Obri e Epërme

Strictly confidential Yugoslav Army (YA) documents on operations that took place between September 25^th and 27^th, 1998, in the area of Kosmač/Kosmaq indicate the presence of the 125^th motorized brigade (MtBr) in Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme on September 26^th and 27^th, 1998. 

According to a Priština Corps Command Order to support MUP Forces in Destroying STF in the Region of Komač, the first Combat Group of 125^th MtBr was engaged in Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme on September 25^th 1998, alongside MUP forces. “The Order to Support MUP Forces in Destoying STF [sabotage-terrorist forces] in the Region of Kosmac” was issued by the Priština Corps on September 24^th 1998 and it states the following: 

The presence of the 1^st Combat Group of the 125^th MtBr in Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme at the time in question was also confirmed by the later combat reports of the Priština Corps. A Combat Report of the Priština Corps Command was sent to the 3^rd Army Command on September 26^th 1998. For the day of September 25^th, 1998, it contains the following: 

On October 2^nd 1998, the YA General Staff requested a written statement “regarding the massacre in the sector of Gornje Obrinje village” from the Commander of the 3^rd Army:

In his response dated October 5^th 1998, the Chief of Staff of the Priština Corps, Vladimir Lazarević stated:

In the report submitted in early October 1998 to Dušan Samardžić, the Commander of the 3^rd Army, the Priština Corps Commander Nebojša Pavković claims not to possess information about the “alleged massacre” in Gornje Obrinje. However, in the same document, he informs the Commander of the 3^rd Army that he had been informed about the “content of unverified information that members of security service delivered to the YA General Staff Security Administration stating that unidentified members of the MUP units that were carrying out combat operations in the village of Gornje Obrinje executed persons taken into custody.”

In his testimony before the ICTY in the case of Šainović et al. Dragan Živanović, the Commander of the 125^th MtBr, avoided speaking specifically about responsibility for the mass execution in Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme. Asked by the Defence Counsel if he could remember the joint combat operations between the YA and the Republic of Serbia MUP forces in the general sector of the Gornje and Donje Obrinje villages from September 26^th, 1998, Živanović replied:

“I recall that we were lending support to MUP forces in that action and we suffered our first losses right there, in terms of combat equipment and manpower. The Commander of my combat group, Major Dragan Trifunović, was wounded in that action.”

In the morning, around 06:00 on September 25^th 1998, Serbian forces started shelling villages east of the town of Glogovac/Gllogoc. Around 10:00, the Serbian forces set off towards Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme from the area of Trdevac/Tërdec. The clash with KLA took place in the hills around the village, and it lasted until the afternoon hours, when the Serbian forces withdrew towards Trdevac/Tërdec.

On the following day, September 26^th 1998, the Serbian forces shelled Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme again. The shelling stopped around 14:00h and Serbian forces entered the village. Local residents had earlier hidden in the nearby forest.

19 members of the D. family hid in the place called Koreniti Šumarak/Zabeli i Renjave, a kilometer away from the D. hamlet. There, they put up a nylon tent. M.A. told HLC researchers, that, on the day in question, he was able to hear from the spot where he was hidden, some 200-300 hundred meters from the tent where the D. family hid, “voices of women and children, suddenly they all started screaming at the top of their lungs…the screaming lasted for about half an hour. No voices could be heard after that.“

Later that day, after the Serbian forces left the village, several local residents found the bodies of 14 massacred members of the Deliu family. The bodies of Z.D. and A.D. were found in front of the tent. A.throat was slit. P.D. was killed by the impact of a blunt instrument to the head. H.E. was killed not far from P.. About ten meters from the tent, was the body of a boy by the name of J.D., whose lower jawbone was fractured and whose right ear had been cut off. Next to J. was the dead body of his grandmother H.D. and the body of L.D.who was nine months pregnant. They were both killed with shots to the head. Not far from Luljeta the body of baby, V. D. was found. Next to V.was the body of L.D.and her daughter M.D. who was shot under the left ear and in the neck. The body of M.D. was found nearby, while the bodies of Z.D. and bodies of D.D. and G.D. were found a little further away.

Five children of the D. family survived the massacre. A 6 week old baby was found in the arms of the executed L.D., while A.D, B.D, L.D. and A.D. ran away from the tent before the Serbian forces arrived.

Between September 26^th and 27^th 1998, Serbian forces killed 14 more civilians in Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme

The crime in Gornje Obrinje/Obri e Epërme was documented by Human Rights Watch[1] and the OSCE, [2] while numerous foreign media reported on it: The New York Times, Reuters, The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.

[1] Human Rights Watch, “A Week of Terror in Drenica”, February 1999. See also Exhibit P2228, Statement of Fred Abrahams, Šainović et al.

[2] OSCE, Kosovo Verification Mission, “As Seen As Told”, 1999, p. 191.

* The description of the crime is based on testimonies of survivors, eyewitnesses and victims' family members given to the Humanitarian Law Center, national courts or the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); forensic reports; judgments and transcripts of trials; media reports and other documents.