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KDOM Update
Released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, January 26, 1999 |
(Editor's Note: With the progressive changeover of responsibility from KDOM to OSCE/KVM, the KDOM Daily Report has been replaced by this Update, which is published as material becomes available.)Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-5624) from daily reports of the U.S. element
of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observers Mission and other sourcesJanuary 26, 1999
U.S. KDOM observed the FRY police/military attack on the Racak-Pettovo-Malopoljce area throughout the day on January 15. VJ armored units and mortars fired into the villages, with at least three tank rounds visibly hitting civilian houses. Fires started by the shelling burned in the villages for several hours after the attack. By 4:30 that afternoon, the attack had ended and KDOM entered the villages where one body was found quickly. KDOM called in the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) to assess the situation, which turned out to represent one of the most serious humanitarian disasters of the Kosovo crisis. KDOM then undertook the evacuation of wounded civilians, including one child, two women, and an elderly man.
The January 15 attack on Racak and the other villages by FRY police and military forces continues to be investigated by various international organizations, including the OSCE/ KVM, KDOM, and a team of Finnish forensic experts. The on-ground investigation performed by U.S. KDOM and KVM on the day following the event turned up 45 dead bodies of ethnic Albanian villagers. Forty of the dead were found in or very near Racak itself and five had been transported by family to nearby locations. The KVM team met with villagers at midday on January 16 where the exact location and condition of bodies was recorded. Twenty-three of the bodies were discovered on a hill above the village where, the evidence showed, they had been shot (most in the head). The dead all wore civilian clothing and no arms or ammunition were found near the bodies, some of which had been horribly mutilated. Media reports suggesting that the Racak dead were combatants who had been fighting from nearby trenches were debunked by the evidence turned up by the KDOM/KVM investigations.
Following the Racak massacre, KDOM monitored Serb forces' activities in the area, including movement of personnel, equipment, and vehicles. KDOM and KVM stationed their patrols between Serb and KLA forces in an attempt to prevent confrontations. On January 19, KDOM, KVM, and NGO vehicles were used to transport at least 150 Kosovar civilians past Serb checkpoints around Racak. On January 20, KDOM and KVM interviewed witnesses to the Racak killings. KDOM visited KLA prisoners held in the Serbian prison at Nis. On January 21, five elderly Serbian civilians were abducted by the KLA near Vucitrn (between Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica). The KLA claimed that the Serbs (including two women) had been firing automatic weapons at KLA soldiers passing their homes.
On January 23, nine KLA prisoners were released by the Serb authorities in return for the release of eight Serb soldiers taken by the KLA on January 8. The KVM and KDOM facilitated the exchange of prisoners. At the time of the prisoner release, KDOM also arranged for the release to the KVM of the five Serb civilians taken by the KLA on January 21.
While sporadic fighting took place in a few locations, Kosovo remained generally quiet over the weekend of January 23-24. In Pristina, the team of Finnish forensic experts performed autopsies on the victims of the Racak massacre.
[End of Document]
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