Vushtrri massacre

The Vushtrri massacre was the mass killing of Kosovo Albanian refugees near Vushtrri, during the Kosovo War on 2–3 May 1999.

Vushtrri massacre
Location of Vushtrri in Kosovo
LocationVushtrri, Kosovo
Date2–3 May 1999 (Central European Time)
TargetKosovo Albanian refugees
Attack type
Mass Killing
Deaths100–120
PerpetratorsSerbian Police

Background

A column of about 1,000 refugees were travelling in a convoy of about 100 tractors, who were fleeing fighting between the KLA and Serbian forces east of Vushtrri.[1] Serbian Police and paramilitary forces caught up with the convoy that traveled south. On 2-3 May between Gornja Sudimlja and Donja Sudimlja (Albanian: Studime e Eperme and Studime e Poshtme) near Vushtrri, an estimated one hundred men were killed.[2]

ICTY investigator Romeu Ventura stated that 120 civilians were murdered on 2 May by Serb forces and buried two days later in a mass grave five miles east of Vushtrri.[1] After the war, ICTY forensic teams discovered 98 bodies in Gornja Sudimlja.[2]

The Vushtrri case was raised at the trial of Serbian police general Vlastimir Đorđević.[3] The indictment against Đorđević says that some 105 Kosovo Albanians were killed in the massacre near the village of Sudimlje on 2 May 1999.[4] Đorđević was sentenced to 27 years in prison.[5]

References

  1. Bruce, Cabell (August 15, 1999). "Serb war criminals seize north Kosovo". The Independent.
  2. "Vucitrn (Vushtrri) Municipality". Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2001. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  3. "Vlastimir Đorđević Convicted for Crimes in Kosovo". ICTY. February 23, 2011.
  4. "POLICE CRIMES IN VUCITRN". SENSE Tribunal. January 4, 2009.
  5. "Case Information Sheet: Vlastimir Đorđević" (PDF). ICTY. Retrieved December 25, 2015.

See also


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