people with no single accomplice tried. They consider a possible secession of Kosovo by the Serbian government an "unforgivable neither by God nor by the people state treason".
In 2011, 7 years after the incident, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić spoke at the Wheaton College in Chicago:
KFOR troops closed Kosovo's borders with the remainder of Serbia-Montenegro and the UN suspended flights in and out of the province. NATO announced on 18 March that it would send another 1,000 troops – 750 of them from the United Kingdom
– to reinforce the 18,500 troops already there.
The United Nations
and European Union
both appealed for calm, calling on local leaders to restrain their supporters. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
urged both sides to cooperate with the peacekeeping forces but pointedly reminded the Kosovo Albanians that they had a responsibility "to protect and promote the rights of all people within Kosovo, particularly its minorities".
An Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) official in Austria
called the events an orchestrated plan to drive out the remaining Serbs, while one anonymous UNMIK official reportedly referred to the event as Kosovo's Kristallnacht
. The commander of NATO's South Flank, Admiral Gregory G. Johnson
, said on 19 March that
the violence verged on ethnic cleansing of Serbs by Albanians. On 20 March, Kosovo's UN administrator, Harri Holkeri, told journalists that "Maybe the very beginning was spontaneous but after the beginning certain extremist groups had an opportunity to orchestrate the situation and that is why we urgently are working to get those perpetrators into justice."
According to Amnesty International
, at least 19 people died—11 Albanians and eight Serbs—and over 1,000 were injured while some 730 houses belonging to minorities, mostly Kosovo Serbs, as well as 36 Orthodox churches, monasteries and other religious and cultural sites were damaged or destroyed. In less than 48 hours, 4,100 minority community members were newly displaced, (more than the total of 3,664 that had returned throughout 2003), of whom 82 per cent were Serbs and the remaining 18 per cent included Roma and Ashkali as well as an estimated 350 Albanians from the Serb majority areas of Kosovska Mitrovica
and Leposavić
.
The government of Albania
has "come out strongly against the violent actions of the Albanian side" and is aiming to calm the violence, according to Holkeri (Helsingin Sanomat).
Denmark
pledged to send an additional 100 peacekeepers to the region after the violence began. Germany's
Defence Minister Peter Struck
said on March 19 that a further 600 peacekeepers were being sent to join German forces in Kosovo, with deployment to the region beginning on March 20. France
pledged to send about 400 more troops immediately to the region after the violence began. Russia
and Serbia-Montenegro called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which condemned the violence. On 19 March, the Russian Duma
passed a resolution (397 to 0) calling for the return of Serbia-Montenegro's troops to the southern province. Russia condemned KFOR and UNMIK's inabilities to stop the violence. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
has himself described the attacks as "planned in advance and co-ordinated... this was an attempted pogrom and ethnic cleansing" against Kosovo's Serbs. The United Kingdom
sent an additional 750 peacekeeping soldiers, which arrived in the region's capital Pristina
within 24 hours of the first attacks, to reinforce British
troops already on the ground. White House spokesman Scott McClellan
told reporters the Bush
administration called "on all groups to end the violence and refrain from violence." The U.S. State Department also repeated its call to stop the violence, stating: "The escalating violence threatens the process of democratization and reconciliation in Kosovo and must end."
and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi
joined UN governor Harri Holkeri, NATO southern commander Gregory Johnson, and other KFOR officials in condemning the violence and appealing for peace in Kosovo (B92).
Hashim Thaçi
, the former Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA) leader, "rejected ethnic division of Kosovo and said independence is a pre-condition for stability in the region." (VOA). He has also said, "Kosovo, NATO and the West have not fought for Kosovo only for Albanians, nor for a Kosovo ruled by violence...V. iolence is not the way to solve problems, violence only creates problems." (B92)
Kosovo Police established a special investigation team to handle cases related to the 2004 unrest and according to Kosovo Judicial Council by the end of 2006 the 326 charges filed by municipal and district prosecutors for criminal offenses in connection with the unrest had resulted in 200 indictments: convictions in 134 cases, and courts acquitted eight and dismissed 28; 30 cases were pending. International prosecutors and judges handled the most sensitive cases. By March 2010, 143 Kosovars of Albanian ethnicity were convicted, of which 67 received prison terms of over a year.
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...
, which at the time was under United Nations administration
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...
, broke out on 17 March 2004. Kosovo Albanians, numbering over 50,000, took part in widescale attacks on the Serbian people, compared by the then Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
to ethnic cleansing
Ethnic 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....
but not by the UN or NATO, it was the largest violent incident in the province since 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...
of 1999. During the unrest, 19 civilians were killed (8 ethnic Serbs and 11 ethnic Albanians), over 4000 Serbs were forced to leave their homes, 935 Serb houses, 10 public facilities (schools, health care centers and post offices) and 35 Serbian Orthodox church-buildings were desecrated
Desecration
Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful or contemptuous treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.-Detail:...
, damaged or destroyed.
The events are known in Serbia as the "March Pogrom".
Events in Kosovo preceding the 2004 unrest
More than 164,000 members of Kosovo's minorities have fled the province in the immediate aftermath of the war. This is especially true in the case of SerbsSerbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Roma. Ethnic tensions and territorial dispute have been a major problem in Kosovo for many years that sparked the Kosovo War of 1999 in which an estimated 10,000 people died, almost entirely Albanian civilians, which is also the reason cited by the U.S. State Department on the grounds of human rights abuses in order to justify the attacks on Yugoslavia. Since the end of the war, the province has been administered by the UN under the auspices of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...
(UNMIK), with security provided by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).
Those that remained organized themselves into enclaves
Kosovo Serb enclaves
Kosovo Serb Enclaves are the areas of Kosovo where Serbs form a majority, except for North Kosovo. While North Kosovo is connected to the rest of Serbia and mostly functions as a part of it, the enclaves are surrounded with areas of Albanian majority....
guarded by peacekeeping forces. Low-level violence continued after the war. Serbian minorities in Kosovo claimed to have been subjected to "persistent intimidation and harassment" , though the level of violence is reported to have declined somewhat since the end of the war. There have also been repeated attacks on Serbian Orthodox churches, shrines and other cultural monuments, with over a hundred being destroyed or damaged. Clashes had also broken out between Serbs and Albanians in the ethically Serb-dominated north of Kosovo, with Albanians harassing Serbs and chasing them out of their homes.
Shooting of Serbian teen
The latest unrest began on 15 March 2004 with the drive-by shooting of an 18-year-old Serb, Jovica Ivić, in the village of ČaglavicaČaglavica
Čaglavica is a village and Serb enclave near Pristina, Kosovo.Most of the village is in the southern Pristina municipality, a minor part is located in Gračanica...
in the central region of Kosovo. Local Serbs from the village staged demonstrations and blocked traffic in protest at the shooting tragedy.
Drowning of Albanian children
On 16 March, three Albanian children drowned in the Ibar River in the village of Čabar, near the Serb community of Zubin PotokZubin Potok
Zubin Potok is a town and municipality in the Kosovska Mitrovica district of northern Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo...
. A fourth boy survived. It was speculated that he and his friends had been chased into the river by Serbs in revenge for the shooting of Ivić the previous day, but this claim has not been proven.
The investigation of the UNMIK police determined that the Albanian accusations were false and spokesperson of the international police Neridz Sing stated that the Albanian boys who survived the tragedy were under great pressure exerted by Albanian journalists and politicians to accuse Serbs from the nearby village of the incident.
Violence
The following day thousands of Kosovo Albanians, protesting against the boys' deaths, gathered at the south end of the bridge across the Ibar at Kosovska MitrovicaKosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
, which divides the Serbian and Albanian districts of the town. A large crowd of Serbs gathered at the north end to prevent the Albanians from crossing. Peacekeepers from the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) blockaded the bridge, using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to keep the crowds apart. However, gunmen on both sides opened fire with sub-machine guns and grenades, killing at least eight people (two Albanians and six Serbs) and wounding over 300. Eleven peacekeepers were also injured, of which two seriously.
The violence continued on 18 March with further demonstrations in many localities across Kosovo, notably at Čaglavica again and also in Kosovska Mitrovica, Lipljan, Obilic
Obilic
Obilić is a town and municipality in central Kosovo, belonging to the Pristina district. The municipality includes the town of Obilić and 19 villages, with a total population of approximately 21,548....
and Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
. The casualty toll at the end of the day was 28 and 600 people were injured, including 61 peacekeepers and 55 police officers. U.N. spokeswoman Isabella Karlowitz said 110 houses and 16 churches were destroyed. She also reported that around 3,600 people had been made homeless by the violence, including but not limited to Serbs, Roma, and Ashkali
Ashkali
In the Balkans, the Ashkali and Egyptians are Albanian-speaking ethnic minorities of Kosovo and Albania. Observers consider them Albanized Romanies, but they do not self-identify as such...
.
Attacks on Kosovo Serbs
The sites of violence included:
- Belo PoljeBelo PoljeBelo Polje , meaning "White Field", can refer to:In Serbia:* Belo Polje , an industrial settlement on the approach to Surdulic and now part of the town of Surdulica* Belo Polje , village in municipality of Obrenovac...
– Serb returnees attacked - ČaglavicaČaglavicaČaglavica is a village and Serb enclave near Pristina, Kosovo.Most of the village is in the southern Pristina municipality, a minor part is located in Gračanica...
– 11 Serb houses set on fire, 5 Serbs killed. 17 Swedish soldiers wounded. - Kosovo PoljeKosovo PoljeKosovo Polje or Fushë Kosova is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of central Kosovo, at 42.63° North, 21.12° East, or approximately eight kilometres south-west of the capital Pristina...
– Serb houses and a hospital set on fire; - Lipljan – gunfights between KFOR and Albanians, 4 Serbs killed, remaining Serbs took refugee in Orthodox Church which was attacked;
- PećPecPeć or Pejë is a city and municipality in north-western Kosovo and Metohija - Serbia, and the administrative centre of the homonymous district. Governor of city is Ali Berisha....
– rioting in which UN offices were attacked; one Albanian killed by UN police. - PristinaPristinaPristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
– all remaining Serbs evacuated or forced out. Desecration of St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox church. - GnjilaneGnjilaneGnjilane or Gjilan is a city and municipality in eastern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the District of Gjilan. It is famous for having been recorded the lowest temperature in Kosovo with on 25 January 1963.-Name and history:...
– all remaining Serbs evacuated or forced out - Cernica, Serb village near Gnjilane – 3 Serbs killed
- SvinjareSvinjareSvinjare is a village in northern Kosovo, near Vucitrn. It is a Serb enclave.In March 2004 the village was razed by Kosovo Albanians and the village became a ghost town....
, Serb village near Kosovska MitrovicaKosovska MitrovicaKosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
– 4 Serbs killed - ObilićObilicObilić is a town and municipality in central Kosovo, belonging to the Pristina district. The municipality includes the town of Obilić and 19 villages, with a total population of approximately 21,548....
– Serb houses burnt, all Serbs chased out - VitinaVitinaVitina is a town and municipality in the Gnjilane district of south-eastern Kosovo.-Geography:Towns in the Vitina municipality include Pozhoran, Kabash, Binqa, Kllokot, Drobesh, Smirë, etc.-History:...
– Attack on church prevented by US Army KFOR troops, Orthodox priest injured, demonstrators threw rocks at US Army soldiers and set fire to many Serb homes. - Drajkovce, village near ŠtrpceŠtrpceŠtrpce is a town and municipality in the District of Uroševac, Kosovo and Metohija.According to the 1991 census, the municipality of Štrpce had a population of around 12,800 people...
– 2 Serbs killed - Grabac – Serbian village, most Serbs evacuated by Italian peacekeepers to Osojane, some parts of Grabac attacked.
In a statement on 18 March, the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
reported that a number of its churches and shrines in Kosovo had been damaged or destroyed by rioters. These included:
- PrizrenPrizrenPrizren is a historical city located in southern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.The city has a population of around 131,247 , mostly Albanians...
:- Our Lady of LjevišOur Lady of LjevišOur Lady of Ljeviš is a 12th-century Serbian Orthodox Church in the town of Prizren, located in southern Serbia - Kosovo and Metohija. It was converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and then back into an Orthodox Church in the early 20th century....
CathedralCathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
(Bogorodica Ljeviška) from 12th century was burned down on 17 March - Church of Holy Salvation (Sveti Spas) from 14th century
- Holy Hieromartyr George Cathedral (Sv. velikomučenika Đorđa), built in 1887 and housing the 14th century iconIconAn icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of Mary and an 18th century iconostasisIconostasisIn Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church... - Monastery of the Holy ArchangelsSaint Archangels MonasteryThe Saint Archangels Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Prizren, in southern Kosovo. It was founded by the Serbian emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia, and built between 1343 and 1352, on the site of the earlier church, part of the Višegrad fortress complex...
from the 14th century - Church of St. George Runović, from 15th century with 16th century iconostasisIconostasisIn Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
gates - Seat of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren
- Building of Sts. Cyrill and Methodius Orthodox Seminary, from 1880, sacked
- Our Lady of Ljeviš
- PećPecPeć or Pejë is a city and municipality in north-western Kosovo and Metohija - Serbia, and the administrative centre of the homonymous district. Governor of city is Ali Berisha....
:- Church of St. John the Baptist (Svetog Jovana Preteče i Krstitelja) set on fire on 17 March in Pećka Banja village
- PodujevoPodujevoPodujevo or Podujeva is a town and municipality located in the district of Pristina of north-eastern Kosovo.Podujevo is situated in a strategic position due to a regional motorway and railroad passing through it which links surrounding regions. Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, is located some to...
:-
- Saint Elijah Church destroyed and desecrated, coffins from the nearby SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , 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 cemetery were dug up, and bones of the dead were scattered away. - Belo PoljeBelo PoljeBelo Polje , meaning "White Field", can refer to:In Serbia:* Belo Polje , an industrial settlement on the approach to Surdulic and now part of the town of Surdulica* Belo Polje , village in municipality of Obrenovac...
village church of St. Nicholas from 19th century
- Saint Elijah Church destroyed and desecrated, coffins from the nearby Serbia
- Đakovica: Church of the Ascension of Our Lord (Uspenja Gospodnjeg) from 19th century, torched along with the parochial residence on March 17. Reports of Albanians clearing the ruins of the Church of the Holy Trinity, destroyed in 1999.
- UroševacUroševacFerizaj or Uroševac is a city and municipality in southern Kosovo, located some south of the capital Pristina.Uroševac is the third most populous city in Kosovo, after Pristina and Prizren.It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district...
: Church of Tzar St. Uroš - Kosovo PoljeKosovo PoljeKosovo Polje or Fushë Kosova is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of central Kosovo, at 42.63° North, 21.12° East, or approximately eight kilometres south-west of the capital Pristina...
:- Saint NicholasSaint NicholasSaint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
Church in Kosovo Polje town from 19th century - BresjeBresjeBresje may refer to one of either two villages in Serbia:*Bresje *Bresje...
village church of St. CatherineSt. Catherine-People:*Saint Catherine of Alexandria , also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine*Saint Caterina Volpicelli *Saint Catherine of Bologna *Saint Catherine of Genoa...
from 19th century
- Saint Nicholas
- GnjilaneGnjilaneGnjilane or Gjilan is a city and municipality in eastern Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the District of Gjilan. It is famous for having been recorded the lowest temperature in Kosovo with on 25 January 1963.-Name and history:...
: Church of St. Nicholas from 1861 - PristinaPristinaPristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
: Church of St. Nicholas from 19th century, damaged and sacked - VučitrnVucitrnVučitrn or Vushtrri is a city and municipality in north-eastern Kosovo. It is the seat of the Kosovska Mitrovica District. The name of the city means "wolf's thorn", the name of the spiny restharrow plant in Serbian....
: Church of St. Elijah, burned down - Southern Kosovska MitrovicaKosovska MitrovicaKosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
: Church of Saint SavaSaint SavaSaint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in...
set afire in the morning of March 18, adjoining Orthodox cemetery desecrated - Srbica: DevičDevicDevič is a Serb Orthodox abbey in Serbia . It was built in 1434 and is dedicated to St. Joannicius of Devič.Devič was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia....
Monastery, nuns evacuated by DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
soldiers, monastery pillaged and torched, the tomb of St. Joannicius of Devič was desecrated - Štimlje: Church of St. Michael the Archangel set on fire on March 19
- OrahovacOrahovacOrahovac is a town and municipality in western Kosovo, in the District of Đakovica.-Name:Its Serbian name stems from the Serbian word orah , meaning "walnut"....
: Bela CrkvaBela CrkvaBela Crkva translates to "White Church" in the south Slavic languages in the Ekavian accent regions. As a settlement name, it can refer to:* Bela Crkva, Vojvodina, a town in Vojvodina, Serbia...
and Brnjak village churches burnt - VitinaVitinaVitina is a town and municipality in the Gnjilane district of south-eastern Kosovo.-Geography:Towns in the Vitina municipality include Pozhoran, Kabash, Binqa, Kllokot, Drobesh, Smirë, etc.-History:...
: Two destroyed churches, in town and in village of Donja Slapašnica - ObilićObilicObilić is a town and municipality in central Kosovo, belonging to the Pristina district. The municipality includes the town of Obilić and 19 villages, with a total population of approximately 21,548....
: Church set afire
-
Attacks on UN personnel
The March events include the attacks on UN personnel. Serbian media reported that one foreigner (along with local staff) had been killed, whereas Albanian media said that some internationals had been wounded alongside local police. Both media claimed to have seen snipers from both sides and grenades thrown in face-to-face in gatherings.Serbian reaction
The events in Kosovo brought an immediate angry reaction on the streets of Serbia. On the evening of 17 March, crowds gathered in BelgradeBelgrade
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...
, Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
and Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
to demonstrate against the treatment of the Kosovo Serbs. Despite appeals for calm by Metropolitan Amfilohije
Amfilohije Radovic
Amfilohije Radović is the current Metropolitan of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, Archbishop of Cetinje.His role in the Yugoslav Wars is considered controversial.- Biography :...
of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
, the 17th century historic Bajrakli Mosque
Bajrakli Mosque, Belgrade
The Bajrakli Mosque is a mosque in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Gospodar Jevremova Street in the neighbourhood of Dorćol...
was attacked and set on fire. Islam Aga mosque in the southern city of Niš was also attacked and set on fire, while demonstrators chanted “Kill, kill Albanians!” When police arrived the mosque was already burning and some media reported that the police didn't move the crowd, so they blocked the fire fighters access to the mosque, leaving them unable to extinguish the fire. Both buildings were extensively damaged but were saved from complete destruction by the intervention of police and firefighters. Also properties of Muslim minorities, such as Goranis, Turks or Albanians were vandalized in Novi Sad and other cities throughout Serbia. Human Rights Watch has concluded that the Serbian State failed to prosecute violence in Novi Sad.
The Serbian government publicly denounced the violence in Kosovo. Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
gave a speech blaming organized Albanian separatists: "The events in northern Kosovo-Metohija reveal the true nature of Albanian separatism, its violent and terrorist nature ... [The government will] do all it can to stop the terror in Kosovo". Koštunica strongly criticized the failure of NATO and the UN to prevent the violence, and called for a state of emergency to be imposed on Kosovo.
The Minister of Minority Rights of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, Rasim Ljajić, himself a Muslim, said "What is now happening in Kosovo confirms two things: that this is a collapse of the international mission, and a total defeat of the international community."
Nebojsa Čović, the Serbian government's chief negotiator on matters relating to Kosovo, was sent to Kosovska Mitrovica on March 18 in a bid to calm the situation there. Serbian security forces also guarded the internal border between central Serbia and Kosovo in a bid to prevent demonstrators and paramilitaries from entering the province to foment further unrest.
The Serbs, represented by the "Union of Serbs in Kosovo and Metochia", describe the ordeal as "genocide" in a letter sent to the Serbian and Russian patriarchs, to Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
and the Serbian government, where, besides that, they quote the burning of 7 villages during the German occupation in World War II to the "several hundreds" burnt "under the rule of the troops of christian Europe and America" and according to which the "occupation of Kosovo surpasses all we had to sustain under fascism." The spared Serbian villages are compared to "concentration camps" because of the missing liberty of moving, electrical current and heating. According to the letter after 1999 there were 8500 homicides or disappearances of non-Albanian people with no single accomplice tried. They consider a possible secession of Kosovo by the Serbian government an "unforgivable neither by God nor by the people state treason".
In 2011, 7 years after the incident, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić spoke at the Wheaton College in Chicago:
- "In less than 72 hours, 35 churches and monasteries were set on fire, many of which date back to the 14th century or even further away in history, which represents an irretrievable loss for the mankind. Dozens of people were killed. Several thousand were wounded. Thousands of houses and shops were leveled to the ground. More than 4,000 Kosovo Serbs were expelled from their homes."
International reaction
The international community was taken by surprise by the sudden upsurge in violence. Kosovo had been fairly quiet since the end of 1999, although there had been occasional small-scale ethnic clashes throughout the past five years and an ongoing tension between Serbs and Albanians. This had, however, largely gone unnoticed by the Western media since 1999.KFOR troops closed Kosovo's borders with the remainder of Serbia-Montenegro and the UN suspended flights in and out of the province. NATO announced on 18 March that it would send another 1,000 troops – 750 of them from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
– to reinforce the 18,500 troops already there.
The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
both appealed for calm, calling on local leaders to restrain their supporters. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
urged both sides to cooperate with the peacekeeping forces but pointedly reminded the Kosovo Albanians that they had a responsibility "to protect and promote the rights of all people within Kosovo, particularly its minorities".
An Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
(OSCE) official in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
called the events an orchestrated plan to drive out the remaining Serbs, while one anonymous UNMIK official reportedly referred to the event as Kosovo's Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
. The commander of NATO's South Flank, Admiral Gregory G. Johnson
Gregory G. Johnson
Admiral Gregory G. Johnson is a retired United States Navy admiral, and former commander U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Allied Forces, Southern Europe.-Military career:...
, said on 19 March that
the violence verged on ethnic cleansing of Serbs by Albanians. On 20 March, Kosovo's UN administrator, Harri Holkeri, told journalists that "Maybe the very beginning was spontaneous but after the beginning certain extremist groups had an opportunity to orchestrate the situation and that is why we urgently are working to get those perpetrators into justice."
According to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, at least 19 people died—11 Albanians and eight Serbs—and over 1,000 were injured while some 730 houses belonging to minorities, mostly Kosovo Serbs, as well as 36 Orthodox churches, monasteries and other religious and cultural sites were damaged or destroyed. In less than 48 hours, 4,100 minority community members were newly displaced, (more than the total of 3,664 that had returned throughout 2003), of whom 82 per cent were Serbs and the remaining 18 per cent included Roma and Ashkali as well as an estimated 350 Albanians from the Serb majority areas of Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
and Leposavić
Leposavic
Leposavić is a town and [Municipalities of Kosovo|municipality]] in the district of Kosovska Mitrovica of northern Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with at least 98%ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo...
.
The government of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
has "come out strongly against the violent actions of the Albanian side" and is aiming to calm the violence, according to Holkeri (Helsingin Sanomat).
Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
pledged to send an additional 100 peacekeepers to the region after the violence began. Germany's
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Defence Minister Peter Struck
Peter Struck
Peter Struck was the German Minister of Defence under chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 22 October 2002 until 2005. A lawyer, Struck is a member of the Social Democratic Party.-Education:* 1962: Abitur...
said on March 19 that a further 600 peacekeepers were being sent to join German forces in Kosovo, with deployment to the region beginning on March 20. France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
pledged to send about 400 more troops immediately to the region after the violence began. Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Serbia-Montenegro called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which condemned the violence. On 19 March, the Russian Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
passed a resolution (397 to 0) calling for the return of Serbia-Montenegro's troops to the southern province. Russia condemned KFOR and UNMIK's inabilities to stop the violence. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
has himself described the attacks as "planned in advance and co-ordinated... this was an attempted pogrom and ethnic cleansing" against Kosovo's Serbs. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sent an additional 750 peacekeeping soldiers, which arrived in the region's capital Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
within 24 hours of the first attacks, to reinforce British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
troops already on the ground. White House spokesman Scott McClellan
Scott McClellan
Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush, and author of a controversial No. 1 New York Times bestseller about the Bush Administration titled What Happened. He replaced Ari Fleischer as press secretary in July 2003 and served until May 10, 2006...
told reporters the Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration called "on all groups to end the violence and refrain from violence." The U.S. State Department also repeated its call to stop the violence, stating: "The escalating violence threatens the process of democratization and reconciliation in Kosovo and must end."
Reactions by Kosovo Albanian politicians
Kosovo Albanian politicians such as President Ibrahim RugovaIbrahim 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 ....
and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi
Bajram Rexhepi
Bajram Rexhepi is a politician. He is currently Interior Minister of the Republic of Kosovo and a member of the Kosovo Assembly. He was also the first elected post-war Prime Minister of Kosovo...
joined UN governor Harri Holkeri, NATO southern commander Gregory Johnson, and other KFOR officials in condemning the violence and appealing for peace in Kosovo (B92).
Hashim Thaçi
Hashim Thaci
Hashim Thaçi is the Prime Minister of Republic of Kosovo, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , and former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army .-Early life and education:...
, the former 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) leader, "rejected ethnic division of Kosovo and said independence is a pre-condition for stability in the region." (VOA). He has also said, "Kosovo, NATO and the West have not fought for Kosovo only for Albanians, nor for a Kosovo ruled by violence...V. iolence is not the way to solve problems, violence only creates problems." (B92)
Kosovo Police established a special investigation team to handle cases related to the 2004 unrest and according to Kosovo Judicial Council by the end of 2006 the 326 charges filed by municipal and district prosecutors for criminal offenses in connection with the unrest had resulted in 200 indictments: convictions in 134 cases, and courts acquitted eight and dismissed 28; 30 cases were pending. International prosecutors and judges handled the most sensitive cases. By March 2010, 143 Kosovars of Albanian ethnicity were convicted, of which 67 received prison terms of over a year.
See also
- Persecution of Serbs
- Gračanica bus bombingGracanica bus bombingThe Podujevo bus bombing was a attack on a civilian bus in a Serb-populated area near the town of Podujevo in Kosovo on 16 February 2001 allegedly by ethnic Albanian...
- Kosovo: Can You Imagine?Kosovo: Can You Imagine?Canadian journalist and military expert Scott Taylor said the following about the film:Former Canadian diplomat and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Yugoslavia, James Byron Bissett stated this about the film:...
, documentary - Stolen KosovoStolen KosovoStolen Kosovo is a Czech language documentary by director Václav Dvořák , about the Serbian–Albanian conflict in Kosovo.-Plot:The documentary describes the situation in Kosovo, first in a short overview of the history of the area, followed by the 1990s conflicts and bombing of Serbia by NATO...
, documentary - IconoclasmIconoclasmIconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
- 2008 unrest in Kosovo2008 unrest in KosovoThe 2008 unrest in Kosovo follows Kosovo's declaration of independence on February 17, 2008. Some Kosovo Serbs opposed to secession have boycotted the move by refusing to follow orders from the central government in Pristina and attempting to seize infrastructure and border posts in Serb-populated...
Sources
- Humanitarian Law Center, Ethnic Violence in Kosovo, March 2004, PDF
External links
- Pictures of the violence and its aftermath
- News and news archive, pictures
- Christopher Deliso, "An Uncertain Future for the Serbian Refugees in Kosovo," Antiwar.com, April 7, 2004
- Christopher Deliso, "The Internationals and the Mobs: Kosovo's Moment of Truth," Antiwar.com, April 15, 2004
- The reaction in Serbia, where non-Serbian property was vandalized by Serbian mobs.
- SEE Security Monitor: Seven years since Albanian pogrom against Serbs in Kosovo