The data presented in the exhibition “Massacres in Kosovo 1998–1999” in several instances provide an inaccurate representation of crimes. This is not a matter of interpretation, but of a fundamental lack of knowledge of international humanitarian law, court-established facts, and the proper reading of data from the HLC and HLCK database.
In the Dubrava prison, those killed were not “armed persons,” as presented on the exhibition panel. The victims were Albanian detainees. Some had been members of the KLA prior to their arrest, but at the time of their killing they were not combatants. They were deprived of liberty, under full control of Serbian authorities, and therefore protected persons under the Geneva Conventions. Their prior affiliation is relevant for posthumous state recognition and reparations to their families, not for determining the circumstances of their deaths.
The same error appears in the presentation of Meja. Among those killed were individuals previously affiliated with the KLA, but on April 27 they were separated from civilian columns, unarmed, without uniforms, and under the control of Serbian forces. In such circumstances, they cannot be described as “armed persons,” but as victims of war crimes.
The organizers also demonstrate a lack of knowledge of court-established facts regarding Račak. In the trial transcript of Slobodan Milošević, Shukri Buja stated that nine KLA members were killed in combat on January 15, 1999, which is separate from the killing of civilians in Račak.
It is therefore incorrect and unprofessional to conclude that a person was killed as a combatant merely because they had previously been a member of the KLA. In the HLC and HLCK database, affiliation and circumstances of death are distinct categories. It is precisely the lack of understanding of this distinction that led the organizers to falsely present 48 detainees killed in Dubrava as “armed persons,” thereby misrepresenting the nature of the crime.
It is particularly concerning that Shkëlzen Gashi attempts to shift responsibility for these errors onto the Humanitarian Law Center. This constitutes an attempt to discredit the most reliable database of war victims in Kosovo.
The HLC and HLCK database, documenting more than 8,500 Albanian civilian victims of war crimes, was assessed in an independent 2015 evaluation as the most comprehensive and reliable database of its kind. The evaluation was conducted by international experts, including Patrick Ball and British professor Michael Spagat.
It should also be recalled that the same authors published a book “Massacres in Kosovo” two years ago, which contains numerous inaccuracies and is not aligned with court-established facts in many instances. The same pattern is now repeated in the exhibition: inaccurate data, based on a lack of knowledge and without responsibility toward victims.
For these reasons, we believe that the exhibition, in its current form, should be removed from public space. At the same time, arbitrary and unprofessional representations of crimes and victims must cease. Misrepresentation of facts does not contribute to a culture of remembrance; it undermines it, relativizes crimes, and seriously harms the dignity of victims and their families.
