US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee urges Serbia to clear up the Bytyqi brothers' case

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States adopted a resolution calling on Serbia to bring to justice the killers of three Bytyci brothers, American citizens, descended from Kosovo.

The resolution also says that progress in resolving this case “would have to be an important factor defining further development of US-Serbia relations”.

The United States must pay attention to the efforts of the Government of Serbia and its relevant ministers, as well as to other officials, who are taking steps to investigate and prosecute those believed to be responsible for killing the Bytyci brothers. Progress in resolving this case, or lack of will, should be an important factor in determining the future development of relations between the US and Serbia”, the document says.

The Agron brothers, Mehmet and Yll Bytyci were arrested in 1999 in Serbia because, as Serbian officials have said, illegal border crossing.

They were released from prison after being convicted and then killed. Their troops were found in a mass grave near Petrovo Selos in eastern Serbia in 2001.

Two police officers accused of helping liquidate the Bytyci brothers, Sreten Popovovic and Milos Stojanovic have been acquitted at the Supreme Court's decision in Belgrade for war crimes.

The court has said there is no evidence of their involvement in the killings committed in July 1999.

It is unacceptable that no person has been found guilty of executing the Bytyci brothers or any other crime related to their deaths and that no one faces charges for this crime”, the US resolution says.

Serbia's “Government and its respective ministries and offices, including Serbia's War Crimes Prosecutor, must prioritize the investigation and prosecution of officials believed to be responsible for these deaths”, the resolution is also said.

Explaining the reasons why attention should be focused on this case, the text of the resolution mentions officials of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, since the war in Kosovo, who have either been convicted of war crimes before The Hague Tribunal, or have died.

The resolution also states that Goran Radosavlevic Guri, former commander of the Serbian gendarmerie, works as adviser to a company in Belgrade and that he is a prominent “member of the ruling party”.

The same resolution was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee even a year ago, but had to be returned after the new session of Congress began in early 2019.

Even the chairman of this committee, Eliot Engel, has called on authorities in Serbia to resolve the case of the Bytyci brothers as soon as possible.

In an interview for Radio Free Europe on 4 July, Engel has said he encourages Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, because “alone can make any moves”.