With the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, world attention has focussed on the brutal warfare that erupted first in Croatia and, more recently, in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Most of the human rights violations being committed in both conflicts stem from the use of force and terror by Serbian authorities to assert control over territory and to expel or marginalize the non-Serbian population. These tactics, which now form a familiar pattern, were first used by Serbian authorities in Kosovo, a formerly autonomous province in southern Serbia in which ethnic Albanians comprise approximately 90 percent of the population. This report documents violations investigated by Helsinki Watch during missions to Kosovo and Serbia proper in May, June and December 1991 as well as abuses documented since January 1992.
Human Rights Abuses in Kosovo 1990-1992