Dossier: 125Th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army
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Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army 1 Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army 2 Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army Contents I. Introduction......................................................................................................................................3 II. Basic Information About the 125th MtBr..............................................................................5 Structure of the YA......................................................................................................................5 Structure of the 125th MtBr.........................................................................................................6 Command Staff of 125th MtBr ..................................................................................................8 Area of Responsibility..................................................................................................................9 III. Events of 1998.............................................................................................................................10 Ošljane/Oshlan...........................................................................................................................10 Dubovac/Duboc.........................................................................................................................12 Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme...............................................................................................14 IV. Events of 1999..............................................................................................................................19 1 Srbica/Skendëraj.........................................................................................................................19 Ljubenić/Lubeniq.......................................................................................................................22 Kraljane/Kralan...........................................................................................................................27 Starodvorane/Staradran............................................................................................................33 Ćuška/Qyshk...............................................................................................................................36 Pavljane/Pavlan...........................................................................................................................41 Zahać/Zahaq...............................................................................................................................44 V. Commander of the 125th MtBr Dragan Živanović............................................................47 Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army Abbreviations used in the text 125th MtBr 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army, Priština Corps CB Combat Group STF Sabotage and Terrorist Forces HLC Humanitarian Law Center Milošević Case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia IT-02-54, Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milošević Šainović et al.1 Case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia IT-05-87, Prosecutor v. Milan Milutinović, Nikola Šainović, Dragoljub Ojdanić, Nebojša Pavković, Vladimir Lazarević, and Sreten Lukić Ćuška case Case before the Higher Court in Belgrade War Crimes Department K Po2 48/2010, Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor v. Toplica Miladinović, Srećko Popović, Abdulah Sokić, Slaviša Kastratović, Boban Bogićević, Ranko Momić, Zoran Obradović, Milojko Nikolić, Siniša Mišić, Dejan Bulatović MUP Republic of Serbia Ministry of the Interior ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross 2 ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization KLA Kosovo Liberation Army SPU Special Police Units PrC Yugoslav Army Priština Corps FRY Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Serbian forces Yugoslav Army and the Republic of Serbia Ministry of the Interior SHTF Shiptar Terrorist Forces (a term usually used to refer to the Kosovo Liberation Army in Yugoslav Army documents) YA Yugoslav Army MTD Military-Territorial Detachment TD Territorial Defence Force 1 Case had been previously referred to as “Milutinović et al.”, but after the acquittal of Milan Milutinović it is referred to as “Šainović et al.” Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army I. Introduction 1. During the armed conflict in Kosovo, between February 28th 1998 and June 11th 1999, 7,914 Kosovo Albanian civilians were killed or forcibly disappeared in the campaign of violence and terror undertaken by members of the Serbian forces.2 1,295 of the 7,914 Kosovo Albanian victims were women, and 918 were children.3 2. In the area of responsibility of the 125th Motorized Brigade [hereinafter referred to as the 125th MtBr], under the Command of Major General Dragan Živanović, 1,813 civilians were killed and a 3 further 216 are still registered as missing.4 Among those killed were 236 children and 327 women. 3. During the armed conflict in Kosovo, the 125th MtBr or its subordinate units undertook dozens of actions, independently or together with other MUP or YA units, in which mass killings, persecution and deportation of Kosovo Albanians, and the looting and destruction of their property were committed. 4. This Dossier contains descriptions of ten crimes in which members of the 125th MtBr or its subordinate units participated and in which 301 civilians, including seven women and 19 children, were killed.5 5. Almost all crimes in 1999 were committed in the same manner. Soldiers would enter a village and chase Kosovo Albanians from their homes. Then they would separate the men from the women, children and the elderly. The forced evictions and the separation of the men from the women would be followed by abuse, insults, looting, and the destruction of property. The women, children and the elderly would then be ordered to go to Albania. The detained men would then be executed in groups. Their bodies were then incinerated or taken to secret locations. 6. Not a single member of the 125th MtBr or its subordinate units has been prosecuted for the crimes described in this Dossier. However, at the time of the writing of this Dossier, criminal proceedings 2 HLC Database, accessed on September 13th, 2013. 3 Ibid. 4 HLC Database. 5 Ibid. Dossier: 125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army against members of a unit subordinate to the 125th MtBr for crimes committed in the municipality of Peć/Pejë are pending. Namely, proceedings against the commander6 and members of the 177th Military Territorial Detachment Peć [hereinafter referred to as the 177th MTD Peć],7 which was directly subordinated to the 125th MtBr,8 for the crimes against the civilian population committed in April and May 1999 in the villages of Ljubenić/Lubeniq, Ćuška/Qyshk, Pavljane/Pavlan and Zahać/ Zahaq [Ćuška case], are pending before the Higher Court in Belgrade (War Crimes Department). 7. Rules of international criminal law prescribe the individual criminal responsibility of direct perpetrators of crimes, military commanders and political leaders who ordered the commission of crimes, and also the principle of command responsibility, according to which superior officers, who fail to take necessary measures to prevent the commission of crimes or to punish perpetrators, are also held responsible. 8. So far, the concept of command responsibility has not been applied once in a case of war crimes prosecuted in the Republic of Serbia, despite the fact that after the ratification of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, since 1978, local institutions have an international legal obligation to prosecute individuals pursuant to the principle of command responsibility. 9. This Dossier presents facts and evidence pointing to the responsibility of the Commander of the 125th MtBr, Dragan Živanović, pursuant to the principle of command responsibility for all ten crimes described herein. In five cases, evidence pointing to the direct responsibility of Major General Živanović, for the execution and personal responsibility for issuing orders which represent violations of the principles of the Geneva Conventions per se, was presented. These orders refer to the arming of the local Serb population in Kosovo and their engagement in combat activities, orders which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and orders directly aiming attacks against civilian population.9 4 10. The goal of the Dossier is to allow the public to learn about the facts and evidence concerning the crimes committed against Kosovo Albanian civilians during those operations in which the 125th MtBr and its subordinate units were significantly involved. At the same time, the Dossier should be seen as a call for the relevant institutions to prosecute those individuals responsible for the crimes described herein and thus bring justice to the victims and their families. 11. Facts about the crimes committed and the role of the 125th MtBr are based on statements given by survivors of the crimes, eyewitnesses, victims’ family members, forensic reports, judgments and transcripts from trials conducted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former 6 Toplica Miladinović. The indictment also includes Veljko Korićanin, as a member of the Territorial Defence, and Vidoje Korićanin and Radoslav Brnović as members of the MUP. See the amended joint indictment