Kosovo War

The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts (a civil war followed by an international war) in Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia, part of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. These conflicts were:

War crimes

Shortly after the start of the bombing, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milo?evi?, along with Milan Milutinovi?, Nikola Sainovi?, Dragoljub Ojdani? and Vlajko Stojiljkovi? were charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with crimes against humanity including murder, forcible transfer, deportation and "persecution on political, racial or religious grounds". One unusual factor in Milo?evi?'s indictment was that initially it was a closed indictment (i.e. that specifics were not made public) and when it was eventually opened it was found that all but one of the headings, that dealing with the Racak incident, were for things which happened during the NATO-bombing and thus either hadn't happened or couldn't be investigated at the time of the indictment. The ICTY later acknowledged that its timing was intended to preclude the possibility of Milo?evi? negotiating immunity as part of any peace settlement.

Related Topics:
Milan Milutinovi? - Nikola Sainovi? - Dragoljub Ojdani? - Vlajko Stojiljkovi? - International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia - Racak incident - Immunity

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Further indictments were leveled in October 2003 against former armed forces chief of staff Nebojsa Pavkovi?, former army corps commander Vladimir Lazarevi?, former police official Vlastimir ?or?evi? and the current head of Serbia's public security, Sreten Luki?. All were indicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.

Related Topics:
October 2003 - Nebojsa Pavkovi? - Vladimir Lazarevi? - Vlastimir ?or?evi? - Sreten Luki?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The ICTY also leveled indictments against KLA members Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala, Isak Musliu and Agim Murtezi, indicted for crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and imprisonment, and five counts of violations of the laws or customs of war, including murder and cruel treatment. They were arrested on February 17–18, 2003. Charges were soon dropped against Agim Murtezi as a case of mistaken identity. The charges were in relation to the prison camp run by the defendants at Lapusnik between May and July 1998.

Related Topics:
February 17 - 18 - 2003

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

War crimes prosecutions have also been carried out in Yugoslavia. Yugoslav soldier Ivan Nikoli? was found guilty in 2002 of war crimes in the deaths of two civilians in Kosovo. A significant number of soldiers were tried by military tribunals during the war.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Serbian government and a number of international pressure groups claimed that NATO had carried out war crimes during the conflict, particularly regarding the bombing of alleged dual-use facilities such as the Serbian TV headquarters in Belgrade. The ICTY conducted an inquiry into these charges. http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/nato061300.htm

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~