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 | |
| Location | Vushtrri, Kosovo |
| Date | 2–3 May 1999 (Central European Time) |
| Target | Kosovo Albanian refugees |
Attack type | Mass Killing |
| Deaths | 100–120 |
| Perpetrators | Serbian 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
- Bruce, Cabell (August 15, 1999). "Serb war criminals seize north Kosovo". The Independent.
- "Vucitrn (Vushtrri) Municipality". Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2001. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
- "Vlastimir Đorđević Convicted for Crimes in Kosovo". ICTY. February 23, 2011.
- "POLICE CRIMES IN VUCITRN". SENSE Tribunal. January 4, 2009.
- "Case Information Sheet: Vlastimir Đorđević" (PDF). ICTY. Retrieved December 25, 2015.