HLC SPECIAL REPORT #14
Natasa Kandic
10th August 1999

Post-War Orahovac

In the District Court in Nis (Serbia), investigative proceedings have started against the Yugoslav Army volunteer, Igor Radocaj (31), on suspicion of his having murdered two Albanians and stealing 450 DEM and 1,550 dinars from them, after the signing of the Military-Technical Agreement between NATO and the YA.

Three mass graves were discovered in Orahovac. In July 1998, more than 100 Albanian civilians were killed during clashes between the KLA and Serbian forces. From March 24th 1999, till the arrival of KFOR, 38 Albanian civilians were killed and an Albanian boy was injured by a land mine. After the arrival of KFOR, 21 Serbs and six Roma went missing.

Following the arrival of KFOR, the KLA maintains authority in the town. The remaining Serbs in the Serb quarter include top officials of the former (Serbian) authorities. They are not popular among the Serbs. They accuse them of having wished to escape. The fact is that all the other, former municipal officials have fled from Kosovo.

Mass graves

The place where the KLA members who were killed in this year's fighting with the Serbian forces is marked by flowers. The site where the bodies of Albanian civilians killed in the period from March 24th till the arrival of the KFOR are buried is guarded by Dutch soldiers. Several dozen people from Orahovac and the surrounding villages, among them about 20 women and children, are known to be buried here. The local Albanians found this grave after the withdrawal of the Serbian forces. The marked graves indicate that the Serbian police buried them. In the second half of June, after the return of the Albanian refugees and the arrival of KFOR, relatives transferred the bodies of their family members, found in various places in Orahovac, to this site.

The third mass grave dates from 1998. It is located in a field where, apart from other things, there is a refuse dump. Parts of coffins can be seen sticking out of the soil, and it is evident that some bodies were taken away. This concerns a mass grave the Serbian police publicly admitted, when denying the allegations of an Austrian journalist who said that on this site there were several hundred Albanian civilians, killed in July 1998. In response to the mentioned charges, the Serbian police issued information that in this grave were "55 terrorists", killed in the clashes between the KLA and the Serbian forces in Orahovac.

Accusations of war crimes in the period from March 24th to June 12th

Among the dead Albanian civilians are twelve women, three children (aged six, seven and ten years) and two 13-year olds. The local Albanians claim that among the remaining Serbs in Orahovac there are at least 20 people who committed war crimes. The Serb doctor, Vekoslav Simi} is publicly said to have been connected with the murder of three members of the Demshi family. They blame a policeman from Opterushe, Ljubisa Bozanovic for the death of Elmaza Sylka. They said this policeman took her from her house and afterwards her body was found beside the graveyard. They claim a policeman from Kijevo, Bozidar Damjanovic, murdered three shepherds, Qazim, Sabit and Fahredin Ramsha.

From the end of March till the beginning of June, 47 mercenaries fought on the Serbian side (45 Russians, one Greek and a Bulgarian). They were staying in three houses that belonged to Albanians who had been expelled. They operated in the villages. The Bulgarian allegedly told the Albanians in the neighborhood that their wages were 450 DEM and their assignment was to kill Albanian peasants.

Serbs beside the Serbian Orthodox Church

Among the missing Serbs is Grkovic Ljubisa, a person with serious mental problems, and the deaf-mute Kazic Snezana. Three kidnapped Serbs, among them the father of Dr. Vekoslav Simic, were released after three days of interrogation in a KLA prison. Four kidnapped persons, three of them refugees from Croatia, were murdered. KFOR found their bodies on June 22nd in Brnjaca village, below the "Termoment" factory. Thier hands had been tied with wire and they had been shot at close range.

Several hundred Serbs left Orahovac on June 12th, before the arrival of KFOR. After frequent kidnappings and expulsions from 142 apartments in buildings where the residents were of mixed ethnic origin, in the period from June 16th to June 20th, about 600 Serbs from the down town area moved to the Serb quarter beside the Serbian Orthodox church. After 55 of their houses had been burned down in the village of Zociste, 198 Serbs took refugee here, so that a total of 1,200 Serbs remain. After the disappearance of eight Serbs who went down to the town to check their apartments in the period from July 20th to August 1st, the Serbs no longer venture into the town center. They maintain contact with Dutch and German soldiers, representatives of the International Red Cross and the High Commission for Refugees, journalists and humanitarian organizations who deliver food to them.

The remaining Serbs are divided in their views about remaining in Kosovo. The majority think they cannot survive in Kosovo. Among the Serbs who have stayed are high-ranking officials of the former Serbian authorities, managers of public companies, police and Yugoslav Army reservists, the parents and relatives of policemen. The sick and the elderly register themselves on the list of the High Commission for Refugees, who arranges their departure to Serbia. Nearly all the men have weapons. They say, all the Albanians have weapons too. No one denies that among the remaining Serbs are people who participated in looting and destroying Albanian property. No one dares mention their names, the names of the people who belonged to the paramilitary groups from Serbia or their informants in the field. They are all convinced that the murderers of 38 Albanian civilians are not among the remaining Serbs. Regarding the Russian mercenaries, the former municipal officials say that as civilian authorities they had not been acquainted with military activities, they had seen Russians, but they were not in their jurisdiction. They denied that a Civilian Crisis Headquarters had existed in Orahovac.

Roma between Albanians and Serbs

In addition to the Serbs, there are about 900 Roma in the settlement. Six Roma disappeared at the beginning of June. Among them was 20-year old Adrian Isaku, the son of a policeman, and the deaf-mute Jusuf Hamza. In the second half of June, 30 Roma were interrogated in the KLA police. Four of their houses were burned down. They will stay in Orahovac while the Serbs are there.

General Impression

This report is based on my observations, collected data and impressions during my stay in Orahovac from July 31st to August 1st. I plan to encourage talks between the Albanians, who finally feel free, and the remaining Serbs who feel unprotected. I am thinking of the people I met and their words; of the mother who I told that her sons, political prisoners, were alive and that I could take a parcel to them; of Dashu Hoxhu, whose husband was killed in July 1998, and whose son was killed by a land mine in June 1999. Her message to her daughter is "it was war, the revenge must stop". I am thinking of the Albanian, from a group of 60 men who were forcibly taken to the Albanian frontier to dig trenches, who sent greetings to Mia, a reservist from Leskovac; of the Albanian language teacher who asks about the Serbs "what do they say, the school year will start, they can't always stay beside the church"; of the group of Serbs who admit that some local Serbs pointed out Albanian houses to the paramilitary forces from Serbia; of those Serbs who did not hide that KFOR had confiscated stolen Albanian property from the Serbian quarter. I hear the judge who registered to leave: "I judged according to my conscience, I am a member of the SPS, I have two sons who are policemen, my place is not in Kosovo"; of the Albanian who says about the missing and murdered Serbs: this one had a house full of weapons, this one was always armed, that one were in Arkan's tigers , his son was an arsonist, that one was in the paramilitary forces..."; or of the Serb who asks himself "who has the power to liberate the Serbs of the fear that they will be killed or expelled". I am thinking of the Roma who are with the Serbs, but have more confidence in the OSCE and KFOR.