INVESTIGATIONS IN DRENICA

8 March 1998

Investigating reports on the killing of a large number of people in Liko{ane and ]irez villages in the Drenica area (Kosovo), the Humanitarian Law Center arrived at findings which contradict Serbian police reports on the number of dead and the locations and circumstances in which they were killed. HLC representatives toured the area, scrutinized the houses and outbuildings, examined traces, and spoke with eyewitnesses and people who heard the gunfire and cries. The HLC investigations were conducted on 1 March after the police withdrew from the area, and on 3 March when the dead Kosovo Albanians were buried.

The investigations established that police killed 26 persons, not 16 as officially reported by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs. At least 10 were killed in the yards of houses, near barns, on the local road and in a field.

Rukije Nebiu, mother of two and near term with her third child, was killed in her home in ]irez. Her husband D`em{ir and brother-in-law Ilir were also killed, while their father Sefer was seriously wounded. Ajet, 63, and his nephew Be}ir were killed in the Red`epi family house. Four Sejdiu brothers were killed: Be}ir, 28; Bekim, 23, and the 24-year-old twins Nazmi and Bedri. Ibi{ Rama and Ismaih Behrami were kiled in the same village but the HLC was unable to establish the circumstances of their death.

Ten members of the Ahmeti family and a number of other people went missing during the police action in Liko{ane village. On 2 March, a private citizen sent word to Liko{ane that the bodies of the Ahmeti family members were at the morgue of the Pri{tina state hospital. When taking over the bodies on 3 March, relatives took also the bodies of five more persons, among whom they recognized [aban Muju and Behram Fazliu from the neighboring village Gradica and who were at the Ahmeti house during the police action. The three remaining bodies were identified by relatives before they were buried. The HLC was unable to determine whether the Ahmetis, Djelji and Behrami were killed on the spot or after they were taken from their houses or the village. All the Ahmeti family members killed were males, from the 16-year-old Elhami to the 50-year-old Ahmet. There were body parts, teeth and scattered clothing close to the wall encircling the Ahmeti property. On the wall itself, there was an inscription made with a piece of brick reading: "This is what will happen next time too," and a drawing of four pieces of flint in the squares of a cross.

Muhamet Islam Djelji, 70, and his son Naser, 37, were killed in the house opposite to the Ahmetis. Muhamet was killed in an outbuilding on whose floor there was a pool of coagulated blood, an ax and a cap. His son Naser was killed in the next room in the presence of his wife and two children. He was hit by a bullet that came through a window over which he had placed a mattress for protection. Traces of blood through the room, over the doorstep and into the yard showed that his body had been dragged out of the building. It was subsequently found at the Pri{tina state hospital morgue.

While conducting investigations in the field, the HLC learned that Bekim Be}ir Deliju, a 16-year-old cigarette seller, was killed in the village of Gornja Obrija in the same police action.

HLC representatives visited the homes of the Ahmeti family and their neighbors, the Djeli, in Liko{ane, and the homes of the Sejdiu brothers and the Red`epi and Nebiu families in ]irez. They saw traces of blood in the rooms, yards and walls and on the walls surrounding the properties. The furniture was broken and personal belongings were scattered around. Outbuildings in some of the yards had been torn down, and shell casings of various caliber were everywhere. Tracks made by heavy vehicles and signs of attack from helicopters were clearly visible on 3 March.

Police blocked all the roads leading to Drenica on the day of the funerals. All men who tried to reach Liko{ane to attend were stopped on the road at Kosovska Mitrovica and Komorane, searched and turned back. The Ahmeti family encountered major problems in getting to Pri{tina to pick up the bodies of their relatives, and were detained for several hours when transporting their dead back to the village. Many foreign correspondents, reporters for domestic media and others were prevented from entering Drenica.

No autopsies were performed on the bodies left in the village. Nor were signs of autopsies visible on the bodies taken over from the morgue in Pri{tina, and the families were not given any medical reports. The HLC is unable to report developments in Drenica after 1 March as the area is under police siege.