Koka: Horrible crimes committed against Roma since 1999, but it is still a taboo topic in Kosovo

The President of the Center for Education of Roma and Ethnic Communities, Ljuan Koka, stated that horrific crimes were committed against Roma in Kosovo during and after the 1999 war, but that this issue remains a taboo topic for officials in Pristina.

“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 for Kosovo Online.

By decision of the Serbian Government, an international conference will soon be organized on the suffering of Roma during the 1999 war.

Koka, who initiated this conference, said 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.