Alleged mass grave site in Kosovo

PRISTINA, 10 January 1999 - On 29 December 1998 the OSCE Human Rights Division was informed via the US KDOM of an alleged mass grave in the Urosevac area, south of Pristina. The US KDOM received the information from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The details given alleged that 11 persons were killed last summer and their bodies subsequently buried at the site of the killing.

Acting on the information given, Human Rights Verifiers from the OSCE KVM visited the site of the grave on Tuesday 5 January to conduct a preliminary assessment. Verifiers spoke with eyewitnesses, noted details and photographed the site. Witnesses alleged that the 13 persons buried at the site were killed whilst fleeing Serbian artillery fire on August 27 1998. The witnesses indicated three separate graves on the same site. It was said that eleven members of the one family were buried in one grave and the other two persons were buried in individual graves. KVM has not categorized the matter at this time. The Human Rights Division report will be forwarded to OSCE Headquarters in Vienna for their consideration and recommendations.