The suffering of Roma in Kosovo: A silence heavier than the crimes

They were hunted like rabbits and killed in the most brutal ways. Entire neighborhoods were looted and then flattened, erased. The Roma of Kosovo endured during the 1999 war, and in the years that followed, a fate similar to that of the Serbian community. For interlocutors of Kosovo Online, the most tragic part is that even today, 26 years later, there is no accurate record of those events, not even how many Roma were killed or went missing.

By: Djordje Barovic

Deafening silence. This is how the horrific fate of the Roma community in Kosovo since 1999 can be described.

The data on the number of killed and missing varies depending on the source, but an even greater problem is that judicial proceedings for crimes against this ethnic group can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

At the Hague Tribunal in late 2012, a criminal case ended with acquittals for a group of former KLA officers led by Ramush Haradinaj, who were charged with a series of killings and war crimes, including those against several Roma individuals.

The suffering of the Roma is also indirectly mentioned in the ongoing trial against former KLA commanders, led by Hashim Thaci, before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

Just last month, the prosecution heard its 50th witness, Claude Kahn, who testified that in July 1999, Roma in Prizren and Djakovica told him they had been detained, interrogated, beaten, and abused by KLA members, who accused them of collaborating with Serbs.

“These people were in shock, stunned, and traumatized... Many still had visible physical injuries,” the witness said, adding that the Roma had been “both frightened and mourning their relatives.”

At the same time, in Belgrade late last year, Nezir Mehmetaj was convicted in a first-instance verdict for the murder of Jelaj Ramadan, a Roma man from Rudica, in 1999.

To this day, there are no complete records of Roma suffering after the war, nor is there a reliable count of those who were kidnapped.

These were among the reasons the Government of Serbia decided to support a conference on the suffering of Roma during the Kosovo conflict.

Taboo topic

The event is being organized by the Center for Education of Roma and Ethnic Communities, and its president, Ljuan Koka, tells Kosovo Online that horrific crimes were committed against Roma in Kosovo during and after the 1999 war, but the issue remains taboo.

“It is a taboo topic because the Roma haven’t managed to consolidate, to apply certain pressures. And of course, it suits Kosovo for it to remain a taboo topic, because they turned all those Roma into Egyptians, Ashkali. They want to have just a small number of Roma to showcase themselves as multicultural. But they are far from that. The Roma had a terrible fate. More than 80 percent of Roma left Kosovo and Metohija,” Koka said.

He notes that there is still no official record of how many Roma were killed or kidnapped at that time, or in the years that followed.

“According to my records, and these are not official because we can’t access certain data, between 500 and 600 people were killed during the war, and more than 110 were kidnapped and disappeared, still listed as missing. We have no way of identifying or learning the terrible fate of those who vanished,” Koka said.

He warns that there are numerous examples of the most brutal crimes committed against Roma, not only in 1999 but in the years after as well.

Many of those crimes were never documented, and the perpetrators were never punished.

One such case occurred in Urosevac after the war.

“The Roma community lived in the center of Urosevac. This man was a businessman, a trader, he worked with everyone – Albanians and Serbs. He had a huge house and probably left hidden money there. They lured him back, saying nothing would happen to him, and then Albanians tore him apart using four tractors, pulling him in four directions. His name was Ekrem Sabani. His brother had already been kidnapped earlier. He has five children who are now in Germany – three sons and two daughters. It’s a horrifying fate, a horrifying crime that was never even recorded,” Koka emphasized.

He recalls that leaders of the former KLA were tried before the Hague Tribunal for the murder of newlyweds in Djakovica, and that crimes happened in other parts of Kosovo as well, but none of those cases were prosecuted.

“In Pristina, in his own home, a Roma man named Dervis didn’t want to leave, and they burned him inside it,” he added.

He states that Roma homes were burned, and in the post-war period, their property was also stolen.

“Often they targeted innocent victims who had no part in any conflict. They killed them to seize their homes and to serve as a warning to all other Roma to leave Kosovo,” Koka said.

He explains that in 1997, he was involved in an internal census of Roma in Kosovo, and at that time, 98,000 people identified as Roma.

“Now there are fewer than 20,000 in Kosovo. Most of them came to Serbia, and from there moved to Germany, France, Italy... So now we have the chance to gather a few people and start documenting the suffering of Roma in Kosovo and Metohija during the 1999 war,” Koka concluded.

Marginalization of crimes

Bekim Blakaj, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Law Center, warned about the marginalization of crimes committed against the Roma community in Kosovo.

"Unfortunately, in Kosovo, there is no discussion about the victims of Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian nationality. The focus is mostly on the suffering of Albanians. These communities – Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians – are particularly marginalized, and very little is written or spoken about their suffering. There is almost no day of remembrance for Roma victims in Kosovo. That is the situation. Also, it is rare, almost impossible, to find monuments dedicated to the suffering of Roma in Kosovo," Blakaj said to Kosovo Online.

He explains that the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo, as part of the Kosovo Memory Book project, documented the suffering of Roma during and after the war.

"Out of 13,535 killed and missing persons, 276 were Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians. They were victims both during and after the war, unfortunately from both sides. There were Roma killed and disappeared at the hands of Serbian forces, as well as by Albanians during and after the war," Blakaj emphasized.

He believes there is no interest in Kosovo in talking about the suffering of Roma.

"Society, and especially the political elites, are not at all interested in creating an accurate narrative that clearly states who suffered and how," Blakaj stated.

The Humanitarian Law Center of Kosovo monitors all war crimes trials in Kosovo, and Blakaj pointed out that so far, only four Albanians, former KLA members, have been convicted for the killing of a single Roma individual.

"We have one court verdict against four defendants who were found responsible for the murder of one Roma. Of course, that is a very small number," Blakaj said.

Time of pogrom

On the other hand, Veljko Odalovic, head of the Serbian Government’s Commission on Missing Persons, said that even 26 years after the 1999 war, there are no precise data on the number of Roma who suffered in Kosovo.

“As far as the suffering of Roma is concerned, we don’t have precise data. A significant number of families have reported missing members, and that’s what we’re still actively tracking because even today, families continue to come forward. Sadly, their suffering was most intense in 1999 and 2000. That was a time of pogroms, and they shared the fate of the Serbian people,” Odalovic told Kosovo Online.

"When it comes to the suffering of the Roma, there is no precise data. A significant number of them reported the disappearance of their family members, and that is something we still keep open because even today some families and individuals are coming forward to report their missing. Unfortunately, their suffering was most severe in 1999 and 2000. That was the time of the pogroms that they also experienced. They shared the fate of the Serbian people," Odalovic said for Kosovo Online.

He specifies that Roma were also victims before 1999.

"What is characteristic is that in 1997 and 1998, there were individual terrorist attacks in which Roma who were part of institutions were also killed. They worked as postmen, electricians, foresters..." Odalovic noted.

He added that the Roma "suffered terribly" at the beginning of the war and again after June 10, i.e., the arrival of international peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.

"Unfortunately, the Roma suffered terrible terror. They were not seen by the so-called KLA as people who could remain, as people they counted on, or with whom they would build any bridges for the future," Odalovic said.

He explains that this led to an exodus of unimaginable proportions.

"Entire neighborhoods were burned. Whole families were killed, wiped out. Examples include Vucitrn and Djakovica. It was the most brutal there. Everything Roma-related was killed, burned. Many are still listed as missing," Odalovic emphasized.

He highlighted an incident in Djakovica as one of the most drastic crimes.

"KLA members stopped a Roma wedding, then raped the bride and committed a terrible crime. No one reacted to this, not even in The Hague. This wasn’t even something that led to any conviction. That shows the attitude towards the Roma, just as it was towards the Serbs," he stated.

He said the blame does not lie only with those who committed the crimes, but also with the international community in Kosovo, which silently watched it all.

"The situation is the same even today," Odalovic believes.

He pointed out that the situation is identical in the processes currently being conducted before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers based in The Hague.

"The Roma are certainly interested, together with us, in finding out what happened at the 'Yellow House', how many of the kidnapped were taken there and met their end in the way we know they did," Odalovic explained.

He added that the fate of the Roma "to a large extent" depended on the will and actions of the KLA and the "silence of the international mission," which was also evident during the March Pogrom of 2004.

Odalovic said that a number of Roma remained living in Kosovo and that many of them are in institutions, and therefore should insist on clarifying the crimes committed against their fellow Roma.

"I think they should raise their voice there too, precisely for the rights of those who are part of their ethnic group," Odalovic concluded.

Political will

Writer and expert on Roma issues at the Council of Europe, Nexhmedin Neziri, tells Kosovo Online that it is evident there is no political will, neither in Pristina nor in the EU, to resolve this issue.

“Roma began to suffer even before 1999. There were threats, attempted kidnappings, everything. That persecution began in 1998. Pressure was exerted on those working at the Trepca factory. There were many such methods, and the most common was intimidation,” Neziri told Kosovo Online.

Now living in France, Neziri, a former athlete from Kosovska Mitrovica, is a chronicler of the suffering of Roma in this city after 1999. He dedicated his poetry collection “Don’t Forget” to this subject.
Before the war, a Roma neighborhood of about 10,000 residents existed in South Mitrovica.

Neziri visited that neighborhood in August 1999, with his safety guaranteed by members of the French KFOR contingent.

“The first time I entered was August 22, 1999, and it was a shock for me. The neighborhood had about 10,000 inhabitants. And now, when you enter and see that there’s nothing, everything is empty, no birds, no mice, no cats, no dogs... nothing. First, everything had been looted, and most houses were burned and destroyed. I saw a contingent of French soldiers barricaded in a large house in the Roma neighborhood, where there used to be a restaurant. That house belonged to our Gani Ruseti. Later, a few other houses received protection with barbed wire. But if you went further, everything was deserted. I described that in my poems,” Neziri said.

He explained that at the time, Roma had no protection from anyone.

“Neither from the international community, nor from anyone at the United Nations. They were left to fend for themselves, and for me, that was extremely dramatic,” the writer admitted.

He emphasized that the most disheartening fact is that, 26 years later, there is still no accurate number of Roma victims, and that there is no family that hasn’t suffered a tragedy. His own family was no exception.

“The exact number is unknown. I know that my cousin was kidnapped back in 1998, on June 21, by his own friends with whom he worked. He sold plastic, they traded together. And suddenly, he was gone,” Neziri said.

He noted that his family had contacted the District Court in South Mitrovica in 2004 and 2005, as well as the court in Kraljevo, regarding this case.

They never received a response.

Since 2001, Neziri has worked as an expert on Roma issues at the Council of Europe.

He says that even there, there was no willingness to address the issue of missing and murdered Roma from Kosovo.

“When you talk to officials, there is simply no political will,” Neziri stressed.