In April 1999, ABA/CEELI initiated its War Crimes Documentation Project under the leadership of its Executive Director Mark Ellis and with assistance from the Coalition for International Justice and its Executive Director John Heffernan. Under their leadership, the first contacts with the U.S. Department of State, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were made. During the months that followed, we at ABA/CEELI developed the project with the support of the U.S. Government, in particular the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the Office of the Ambassador At-Large on War Crimes Issues, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While U.S. Government support was essential to the project, it should also be emphasized that at no time did U.S. Government personnel seek to infringe upon our independent management of the project or influence our substantive reporting. ABA/CEELI structured its relations with the U.S. Government as a “cooperative agreement” to ensure its independence in this respect. Consequently, this report was not submitted for U.S. Government review, and any convergence with the views of the U.S. Government is purely coincidental.

Between April and October 1999, ABA/CEELI volunteers in Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Poland, and Ft. Dix, New Jersey, worked with translators and local investigators to assemble accounts of Kosovar refugees. Recognizing the urgency of the situation and value of analogous indigenous efforts, ABA/CEELI engaged in outreach efforts, forging an alliance with a coalition of Albanian NGOs, which came together as the The Center for Peace Through Justice. The two Co-Directors of the Center, Dajena Kumbaro and Holta Kotherja, led a team of dedicated human rights investigators to Kosovar refugee camps throughout Albania. At all times, this team demonstrated exceptional compassion and professionalism. As a result, ABA/CEELI and the Center were able to assemble a significant body of human rights data. Essential to the final assembly and tabulation of ABA/CEELI-Center data and this report were the tireless efforts of our ABA/CEELI DC Program Associates Sarah Warner and Charles Charpentier.

At the same time that ABA/CEELI and the Center were collecting data on human rights violations in Kosovo, other organizations were engaged in similar efforts. Researchers from Physicians for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and the American Association for the Advancement of Science were all working within the region to document the events. We are very thankful for the willingness of these organizations to share the results of their work with each other. Without this cooperative spirit, this project would not have been possible.

Finally, ABA/CEELI would also like to thank the Co-Chairmen of the Independent International Commission on Kosovo, Justice Richard Goldstone and Carl Tham. On several occasions, the Co-Chairmen dedicated Commission time to ABA/CEELI, permitting us to present our respective findings on the situation in Kosovo. Furthermore, they have agreed to re-publish the substance of our findings, increasing public awareness of the nature and extent of the human rights violations in Kosovo.

AAAS

Political Killings in Kosova/Kosovo, March-June 1999 would not exist without the collaboration of many individuals and organizations. This report is based primarily on data provided by the American Bar Association Central and East European Law Initiative, the Center for Peace Through Justice, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights. Supplementary data from the American Association for the Advancement of Science were also used to place these results within the context of a broader range of human rights violations.

Data analyses were conducted by Patrick Ball, from AAAS, and Sandra Eyster. Dr. Ball conceptualized the analysis techniques, designed the list matching system and computed the estimates and their standard errors. Dr. Eyster prepared the data for analysis, including the designing of the coding process of the ABA/CEELI-Center data and cleaning and merging of the data prior to estimation.

Leonard Rubenstein, Executive Director of PHR, and Fred Abrahams and Rebecca Morgan from Human Rights Watch generously contributed their time, energy and expertise to this project. In addition, Mr. Abrahams and AAAS staff member Victoria Baxter offered their time to assist in the preparation of the data prior to analysis.

Fritz Scheuren, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and current Vice President of the American Statistical Association, provided invaluable assistance and guidance with the analyses. He also reviewed and suggested improvements to this report.

In addition to funding provided by ABA/CEELI, AAAS’s work was supported by core funding to the Science and Human Rights Program provided by the Institute for Civil Society and the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation.

Authors and Editors

This report was written by ABA/CEELI and AAAS. Scott Carlson and Wendy Betts from ABA/CEELI prepared Section I. Dr. Eyster wrote Section II with Dr. Ball, who also generated the figures. Matthew Zimmerman of AAAS designed this book and its graphics, and prepared the material for publication. Donnie Norwood of AAAS Publication Services designed the cover.