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50 |
| missiles at the villagers who
remained in the vicinity and these were followed by
infantry forces. These forces were reportedly wearing
blue police uniforms, police tiger stripes (camouflage)
and VJ camouflage uniforms. Some also wore scarves on
their heads and black gloves on their hands and one
witness stated that many had knives or small axes.
According to this witness, these infantry troops set
houses on fire along their way. It seems that a contingent of these advancing forces had entered the forest by the village at 10:00 a.m. on 26 September . The Delijaj family was among those who had sought refuge in the forest prior to the final assault. On 29 September Human Rights Watch researchers arrived in the village and observed seven bodies of members of the Delijaj family, while eleven others were in the process of being buried by local villagers. Five of these seven were women and the other two were children aged five and seven. All had been shot in the head at close range, apparently while attempting to flee the attack. The bodies of several of the victims displayed clear evidence of mutilation. In addition, a 95 year old male member of the family was found burnt in his house. At this time, two teen-age girls from the family remained missing, but KDOM subsequently reported the discovery of their bodies. In the village of Golubovac, located approximately 5 kilometres to the south of Gornje Obrinje, Human Right Watch researchers visited what appeared to be the execution site of 14 young men who, according to a survivor’s statement, had also been severely beaten prior to their murder. According to the same witness, on 26 September Serbian/FRY forces had lured those persons who had sought refuge in the woods into returning to their village. However, upon emerging, these forces rounded up around 200 civilians, separating the men from the women. Fourteen men were then selected from the group and were questioned as to their ties to the UCK. These men were beaten and forced to crouch on the ground for an extensive period of time, and then led to a garden where they were executed. The witness claimed that after this summary execution, the bodies were buried in the woods 2 kilometres to the east of Golubovac. A KDOM team and Human Rights Watch researchers observed significant pools of blood in the dirt, blood covered pipes and other tools, and approximately 100 small calibre shell casings at the site of the alleged massacre, all of which would appear to confirm the account given by the survivor. Even this brief description of the attacks in these areas demonstrates that Serbian/FRY forces engaged in the following,
The forces involved in these attacks were clearly a combination of various groups, acting in a co-ordinated fashion. Some reports indicate that members of the SAJ and JSO were present and were responsible for the killings. Regular MUP forces from the police stations in Srbica and Glogovac (whose chief is named as one Milos Vukobrat) may have been involved and VJ forces were clearly utilised, possibly coming from bases in Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica. Once again, these VJ units were subject to the authority of General Pavkovic. |
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