First Survivor Testimony: Injuries from war crimes limit ability to testify

A forty-nine year old farmer, Agim Zaqiri, was the first survivor of the Kosovo war to testify in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His testimony, and his inability to complete it, graphically demonstrate the difficulties victims of the war face in coming to the Tribunal to testify against the man accused of causing the loss of their families, property and personal health.

A simple farmer, permanently disabled from injuries sustained in the war, Mr. Zaqiri was brought face-to-face with the man accused of planning and overseeing the execution of the war which devastated his life, a man who presided over the dismantling of his province's self-rule and increasing police repression over a decade, the former president of his country. And he was made to answer questions put to him by the former president of his country in a highly structured proceeding, which denied him the ability to ask any questions in return. While Mr. Zaqiri did an admirable job and Mr. Milosevic was professional in his cross examination, it is not surprising that Mr. Zaqiri refused to continue on the second day, though he appeared in court to ask that the court excuse him from further testimony.

To Judge May's question, 'Are you feeling fit enough to go on with your evidence?' he replied, 'No. I am not well at all. I am not in a position to discuss this. I have my own problems and worries.' When the judge asked if he could manage just ten minutes of questioning, he responded, 'No. Please. Excuse me. Please.' Judge May acquiesced, stating 'We have to bring cross examination to a close. We'll note the circumstances and that will affect our consideration of the evidence.'

The previous day, Mr. Zeqiri testified to the year-long period leading up to the war, in which the situation in Kosovo grew increasingly tense with police checkpoints set up on the main road outside his village, called Celina in Serbian. KLA forces occasionally passed through Celina, which supported them with food and clothing. Mr. Zeqiri testified that police extorted money from men who refused or could not turn over arms on demand.

On March 25, 1999, the day after NATO began its bombing campaign, the army entered Celina, began burning houses and surrounded the village, a pattern that the prosecution contends prevailed throughout Kosovo during the 78-day war. Mr. Zaqiri and his family fled to a nearby stream, but soon the men left for the hills. There, a Roma companion of his was shot and killed in front of him.

After spending a night in the mountains, Mr. Zeqiri walked to a village where about 5,000 to 6,000 people from other villages had taken refuge. Soon that village, too, was surrounded by the army and police, and the population surrendered. The men were separated from the women and children and made to lie face down. One young man was taken away and shot. A man in a black face mask approached Mr. Zeqiri and kicked him in the head. The men were then forced to march, while singing Serbian songs and giving the Serbian three-fingered salute. One man who could not speak was knocked down with an automatic weapon. They passed burning villages as they walked for many hours.

Eventually, they were made to get on a truck which drove them to Zur from where they walked to Kukes, Albania. Mr. Zaqiri testified that on crossing the border identification documents were taken from others, but not from him because he was 'full of blood.' He was treated in hospitals for several weeks and did not learn his family's fate until he was released. A cousin in Germany called to tell him, 'Be brave. Your family and my family have all been killed.' Of 18 family members, only Mr. Zaqiri and a nephew survived. The eldest killed was 62 years old and the youngest was one-and-a-half years.

Nearly a year later, he returned home to find that 75 villagers from Celina had been killed. Most of the houses had been burned, though his remained standing. Two of his cows had been slaughtered, the third was taken away and all his possessions were gone.

On cross examination, Mr. Milosevic attempted to get Mr. Zaqiri to say that the army was fighting with the KLA in his village. Mr. Zaqiri steadfastly maintained the KLA was nowhere around. However, Mr. Milosevic pressed the witness to admit that he knew of only one instance when the police extorted money from a villager who did not turn over arms when they demanded it. His questioning also elicited a clarification that the police checkpoints established on the main road near the village in 1998 were not barricades, but checkpoints where police would question any who sought to pass.

He was less successful in trying to get Mr. Zaqiri to say he knew or had heard of instances when the KLA shot at or killed Serbian police. In frustration, Mr. Milosvic asked, 'You have television in your village?' to which Mr. Zaqiri answered, 'Yes, but most of the time there is no electricity.' Mr. Milosevic persisted, 'You are able to watch television from time to time?' But Mr. Zaqiri responded, 'I've never been interested. I'm interested in my family.' Finally, in frustration, Mr. Milosevic asked, 'Didn't you have a television in your house?' and the witness answered simply, 'No.' Mr. Milosevic seemed unfamiliar with the lives of citizens in 'his' southern province.

From the prosecution's trial brief and opening statement, it appears Mr. Zaqiri's testimony will be repeated in broad outline by a string of survivor witnesses, who will testify that they were forced at gunpoint to leave their homes and their homeland to become refugees in Albania, Macedonia and other countries, while their property was destroyed so they would have nothing to return to. The prosecution will seek to establish that similar evictions occurred across Kosovo in a highly organized and coordinated manner, beginning as soon as NATO started bombing, and that this shows a campaign that could only have been designed and carried out with approval at the highest level, i.e. President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.