A population-based assessment of human rights abuses committed against ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo

Objectives; This study assessed patterns of displacement and human rights a buses among Kosovar refugees in Macedonia and Albania. Methods. Between April 19 and May 3, 1999, 1180 ethnic Albanian refugees li ving in 31 refugee camps and collective centers in Macedonia and Albania we re interviewed. Results. The majority (68%) of participants reported that their families we re directly expelled from their homes by Serb forces. Overall, 50% of parti cipants saw Serb police or soldiers burning the houses of others, 16% saw S erb police or soldiers burn their own home, and 14% witnessed Serb police o r soldiers killing someone. Large percentages of participants saw destroyed mosques, schools, or medical facilities. Thirty-one percent of respondents reported human rights abuses committed against their household members, in cluding beatings, killings, torture, forced separation and disappearances, gunshot wounds, and sexual assault. Conclusions. The present findings confirm that Serb forces engaged in a sys tematic and brutal campaign to forcibly expel the ethnic Albanian populatio n of Kosovo. In the course of these mass deportations, Serb forces committe d widespread abuses of human rights against ethnic Albanians.