Gornje Obrinje massacre
The Gornje Obrinje massacre (Albanian: Masakra në Abri të Epërme, Serbian: Masakr u Gornjem Obrinju) refers to the killing of 21 Kosovo Albanians, belonging to the same family, in a forest outside the village of Donje Obrinje on 26 September 1998 by Serbian Police Forces during the Kosovo War. Among the victims were women and children.
| Gornje Obrinje massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Gornje Obrinje, Republic of Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia |
| Date | 26 September 1998 |
| Target | Kosovo Albanians |
Attack type | Mass killing |
| Deaths | 21 |
| Perpetrators | Serbian police |
| Motive | Retribution |
The Yugoslav Army had been deployed in the area for several months in a major offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which had assumed loose control of an estimated one-third of the province. There was serious combat in the areas of Suva Reka and Drenica.[1] At least 14 policemen had been killed by the KLA earlier that month.[2] On 25 September, a Serbian police vehicle was blown up by a detonation on the road between Likovac and Gornje Obrinje, with five dead.[3] The KLA sometimes retreated through villages after their frequent attacks on Serbian police, moving in proximity to civilians.[4] According to HRW, the Serbian special police retaliated by killing 21 civilians,[2] belonging to the family of Deliaj from Donje Obrinje, on 26 September.[5] Among these were 9 women and 5 children.[6] They had been executed in a nearby forest.[5] Later that same day, 14 men were randomly selected some kilometres from Gornje Obrinje, abused for several hours, then eventually 13 were executed[2] in Golubovac.[1] On 27 September HRW researchers and journalists arrived at the village and documented the massacre, garnering major Western media coverage.[1]
International political pressure on the FR Yugoslav government to end its crackdown in Kosovo was accelerated by the news of these killings, leading to a new resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council on 24 October 1998, calling for the deployment of the Diplomatic Verification Mission and an end to hostilities.
References
- Human Rights Watch (1999). "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: A Week of Terror in Drenica, Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo".
- Dag Henriksen (15 November 2013). NATO's Gamble: Combining Diplomacy and Airpower in the Kosovo Crisis, 1998-1999. Naval Institute Press. pp. 132–. ISBN 978-1-61251-555-7.
- International Campaign to Ban Land Mines (1999). Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-free World. Human Rights Watch. pp. 831–. ISBN 978-1-56432-231-9.
- Fred C. Abrahams (15 May 2015). Modern Albania: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe. NYU Press. pp. 264–. ISBN 978-1-4798-9668-4.
- HRW 1998.
- Jasminka Udovicki; James Ridgeway (10 October 2000). Burn This House: The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia. Duke University Press. pp. 331–. ISBN 0-8223-8091-9.
Sources
- Krieger, Heike (2001). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521800716. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
- Bahador, B. (2007). The CNN Effect in Action: How the News Media Pushed the West toward War in Kosovo. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp. 83–84. ISBN 978-0-230-60422-3.
- HRW (1998). "Eighteen Civilians Massacred in Kosovo Forest". HRW.
- Peter Bouckaert; Fred Abrahams; Human Rights Watch (Organization) (1999). Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: A Week of Terror in Drenica : Humanitarian Law Violations in Kosovo. Human Rights Watch. pp. 20–. ISBN 978-1-56432-227-2.
- "Da znamo: Gornje Obrinje, 26. septembar 1998". HLC-RDC.