2004 unrest in Kosovo
On 17–18 March 2004, violence erupted in Kosovo, leaving hundreds wounded and at least 19 people dead. The unrest was precipitated by unsubstantiated reports in the Kosovo Albanian media which claimed that three Kosovo Albanian boys had drowned after being chased into the Ibar River by a group of Kosovo Serbs. UN peacekeepers and NATO troops scrambled to contain a gun battle between Serbs and Albanians in the partitioned town of Mitrovica, before the violence spread to other parts of Kosovo. Kosovo Serb communities and cultural heritage were attacked by crowds of Albanians. Serbs call the event the March Pogrom, while the Albanians call it the March Unrest.
The violence resulted in the displacement of more than 4,000 Kosovo Serbs and other minorities. More than 935 houses, along with 35 Serbian Orthodox churches, monasteries and other religious buildings were destroyed. International and domestic courts in Pristina have prosecuted people who have taken part in the violence, including those who attacked several Serbian Orthodox churches, handing down prison sentences ranging from 21 months to 16 years. Some of the destroyed churches have since been rebuilt by the Government of Kosovo in cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the UN mission in Kosovo. The events led to protests in Serbia, and the burning of mosques in Belgrade and other places.
Background
The Kosovo Liberation Army was an ethnic-Albanian organisation which had as its founding goal unification of Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans, stressing Albanian culture, ethnicity and nation. Conflict escalated from 1997 onward due to the Yugoslav army retaliating with a crackdown in the region resulting in violence and population displacements. The bloodshed, ethnic cleansing of thousands of Albanians driving them into neighbouring countries and the potential of it to destabilize the region provoked intervention by international organizations and agencies, such as the United Nations, NATO and INGOs. Some people from non-Albanian communities such as the Serbs and Romani fled Kosovo fearing revenge attacks by armed people and returning refugees while others were pressured by the KLA and armed gangs to leave. Post conflict Kosovo was placed under an international United Nations framework with the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo overseeing administrative affairs and the NATO Kosovo Force dealing with defence. Within post-conflict Kosovo Albanian society, calls for retaliation for previous violence done by Serb forces during the war circulated through public culture. Following the assassination of Zoran Đinđić and the reduction in the number of KFOR military personnel, tolerance between communities began to wane. On 13 August 2003, four ethnic Serbs were wounded and two killed when unknown assailants opened fire with automatic rifles on a group of mostly children by a river in the village of Goraždevac. Preparations were underway for the start of negotiations on the status of the territory between representatives of the Albanians on one side and Serbia and Montenegro on the other. In 2004, prolonged negotiations over Kosovo's future status, sociopolitical problems and nationalist sentiments resulted in the Kosovo unrest.Prelude
Shooting of Serbian teen
On 15 March 2004 an 18-year-old Serb, Jovica Ivić, was shot and wounded in a drive-by shooting in the village of Čaglavica in the central region of Kosovo.16 March pro-KLA protests
On 16 March, three KLA war veterans associations organized widespread demonstrations in ethnic Albanian cities and towns, protesting the arrests of former KLA leaders on war crime charges, including the February arrests of four commanders. The pro-KLA, anti-UNMIK protests, with 18,000 protesters, lay the basis for the following demonstrations sparked by the sensational reports of drowning of three Albanian children.Drowning of Albanian children
On 16 March, three Albanian children drowned in the Ibar River in the village of Çabër, near the Serb community of Zubin Potok. A fourth boy survived. It was speculated that he and his friends had been chased into the river by Serbs in revenge for the shooting of Ivić the previous day, but this claim has not been proven.UN police spokesman Neeraj Singh said the surviving boy had been under intense pressure from ethnic Albanian journalists who had suggested what he should say. His version of events differed from that of two other children who had also been in the river, Singh told a news conference in Pristina. The spokesperson said there were "very significant" inconsistencies in the accounts given by the child during two separate interviews, and a lack of corroboration of his story. "In fact, it is logically at odds in several respects with other evidence," Mr. Singh said. The UN found no evidence that Serbs were responsible for drowning the three Albanian children.
Violence
On 17 and 18 March 2004, a wave of violent riots swept through Kosovo, triggered by two incidents perceived as ethnically motivated acts. Demonstrations, although seemingly spontaneous at the outset, quickly focused on Serbs throughout Kosovo.Thousands of Albanians gathered at the south end of the bridge across the Ibar at Mitrovica, which divides the Serb and Albanian districts of the town. A large crowd of Serbs gathered at the north end to prevent the Albanians from crossing. Peacekeepers from the NATO-led Kosovo Force blockaded the bridge, using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to keep the crowds apart.
The violence quickly spread to other parts of Kosovo, with Kosovo Serb communities and Serbian cultural heritage attacked by crowds of Albanians. Serb returnees were attacked. Some of the locations were ostensibly under the protection of KFOR at the time. During the riots and violence, at least 35 churches were damaged, including 18 monuments of culture, which were demolished, burnt or severely damaged. According to Human Rights Watch, the violence resulted in the deaths of nineteen people; 8 Kosovo Serbs and 11 Kosovo Albanians. More than a thousand were wounded including more than 120 KFOR personnel. More than 4,000 Serbs were driven out of their homes and more than 900 houses belonging to non-Albanians were burned.
By one estimate, more than 50,000 people participated in the riots.
Čaglavica
In Čaglavica, 12,000 Kosovo Albanian rioters tried to storm the Serb-populated areas. KFOR peacekeepers from Sweden, Norway and Finland led by Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Hans Håkansson created a blockade by using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades, in order to keep the two groups apart. A truck was driven by a Kosovo Albanian at full speed towards the barricade in an attempt to penetrate the line. After firing warning shots at the truck, the peacekeepers had to use deadly force to avoid friendly casualties, and shot the driver. 16 peacekeepers were injured, and 13 had to be evacuated.Another KFOR unit consisting of mostly Swedish soldiers also participated in defending Čaglavica that day, supported by people from the barracks who normally worked with non-military tasks. Lieutenant Colonel Hans Håkansson, who commanded 700 people during the unrest, reported that the fighting went on for 11 hours, and that many collapsed due to dehydration and injuries while struggling to fend off waves of rioters. In total, 35 people were injured while defending the town. Hans Håkansson was awarded with a medal for his actions by the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 2005.