The damage Kosovo suffered in war

The 1998-99 war in Kosovo, as a result of which some 13,000 people were killed, while more than 1,600 are still considered extinct, left deep economic traces.

Twenty-two billion euros are believed to be the value of economic damages Serbia has caused Kosovo.

Thus, at least, senior Kosovo officials have declared in the past, insisting that they possess data, why they never published it.

International assessments of destruction
According to a report by the international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW), published in 2001, the extent of the destruction of civilian property by Serbian government forces in 1999 has been huge.

The report quoted a survey by the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that almost 40 percent of all housing sites in Kosovo were severely damaged or completely destroyed.

In a September 1999 report compiled by the Council of Europe's Economic and Development Committee, it is noted that the active world organisations in Kosovo estimated that over 120,000 residential objects had become uninhabitable.

According to the HRW report, as did schools and mosques: “According to UN estimates, 649 schools have been damaged in Kosovo, more than one fifth of the surveyed schools have been damaged for over 60 percent or completely destroyed”.

Many witnesses have been quoted as saying that Serbian forces had robbed them of valuable things, including wedding rings and vehicles, and that they had threatened them with life if they did not deliver all their money.

The war is believed to have caused considerable psychological and emotional damage, that it has pushed far back economic development, that it has hampered foreign investment, that it has caused political instability and social tensions.

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In July 1999, Roy Dickenson, a spokesman for the European Commission, declared that journalists and other foreign officials, who have failed to travel outside Pristina, have greatly underestimated the extent of the damage caused to Kosovo in the war.

Criminologist Furtuna Sheremetti has told Radio Free Europe that, in order to get a clear look of the past, all crimes that have occurred must first be addressed and then become an estimate of the damage done.

And the less the damage, the less the crime failure, the impact, because it put us at risk of losing the primary memories of war. Beyond that, there are many victims of war who have died without addressing the damage caused and never being recognized by their” needs, said Sheremet, whose studies have focused on the assessment of war damages.

What has Kosovo done to document damage?
In 2011, under the Ministry of Justice, an Institute for War Protection was established. His work was completed in 2018. Members of it said they published eight books on the killings, missing persons, and the destruction of Albanian monuments and property.

In 2021, within the framework of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the state commission was established for documenting the destruction of cultural heritage by Serbian forces in the years of 1998-99. In May 2023, Culture Minister Hajrullah Ceku published some findings of the report compiled by this Commission.

Ceku cited the damage or destruction of 1,788 cultural heritage objects, the theft of over 3,000 Kosovo Museum artifacts, the burning or destruction of 1.7 million books in Albanian and 175 public libraries, as well as the theft of more than 25 thousand files with various documentations during wartime.

He warned that, based on this document, “and in accordance with international standards, compensation requirements” will also be compiled.

Work “difficult, but not impossible”
In November 2023, the executive in Kosovo founded the Institute for Crime during the war in Kosovo.

Its director, Father and Hetemi, has told Radio Free Europe that they are currently accepting material from the pre-government institute and non-governmental organisations: “Under the law, the Institute must deal with certain types of crimes, examples of crimes against humanity, military crimes, psycho-Social crimes and environmentally committed”.

He has said that it cannot be declared for the value of damage, but some materials show great destruction:

Some parts of Kosovo have been completely destroyed”.

Criminologist Sheremetti, who was engaged in establishing the Institute, believes his work will be challenging: “Doing all this work 25 years after the war is a tremendous effort. So, yes, it will be difficult, but not impossible”.

Punishment of War Crimes
Since the end of the recent war in Kosovo, about 70 people have been convicted of war crimes before local and international institutions.

From 2000 to 2008, war crimes in Kosovo have been investigated by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), while from 2008, by the European Union for Winding of Law Mission (EULEX).

In 2018, E ULEX has delivered the courses to the Kosovo Prosecution and to local courts.

https://www.periscope.com/ish-minister-Croat-kim-Us-sqo-skosova-of-life-e-nato-sim/