Lapušnik prison camp

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Lapušnik or Llapushnik prison camp
Concentration camp
Location Lapušnik, Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia
Operated by UÇK[1]
Original use imprisonment, cruel treatment, inhuman acts, and executions.
Operational 1998
Inmates Serbs and moderate Albanians[2][3]
Number of inmates 35 +[3][4]
Killed 23[2]

Lapušnik or Llapushnik prison camp was a detention camp (also referred to as a prison and Lapušnik concentration camp[1]) that was operated by the Albanian militant organization the UÇK near the city of Glogovac in central Kosovo during the Kosovo War. It was operational in early 1998 and inmates were subject to intimidation, imprisonment, violence and murder. The victims were mostly Serbs, but also included Albanians who were perceived to be collaborating with the Serbs and who refused to cooperate with or resisted the UÇK by non-violent means.[2][5]

History

According to the early indictments: In early 1998, UÇK forces under the command of Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu unlawfully detained Serb and Albanian civilians from the municipalities of Štimlje, Glogovac and Lipljan for prolonged periods in the camp.[6] On 25 or 26 July, the UÇK abandoned the camp when the Serbian Army began its advance on Lapušnik.[6]

Indictments

In 2003, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) charged Fatmir Limaj, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala.[7][8][9][3] In November 2005, all of the defendants except Haradin Bala were found innocent and released.[9] Bala, who was a guard at the camp, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for persecution on political, racial and religious grounds and for cruel treatment, murders and rape and for his role in maintenance and enforcement of inhumane conditions in the camp.[10][8]

Although the exact number of inmates is unknown, it is known that at least 23[2] prisoners were killed (9 of whom were executed in the mountains by Haradin Bala and two other guards[5]).

See also

Notes

a.   ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. Kosovo's independence has been recognised by 107 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 First case against Kosovo Albanians opens in The Hague.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Human Rights Reporting By Pramod Mishra
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 ICTY. Haradin Bala, Isak Musliu, and Agim Murtezi Transferred to the ICTY following their Indictment for Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes
  4. ↑ Skeletal Trauma: Identification of Injuries Resulting from Human Rights abuse
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 ICTY document: Bala, p. 2
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 ICTY, p.3
  7. ↑ Erin H. Kimmerle, José Pablo Baraybar, Identification of Injuries Resulting from Human Rights abuse
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "UN court acquits top Kosovo rebel". BBC News. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2010. 
  10. ↑ http://www.asil.org/insights090610.cfm

Sources

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