Racak
Encyclopedia
Račak is a village in central Kosovo
located at 42°25′46"N 21°00′59"E. It became notorious in January 1999 after 45 people were killed in the village during the conflict between state security forces and Albanian guerrillas.
Prior to the summer of 1998, Račak had a population of around 2,000 people. Most of its population was displaced by fighting between government security forces and guerrillas from the Kosovo Liberation Army
in July 1998. By January 1999, about 350 people had returned to the village, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE). On 16 January 1999, OSCE monitors found the bodies of 45 people in and around the village in what became widely known as the Racak incident
. Following the incident, for which the international community blamed the security forces, the remaining population fled and did not return until the end of the Kosovo War
in June 1999.
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...
located at 42°25′46"N 21°00′59"E. It became notorious in January 1999 after 45 people were killed in the village during the conflict between state security forces and Albanian guerrillas.
Prior to the summer of 1998, Račak had a population of around 2,000 people. Most of its population was displaced by fighting between government security forces and guerrillas from 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....
in July 1998. By January 1999, about 350 people had returned to the village, according to the 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). On 16 January 1999, OSCE monitors found the bodies of 45 people in and around the village in what became widely known as the Racak incident
Racak incident
Operation Račak , also known as the Račak Massacre , "The Račak Incident", "The Račak case" and "The Račak Hoax" of 15 January 1999 was the killing of 45 Kosovo Albanians in the village of Račak by either combat or murder in central Kosovo...
. Following the incident, for which the international community blamed the security forces, the remaining population fled and did not return until the end 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...
in June 1999.