Kosovo Activists File War Crimes Complaints Against Serbs

A group of civil society activists in Kosovo filed 61 criminal complaints about war crimes by Serbian police and military forces to the Special Prosecution in Pristina.

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A war victim is buried in Gjakova/Djakovica in 2005. Photo: EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ.

Activists from the Civil Society Group filed 61 criminal complaints on Monday against named Serbs who they alleged committed crimes in the municipality of Gjakova/Djakovica during the 1998-99 war.

This was the seventh series of war crimes complaints to be filed to prosecutors by activists in Gjakova/Djakovica.

The head of the Civil Society Group, Shkendije Hoda, said that since the start of their campaign, the prosecution’s interest in investigating war crimes in the Gjakova/Djakovica area has increased.

“We have some 62 files with 100 testimonies and we are continuing to collect evidence from citizens of the Gjakova municipality,” Hoda said.

“We are seeing that we have the support from the prosecution and police in collecting war crimes evidence because they have started to question witnesses in Gjakova. This is a success because we are seeing that the state is interested in this issue,” she added.

In June, the group submitted 150 war crimes complaints to the Special Prosecution.

More than 10,000 ethnic Albanian civilians were killed during the war in Kosovo, and hundreds of thousands expelled. Some of the victims were later found in concealed mass graves in Serbia.

About 1,600 people are still listed as missing, mostly ethnic Albanians but also some Serbs.