2000 unrest in Kosovo
2000 unrest in Kosovo | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the aftermath of the Kosovo War | ||||||
U.S. army and UN personnel searching houses for weapons in Mitrovica, February 21, 2000 | ||||||
| ||||||
Belligerents | ||||||
Kosovo Albanians | Kosovo Serbs |
KFOR UNMIK | ||||
Strength | ||||||
1,700 former KLA soldiers | Unknown |
45,000 soldiers 26 UNMIK Police | ||||
Casualties and losses | ||||||
7 killed |
15 killed 23 injured |
1 Russian peacekeeper French soldiers injured UNMIK vehicles burned |
The 2000 unrest in Kosovo (Serbian: 2000 Немири на Косову, romanized: 2000 Nemiri na Kosovu; Albanian: 2000 Trazirat në Kosovë) was the result of the United Nations Interim Administration adopting Resolution 1244 on 10 June 1999. The unrest was fought between the Kosovo Force (KFOR), Kosovo Albanians, and Kosovo Serbs. It lasted somewhere from February 16, 2000 – June 6, 2000. An unknown number of Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs died along with an unknown number injured, while 1 Russian KFOR soldier died from shot wounds[1] and UNMIK vehicles were burned during the unrest.
Background
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244[2] was determined to resolve the serious humanitarian situation and ensure that all refugees could safely return. It condemned violence against the civilian population as well as acts of terrorism, and recalled the jurisdiction and mandate of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It also recalled the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), at the same time calling for autonomy for Kosovo.[3]
The resolution authorized an international civil and security presence in Kosovo[4] and in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).[5][6] The resolution also affirmed the need for immediate deployment of international civil and security presences, and authorized the establishment of the Kosovo Force.
The resolution established the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).[7] The responsibilities of the international security presence included deterring new hostilities, monitoring the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army, demilitarization of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and ensuring a safe environment in which refugees could return.
Events
The Ibar river bridge which divided the town became the site of violent clashes between the KFOR, Albanians and Serbs.
Between February 2-20, some 1,700 Albanians, Turks and Bosniaks fled North Mitrovica.[9] On February 16, Albanians attacked a bus convoy killing 12 Serbs.[9] A prominent Serb medical doctor was murdered in Gnjilane on February 26.[1] A Russian KFOR soldier died from shot wounds sustained in Srbica on February 29.[1] Following the February unrest, the KFOR increased its numbers, which up until then was 30,000.[10] Violence continued, however, and UNMIK and KFOR were criticised for failing to protect Serbs.[10]
Meanwhile, the KFOR saw the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB), an Albanian militant separatist organization in the Preševo Valley, training in the Ground Safety Zone (GSZ).[12] Some KLA veterans were part of the UÇPMB.[12] The UÇPMB attacked local police, intending to cede Albanian-inhabited areas to Kosovo.[12] The European Union (EU) condemned what it described as the "extremism" and use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group.[13]
On March 8, the FRY complained about the escalation of violence in the region, evidence that according to them, supported that the KLA was still active.[11] On March 15 another FRY complaint protested KFOR establishment of an extended security zone in North Mitrovica, during which 16 Serb civilians were injured by stun grenades and tear gas.[11] The FRY saw KFOR's actions as supporting the Albanians, pressuring Serbs to move out of Kosovo, and expected that they ensure minimum security and normal living in Mitrovica, "the last Serb refugee in Kosovo and Metohija".[11]
The French KFOR was met with controversy,[14] their risk-averting measures being called "cowardice", straining relations with other KFOR troops and the UNMIK; Danish soldiers complained and UN police felt abandoned.[8] An example of French inaction was an event in June 2000, when a Serbian mob trapped a small group of Albanians and American police officers, then attacked an American colleague trying to reach them, 10 meters from a French checkpoint. The French troops were withdrawing to their vehicles during the incident.[8] Between April and September 2000 the FRY issued several documents to the UN Security Council about violence against Serbs and other non-Albanians.[11] On June 6, a grenade was thrown at a crowd of ethnic Serbs waiting for a bus in the town square of Gračanica, injuring three people, which was followed by some civil unrest.[15]
UNMIK crime statistics on evictions, intimidation and arson in Albanian-majority Pristina and Gnjilane in 2000 are consistent with a strategy of forced expulsion of ethnic Serbs and other non-Albanian minorities.[16]
Aftermath
On 22 January 2001, a group of armed Albanians attacked a police station in northern Macedonia near the border with Kosovo, killing a police officer and injuring three others, thereby starting the
In February 2001, enraged Albanian mobs routed French troops and torched KFOR armoured vehicles after an Albanian child had been killed in northern Mitrovica, believing it was a provocation by the Serbs.[8] The victim was a 15-year-old boy who was killed in a grenade attack, which amidst Serb refusal to allow the return of Albanians in North Mitrovica sparked several days of riots.[9] On 16 February 2001 a Serb convoy escorted by KFOR was attacked in a remote-controlled bomb explosion near Podujevo, leaving 12 dead and 40 wounded.[16] A bomb attack in April 2001 targeting Serbs in Pristina left one dead and four injured (KLA volunteer Roland Bartetzko was later found guilty).[19]
On 8 April 2002, local Serbs attacked and injured 26 UNMIK police setting up a checkpoint in North Mitrovica.[9] The UNMIK established its administration in northern Mitrovica on 25 November 2002.[8]
Although crime rates decreased in 2003, violence and crimes against minorities were concerning.
On 18 August a Serb male died from wounds sustained from a shooting on 11 August, and another was seriously wounded in a shooting in a returnee site near
References
Citations
- ^ a b c United Nations 2002, p. 364.
- ^ "RESOLUTION 1244 (1999)". undocs.org. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8213-4942-7.
- ^ Miller, Judith (11 June 1999). "Security Council backs peace plan and NATO-led force". The New York Times.
- ^ "Profile: Serbia and Montenegro". BBC. 5 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ Member States of the United Nations, UN.org Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine: "Serbia – date of admission 1 November 2000, The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was admitted as a Member of the United Nations by General Assembly resolution A/RES/55/12 of 1 November 2000. On 4 February 2003, following the adoption and promulgation of the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro by the Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the official name of "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" was changed to Serbia and Montenegro. In a letter dated 3 June 2006, the President of the Republic of Serbia informed the Secretary-General that the membership of Serbia and Montenegro was being continued by the Republic of Serbia, following Montenegro's declaration of independence."
- ^ "Security Council, welcoming Yugoslavia's acceptance of peace principles, authorises civil, security presence in Kosovo". United Nations. 10 June 1999.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Janssens 2015, p. 115.
- ^ a b c d e f g Licklider & Bloom 2013, p. 134.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85743-136-0.
- ^ a b c d e United Nations 2002, p. 360.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4985-0369-3.
- ISBN 90-411-1956-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-139-46380-5.
- ^ "Civil unrest in Gračanica".
- ^ a b Boyle 2011, p. 107.
- ^ Zidas Daskalovski (2004). The Macedonian Conflict Of 2001: Between Successful Diplomacy, Rhetoric And Terror (PDF). Centre for Post-Communist Studies, St. Francis Xavier University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ^ Kolstø 2009, p. 173.
- ^ "German guilty of Pristina bomb attack". BBC. 10 May 2002.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j United Nations 2005, p. 425.
- ^ Serbian Studies. Vol. 18. North American Society for Serbian Studies. 2004. p. 315.
Sources
- Boyle, Michael J. (2011). "Revenge and Reprisal in Kosovo". In Suhrke ʁ, Astri; Berdal, Mats (eds.). The Peace In Between: Post-War Violence and Peacebuilding. ISBN 978-0-203-80892-4.
- Janssens, Jelle (2015). State-building in Kosovo. A plural policing perspective. Maklu. pp. 115–. ISBN 978-90-466-0749-7.
- Kolstø, Pål (2009). Media Discourse and the Yugoslav Conflicts: Representations of Self and Other. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754676294.
- Licklider, Roy; Bloom, Mia (2013). Living Together After Ethnic Killing: Exploring the Chaim Kaufman Argument. Routledge. pp. 134–. ISBN 978-1-317-96989-1.
- United Nations (2002). Yearbook of the United Nations, 2000. Vol. 54. United Nations Publications. ]
- United Nations (2003). Yearbook of the United Nations, 2001. Vol. 55. United Nations Publications. ]
- United Nations (2005). Yearbook of the United Nations, 2003. Vol. 57. United Nations Publications. ]