Trond Andresen
> The Indictment
>
> The United Nations war crimes tribunal has indicted
> President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia for
> human rights atrocities in Kosovo. The following are
> edited excerpts of the 9,000-word document that
> details the forced deportations and mass murders of
> Kosovo civilians, for which he and his four top
> associates are held collectively responsible:
>
> The first 89 paragraphs detail the rise to power of
> the indictees and their moves to strip Kosovo of its
> autonomy. The document then deals with war
> crimes of the last three months.
>
> 90. Beginning in January 1999 and continuing to the
> date of this indictment, Slobodan MILOSEVIC,
> Milan MILUTINOVIC, Nikola SAINOVIC,
> Dragoljub OJDANIC and Vlajko STOJILJKOVIC
> planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise
> aided and abetted in a campaign of terror and
> violence directed at Kosovo Albanian civilians living
> in Kosovo in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
> (FRY).
>
> 91. The operations targeting the Kosovo Albanians
> were undertaken with the objective of removing a
> substantial portion of the Kosovo Albanian
> population from Kosovo in an effort to ensure
> continued Serbian control over the province.
>
> 92. The forces of the FRY and Serbia have, in a
> systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally
> displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo
> Albanians from their homes across the entire
> province of Kosovo. To facilitate these expulsions,
> the forces of the FRY and Serbia have intentionally
> created an atmosphere of fear and oppression
> through the use of force, threats of force and acts
> of violence.
>
> 93. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and
> Serbia have looted and pillaged the personal and
> commercial property belonging to Kosovo Albanians
> forced from their homes. Policemen, soldiers and
> military officers have used wholesale searches,
> threats of force and acts of violence to rob Kosovo
> Albanians of money and valuables and, in a
> systematic manner, authorities at FRY border posts
> have stolen personal vehicles and other property
> from Kosovo Albanians being deported.
>
> 94. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and
> Serbia have engaged in a systematic campaign of
> destruction of property owned by Kosovo Albanian
> civilians. This has been accomplished through the
> widespread shelling of towns and villages; the
> burning of homes, farms, and businesses; and the
> destruction of personal property. As a result of these
> orchestrated actions, villages, towns and entire
> regions have been made uninhabitable.
>
> 95. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and
> Serbia have harassed, humiliated and degraded
> Kosovo Albanian civilians through physical and
> verbal abuse. Policemen, soldiers and military
> officers have persistently subjected Kosovo
> Albanians to insults, racial slurs, degrading acts,
> beatings and other forms of physical mistreatment
> based on their racial, religious and political
> identification.
>
> 96. Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and
> Serbia have systematically seized and destroyed the
> personal identity documents and licences of vehicles
> belonging to Kosovo Albanian civilians. These
> actions have been undertaken in order to erase any
> record of the deported Kosovo Albanians' presence
> in Kosovo and to deny them the right to return to
> their homes.
>
> 97. Beginning on or about 1 January 1999 the forces
> of the FRY and Serbia, acting at the direction, with
> the encouragement, or with the support of Slobodan
> MILOSEVIC, Milan MILUTINOVIC, Nikola
> SAINOVIC, Dragoljub OJDANIC and Vlajko
> STOJILJKOVIC have perpetrated actions . which
> have resulted in the forced deportation of
> approximately 740,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians.
> These actions have been undertaken in all areas of
> Kosovo, including the following municipalities:
>
> [There follows a detailed list of the forced
> deportations of ethnic Albanians from the Kosovo
> municipalities of Djakovica, Gnjilane, Kosovska
> Mitrovica, Orahovac, Pec and Pristina, Srbica, Suva
> Reka and Prizren. The Independent reproduces only
> the account of the deportation of Pristina.]
>
> Pristina: On or about 1 April 1999, Serbian police
> went to the homes of Kosovo Albanians in the city
> of Pristina and forced the residents to leave in a
> matter of minutes. During the course of these forced
> expulsions, a number of people were killed. Many of
> those forced from their homes went directly to the
> train station, while others sought shelter in nearby
> neighbourhoods. Hundreds of ethnic Albanians,
> guided by Serb police at all the intersections,
> gathered at the train station and then were loaded on
> to overcrowded trains or buses after a long wait
> where no food or water was provided.
>
> Those on the trains went as far as General Jankovic,
> a village near the Macedonian border. During the
> train ride many people had their identification papers
> taken from them. After getting off the trains, the
> Kosovo Albanians were told by the Serb police to
> walk along the tracks into Macedonia since the
> surrounding land had been mined.
>
> During the same period, forces of the FRY and
> Serbia entered the villages of Pristina municipality
> where they beat and killed many Kosovo Albanians,
> robbed them of their money, looted their property
> and burnt their homes.
>
> [There follows a detailed list of mass murders for
> which the Yugoslav President and his four aides are
> being held responsible by the UN.]
>
> 98. Beginning on or about 1 January 1999 forces of
> the FRY and Serbia, acting at the direction, with the
> encouragement, or with the support of Slobodan
> MILOSEVIC, Milan MILUTINOVIC, Nikola
> SAINOVIC, Dragoljub OJDANIC and Vlajko
> STOJILJKOVIC have murdered hundreds of
> Kosovo Albanian civilians. These killings have
> occurred in a widespread or systematic manner
> throughout the province of Kosovo. Included among
> the incidents of mass killings are the following:
>
> a. On or about 15 January 1999, the village of Racak
> (Stimlje municipality) was attacked by forces of the
> FRY and Serbia. After shelling by the VJ units, the
> Serb police entered the village later in the morning
> and began conducting house-to-house searches.
> Villagers who attempted to flee from the Serb police
> were shot. A group of approximately 25 men
> attempted to hide in a building, but were discovered
> by the Serb police. They were beaten and then were
> removed to a nearby hill, where the policemen shot
> and killed them. Altogether, the forces of the FRY
> and Serbia killed approximately 45 Kosovo Albanians
> in and around Racak. (The names are attached to the
> document.)
>
> b. On or about 25 March 1999, forces of the FRY
> and Serbia attacked the village of Bela Crkva. Many
> of the residents fled into a stream bed outside the
> village and sought shelter under a railroad bridge. As
> additional villagers approached the bridge, a Serbian
> police patrol opened fire on them killing 12 persons,
> including 10 women and children. The police then
> ordered the remaining villagers out of the stream
> bed, at which time the men were separated from the
> women and small children. The police ordered the
> men to strip and then systematically robbed them of
> all valuables. The women and children were then
> ordered to leave. The village doctor attempted to
> speak with the police commander, but he was shot
> and killed, as was his nephew. The other men were
> then ordered back into the stream bed. After they
> complied, the police opened fire on the men, killing
> approximately 65 Kosovo Albanians. (The names are
> attached to the document.)
>
> c. On or about 25 March 1999, the villages of Velika
> Krusa and Mali Krusa (Orahovac municipality) were
> attacked by forces of the FRY and Serbia. Village
> residents took refuge in a forested area outside
> Velika Krusa, where they were able to observe the
> police systematically looting and then burning the
> villagers' houses. On the morning of 26 March, Serb
> police located the villagers in the forest. The police
> ordered the women and small children to leave the
> area and to go to Albania. The police then searched
> the men and boys and took their identity documents,
> after which they were made to walk to an
> uninhabited house between the forest and Mali
> Krusa. Once the men and boys were assembled
> inside the house, the Serb police opened fire on the
> group. After several minutes of gunfire, the police
> piled hay on the men and boys and set fire to it to
> burn the bodies. Approximately 105 Kosovo
> Albanian men and boys were killed. (The names are
> attached to the document.)
>
> d. On the evening of 26 March, in Djakovica, Serb
> gunmen came to a house on Ymer Grezda Street.
> The women and children inside the house were
> separated from the men, and were ordered to go
> upstairs. Serb gunmen then shot and killed the six
> Kosovo Albanian men who were in the house. (The
> names are attached.)
>
> e. On 27 March 1999, forces of the FRY and Serbia
> attacked the village of Crkolez (Istok municipality).
> As the forces entered the village, they fired on
> houses and on villagers who attempted to flee. Eight
> members of the Beke IMERAJ family were forced
> from their home and killed in front of their house.
> Other residents were killed at their homes and in a
> stream bed near the village. Altogether, forces of the
> FRY and Serbia killed approximately 20 Kosovo
> Albanians. (The names are attached to the
> document)
>
> f. On 27 March 1999, FRY and Republic of Serbia
> forces attacked the village of Izbica (Srbica
> municipality). Several thousand village residents took
> refuge in a meadow outside the village. On or about
> 28 March 1999, forces of the FRY and Serbia
> surrounded the villagers and then approached them,
> demanding money. After valuables were stolen by
> the soldiers and policemen, the men were separated
> from the women and small children. The men were
> then further divided into two groups, one of which
> was sent to a nearby hill, and the other of which
> was sent to a nearby stream bed. Both groups of
> men were then fired upon by the forces of the FRY
> and Serbia, and approximately 130 Kosovo Albanian
> men were killed. (The names are attached to the
> document.)
>
> g. On 2 April 1999, Serb police launched an
> operation against the Qerim district of Djakovica.
> Over a period of several hours, Serb police forcibly
> entered houses of Kosovo Albanians in the Qerim
> district, killing the occupants, and then setting fire to
> the buildings. In the basement of a house on Millosh
> Gilic Street, the Serb police shot the 20 occupants
> and then set the house on fire. As a result of the
> shootings and the fires set by the Serb police, 20
> Kosovo Albanians were killed, of whom 19 were
> women and children. (The names of those killed are
> attached.)
>
> Louise Arbour, Prosecutor, 22 May 1999
>
> The Hague
>
> The entire text is on: www.un.org/icty/index.html