The Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Humanitarian Law Center and Women in Black marked 20 years since the murder of Albanian civilians in 1999 in Kosovo, whose bodies were hidden in the Belgrade suburb Batajnica. The activists joined together in a street performance named “Batajnica 744: A Buried Truth” during which they covered the names of 744 victims with earth, and then proceeded to march through central Belgrade towards the National Assembly building.
Marko Milosavljević of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights gave a statement that Serbia has been silent about the mass graves in Batajnica, Petrovo Selo, Perućac lake and Rudnici for 20 years, and that legitimacy is only given to victims of Serbian nationality.
„There are over 10 locations from which the victims were transported, and the fact that 744 posthumous remains were dug up a mere 10 kilometres from here is a testament to the evil about which we must never be silent. We will continue to bring this up and try to educate young people and give them the full context of the war in Kosovo and the disintegration of former Yugoslavia” said Milosavljević.
Albanian civilians were exposed not only to NATO bombing, but also to the criminal campaigns of the Slobodan Milošević regime. Armed forces (Ministry of Interior Affairs of Serbia, Yugoslav army and paramilitary forces) committed numerous crimes in Kosovo, all of which culminated during the NATO intervention. The transfer of the bodies of the murdered Kosovar Albanians to mass graves in Serbia constitutes a crime. Four mass graves in different locations were discovered on Serbian soil since 2001. to date. 941 Albanians, murdered in Kosovo during 1999, mostly civilians murdered outside of armed conflict, were found in those mass graves. The victims found in the mass graves in Batajnica were killed in Kosovo from March 24th till May 22nd 1999.
