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The provisions of the Statute of the International Tribunal and the existence of an armed conflict in Kosovo render the violations of international humanitarian law which have been, and continue to be, committed during its course appropriate subject-matter for investigation and indictment by the Office of the Prosecutor. The present report demonstrates that such violations have been committed on a widespread basis as part of a policy to destroy the aspirations of the Kosovar people for independence. This policy was implemented through methods of violence, intimidation and destruction, intended to terrorise the Kosovar population into submission. That such methods have been and are being utilised is widely known and reported. Indeed, on 3 October 1998, the UN Secretary-General stated,

"I am particularly concerned that civilians increasingly have become the main target in the conflict. Fighting in Kosovo has resulted in a mass displacement of civilian populations, the extensive destruction of villages and means of livelihood and the deep trauma and despair of displaced populations. Many villages have been destroyed by shelling and burning following operations conducted by federal and Serbian government forces. There are concerns that the disproportionate use of force and actions of the security forces are designed to terrorize and subjugate the population, a collective punishment to teach them that the price of supporting the Kosovo Albanian paramilitary units is too high and will be even higher in future. The Serbian security forces have demanded the surrender of weapons and have been reported to use terror and violence against civilians to force people to flee their homes or the places where they had sought refuge, under the guise of separating them from fighters of the Kosovo Albanian paramilitary units. The tactics include shelling, detentions and threats to life, and finally shortnotice demands to leave or face the consequences. There have been disruptions in electricity and other services, and empty dwellings have been burned and looted, abandoned farm vehicles have been destroyed, and farm animals have been burned in their barns or shot in the fields.

The level of destruction points clearly to an indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force against civilian populations.⁴⁸"

The ICTY Statute provides for two different forms of superior responsibility – under Article 7(1) and Article 7(3) – which are incurred by those persons who directed the Serbian/FRY campaign and controlled the forces involved in the commission of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. Such responsibility must be placed at the highest level in order to satisfy the mandate of the International Tribunal to contribute to the maintenance of peace and the achievement of reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.

It would be wholly artificial to seek to address the crimes committed in the Kosovo conflict without recognising that the primary actor, involved at all levels in the planning, ordering,

48. Report of the Secretary-General prepared pursuant to Resolutions 1160 (1998) and 1199 (1998) of the Security Council, 3 October 1998, S/1998/912