The “Šakali” (Jackals) unit was part of the 177th MTD (Military-territorial Detachment) Peć which was under the command of the 125th MtBr (motorized brigade). According to the rules of international law, Dragan Živanović, as the Commander of the 125th MtBr was obliged to undertake all necessary measures to prevent the crime in Qyshk/Ćuška, or if made aware of the events after the fact, to report the events to the prosecuting authorities.

According to the “Plan for Engagement of Joint Squads” produced by the Priština Corps Command and issued on April 25th, 1999, the 177th MTD was subordinate to the 125th MtBr in the following activities and tasks:
“1. United and sustained command, co-ordination, uninterrupted functioning of the communication system.
...
Detection and destruction of the remaining SHTF and full control of the territory within the zone of responsibility.
...
8. Clearing up of the front through the organs of the MUP and local authorities.
...
10. Taking of measures to prevent disorder, lack of discipline, looting, arson, abuse and other forms of criminal behaviour within the unit and the zone of responsibility...”

The Command of the 125th MtBr issued an order sent (among others to the 177th MTD) on April 24th, 1999, asking for “the full combat control of the sectors”. The order was signed by Dragan Živanović. Part of the order offers an “Assessment of the number of ShTF[Shiptar – Terrorist Forces] in the area of responsibility of the Brigade“:
“Another 100 individuals who took part in combat operations against our forces are in the area of the villages of Blagoje, Naklno, Zabrđe, Osoje, Ćuška, and Zahač wearing civilian clothes and living in their native villages.”

This order represents an obvious violation of international humanitarian law because civilians in the aforementioned villages are represented as legitimate targets, that is, no distinction was made between combatants and civilians.
At around 7 o'clock in the morning, on May 14th,
1999, Yugoslav Army (YA) soldiers, dressed in blue and camouflage uniforms and with their faces
covered in black paint, entered the village of Ćuška/Qyshk. Citizens were
expelled from their houses and ordered to gather in the centre of the village.
About 300 villagers gathered in the centre of the village, in the Hasan Beqaj hamlet.
YA soldiers ordered the villagers to hand over all of
their money, gold and gold coins. As R.K. testified, “Soldiers randomly took
the money and valuables that we handed over to them. They tore and burned
personal identification documents. The entire time they asked for money and
gold coins.” After robbing all the valuables, the YA soldiers ordered the women,
children and the elderly into houses of the Gashi family, while the men, about
50 of them, were held at a wider section of the road near the cemetery.
At around 9:00 o'clock, soldiers split the separated
men into three groups. There were 12 men in the first group. They took this
group into the house of Azem Gashi and into one of the rooms. Isa Gashi, who
was in this group, told HLC researches what happened then:
“They put me and my group in the house of Azem Gashi,
lined us up against the wall in one of the rooms and searched us again in order
to find money which they asked us for in exchange for our freedom. However,
they did not find anything as they had already taken it all. One of them said
that he must ask the Commander what to do with us and when he asked over the
radio, the answer he received was “kill them all at once”. One of the soldiers,
who was standing in the doorway with an M-48 machine gun fired a burst of
gunfire, injuring me in the left leg. I fell down after that. The dead bodies
of Ibër Kelmendi and my brother Halim Gashi fell on top of me. Before he shot
at us he yelled: “In the name of Serbia!” Then, the other soldiers opened fire all
over the room. After that, they set the house on fire and prepared to leave the
room. I pulled myself from under the dead bodies and realized that nobody from
my group was alive.”
Several minutes later, burning foam rubber was thrown
through the window into the room where the dead civilians were. The bodies
burned quickly.
There were 9 men in the second group. YA soldiers took
these men to the house of Dema Gashi. The men entered the hallway of the house,
two by two. At that time, one YA soldier threw a lighter on the floor and
ordered Rexhi Kelmendi to lift it up from the floor and set the curtains on
fire. When Rexhë bent down to pick up the lighter, the YA soldier let off a
burst of gunfire at the civilians. Rexhë Kelmendi saved himself by managing to
run away into another room and then jumping through the window. When he went back to the house several hours
later, it had been burned out and “when [he] entered the hallway [he] saw the
burned bodies.”
There were 10 men in the third group. YA soldiers took
the third group to the house of Sahit Gashi. They took them inside a room and
ordered them to sit down on the floor and then a YA soldier fired at them from
a machine gun. After several minutes, YA soldiers put foam rubber on the bodies
of executed men and then set them alight. Hazir Berisha, who survived the
execution, told HLC researchers: “The gunfire was constant. The man who was
shooting was tall and he had a painted face. When he shot me I could see him
setting a blanket on fire. Then, he took some foam rubber and placed it over
us. Then, he lit the foam rubber.”
After the YA soldiers entered the hamlet of Çeku, they ordered the families of Hasan and Haxhi Çeku
to gather in the yard of Kadri Çeku. When all family members had gathered
there, the YA soldiers robbed them, taking money, gold and other valuables from
them. Then, a YA soldier asked “Which one of you is the father of Agim Çeku?“
Hasan Çeku answered. Soldiers immediately ordered him to gather members of his
family in one part of the yard. After that, two YA soldiers took Hasan (Brahim) Çeku (born 1930) to his
barn, where they killed him by slitting his throat. Then they set the barn on
fire. One soldier took K.C. (born 1930)
into his house where he killed him and then set the house on fire.
On the same day, the Serbian forces killed eight more
men in different parts of Ćuška/Qyshk.
Zoran Rašković, a soldier of the 177th MTD
Peć and a witness to the mass executions in Ćuška/Qyshk, described the crime
during his testimony in the Ćuška case:
“It
was May 14th – Ćuška, 8 o’clock in the morning … Mrtvi [the late.
Minić Nebojša] told me to take him to the Command, to Toplica [Miladinović,
Commander of 177th MTD Peć]. … I took him there and Mrtvi stayed
there for about 40 minutes, 30-40 minutes, in the vehicle. He did not say
anything to me. We went back and then he said very briefly “let’s move, get
ready to move”… and we started moving along the highway towards Priština. After
some 3 to 4 kilometers on the right side, there is an exit, an exit going to
the village of Ćuška…we arrived at
a place with a rest area, it was some sort of a square, I would say…. We
stopped there as we ran into about 10 soldiers of the Territorial Defence
reserve unit three, two or three of them were in blue uniforms, the camouflage
blue police uniforms, I do not know if they were active or reserve police, I do
not know….We stopped there, Mrtvi went to them, talked to them, the vehicles
were parked and then we got back on the move.
Then,
according to some regular [plan], since this was not the first operation of
such kind, though I never knew and it was never known how far we would go, now
I am talking about executions. I did not know. We split into four groups … and
the groups went in four different direction while Mrtvi went in the direction
we came from, from where we entered the village. I stayed by the vehicle as
always, more or less. with five soldiers in the center.
And
as Mrtvi and Vampir were leaving, two Shiptars, older men, mid-life, at that
time I thought they were older, they were maybe 45 years old, they aked if we
needed them to find something ... when Vampir, without any warning, I do not
know if Mrtvi told him that or he just did it, but he cut them and left them by
the side of the road. So they left and all four groups went each in a different
direction.
Nobody
fired at us, I did not see any terrorists, it was a sunny morning and they
spread out around the village. And then, Your Honour, the battle started. The
shooting manifested by bursts of gunfire coming from different sides, east,
west, north, south, and then the hay since it is easiest to see hay burning. I
am talking about this from my position in the center of the village. Then,
women, children, the elderly, refugees, could be seen pulling bags, suitcases,
children screaming, the elderly gathering…..bags were being kicked and they
started gathering together in the center.
Tractors
came, people who knew how to drive were driving tractors and other people were
getting on the tractors, TAM trucks, all going to Albania. Not everybody could
get on the vehicles, so they were waiting on them. At that time, there were
also soldiers there and then suddenly a NATO plane flew over us…..which often
hit civilians as well, as had been the case some ten days earlier, so in all
this disarray the plane caused more panic among them and us additionally….I
remember Bata Lekić, ripping off necklaces, asking for money, and all this
forcing of people to the tractors and the gathering of people lasted for an
hour or two. All these men needed to be put on tractors and then slowly the
tractors started to leave and group leaders then came back with soldiers though
some of them got separated. It was obvious that Buba [Zoran Obradović] was
there, and he left with Ćale [Srećko Popović].
People
were just wandering around the village, 15-20 houses were already on fire, the
expulsion was in progress and the soldiers were returning from time to time,
bringing some Shiptar civilian with them or removing some from the tractors if
it was assessed that they were fit for military service. Mrtvi had a saying
that everyone from the age of 13 to 77, and since 13 is an unlucky number, then
it was from the age of 12. Some soldiers took it as a joke and some took it
literally and then on the way back I saw Ćale, Srećko Popović, executing three
Albanians, for Serbia, for Serbia…
So
they were coming back and what I could see from this part where I was standing
was that women, children, had already left. I was in that central square and I
could see up there that 25 men were standing in a line alongside the road. Now
I cannot tell you their exact age, one of them was very young, younger than me,
but there were some who were older, at the age of 15, 30, 20. I did not count.
It has been many years and the group was solid, whatever that means….
I
approach them, 15 Shiptars were standing in line and Ranko “Bosanac” [Ranko
Momić] was communicating with them. There were 10-15 of us there: “Let’s say “Jackals”,”
Ranko “Bosanac” tells them – don’t be afraid, buses will arrive to transport
you to the main police station in Peć.” While talking to one of them he is told
“we did not lay a finger on anyone, what is this”, and then Ranko replied “I
know, fuck it, it is a war, what can we do”, and he even gives him a cigarette
to light up and says “in order to prevent those at the Peć Police Station from
causing you any problems and from harrassing you” they had to put on a small
rug or spread out tent to put there all they had in their pockets. They started
throwing down personal ID cards, wallets, everything, everything, meaning
watches, bracelets, rings, literally everything….
There
was a child in the line as well, younger than me and “Mrtvi” told him to
collect it all and pick up a backpack. I passed it to him so he could put it
all in it. That child, I do not know how to describe to you his fear. He was
shaking and he pissed and shitted himself because of fear but he still
collected it. His image is very strongly imprinted in my memory, the incredible
fear.
Ranko
then told them “come on, let’s go to this house so we do not stand in the sun,
you see there is shade there”, which was on the left side. The house was on the
right side. The house only had a ground floor and did not have the Shiptar wall
fence but rather an ordinary fence, a yard and some trees, something green,
maybe walnut trees and Ranko started moving in a relaxed manner with his
“AK-47” lowered down in front of everyone and says “let’s go, it is easier in
the shade”. He is joined by “Šumadija” [Nikolić Milojko] and in the end he is
joined by Mađa Vuković. The three of them led the entire group of fifteen men,
they entered the yard, but did not stay in the yard but went to the porch and
then slowly into the house.
The
house was a Shiptar house, not a rich house, two rooms, maybe a hallway. They
went inside and all that could be heard was burst fire, long bursts and after
that some noise, a bang. The first one who ran out of the house was “Šumadija”,
I remember that clearly. As he came out he said his typical curse “fucking
mosque and mosque orchestra”. A round ricocheted and grazed his leg and pierced
his overalls, but “Šumadija”, as usual, did not complain about the leg but
about having his overalls pierced. Then, Ranko “Bosanac” came out, relaxed just
like he was when he came in and lit a cigarette and then in the end the third
one to come out was Mađo Vuković who had stayed in after them to set the house
on fire, since smoke could already be seen. The young man who collected the
valuables, was not put back in line. When he had collected everything, “Vampir”
was there and put the barrel of his AK-47 to his head and then “Mrtvi” said
“let him go” and “Vampir” said in surprise “why should I let him go”. “Let him
go so there is someone to tell Shiptars about this”. “Mrtvi” would spare lives
like that, it was like a custom to him. For example, he would let a Shiptar run
down the field and would decide to shoot three rounds from a distance of some
200 meters. If he shot him than that’s how it would be, but if he didn’t he
would only say “you see it was not his destiny, let him live…”
* 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.