42°19′N 20°38′E / 42.317°N 20.633°E
| Krusha massacres | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Soldiers of Kosovo are holding pictures in memory of the men who were killed or went missing during the Kosovo War. | |
| Location | Krushë e Madhe dhe e Vogël, near Rahovec, Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia |
| Date | 25-28 March 1999 |
| Target | Kosovo Albanian men |
Attack type | Mass killing |
| Deaths | 243 men killed or missing[1] |
| Perpetrators | Serbian special police |
| Motive | Anti-Albanian sentiment, ethnic cleansing |
The Krusha massacres (Albanian: Masakra e Krushës së Madhe dhe Krushës së Vogël, Serbian: Масакр у Великој и Малој Круши, romanized: Masakr u Velikoj i Maloj Kruši) were two massacres that took place during the Kosovo War on the afternoon of 25 March 1999, the day after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia began, near Rahovec, Kosovo.[2]
At that time, witnesses reported that on 25 March special police unit entered the village of Krushë e Madhe and separated the men and boys, and killed around 100 men and male teenagers over the age of 13.[3] Human Right Watch reported that more than 98 men were killed.[4][5] Then, the women and children were forced out.[6] A similar approach was followed simultaneously in the neighboring Krushë e Vogël village, leading to a total of 243 men being killed or missing. Most of the victims' bodies were then relocated and buried in mass graves away from the crime scene.[1]
In 2020, Darko Tasić, a local Serb from the same village and member of the police reserve forces was convicted as one of the perpetrators of the massacre.[7] It is one of the first cases in which the trial of one of the perpetrators has concluded.
One of witnesses of the murder was British journalist John Sweeney, who was in the place of the murder in that time, saw disposal of dead bodies in the Drini river, and later was an important witness of the trials of Krusha massacres.[8][9]
- ^ a b Shefkiu, Arbisa (2022-03-26). "23 vjet nga masakrat në Krushë të Madhe dhe të Vogël" [23 years from the massacres in Krusha e Madhe and Krusha e Vogël]. Kallxo (in Albanian). Prishtinë. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
- ^ Tanner, Marcus (1999-06-15). "Burnt bodies found in new horror". The Independent.
- ^ "Massacre at Krusha e Madhe". Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ Skieterska, Agnieszka (2007-12-12). "Dla Myvedete wojna się nie skończyła". wyborcza.pl (in Polish).
- ^ "THE PRIZREN-DJAKOVICA (Gjakove) Road Orahovac (Rrahovec) and Prizren Municipalities". Human Rights Watch.
- ^ "40 Ethnics murdered in Velika Krusa". phdn.org. PHDN. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
- ^ Bami, Xhorxhina (2020). "Kosovo Court Finds Serb Fighter Guilty of Village Massacre".
- ^ Bami, Xhorxhina (July 3, 2020). "Bearing Witness: Journalist's Kosovo Massacre Evidence Helps Bring Justice". balkaninsight.com/. Balkan Transitional Justice. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ Bami, Xhorxhina (December 1, 2020). "Kosovo Court Cuts Prison Sentence for Serb Convicted of Wartime Massacre". balkaninsight.com/. Balkan Transitional Justice. Retrieved October 15, 2021.