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The Racak incident alternatively called Racak massacre or Racak operation as it is often called, involved the killing of 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak on January 15, 1999 by Yugoslav security forces. In their aftermath, NATO issued an ultimatum to the government of Slobodan Milosevic to cease military operations in Kosovo and withdraw security forces or face military action. The Racak killings subsequently featured among the war crimes charges for which Milosevic was eventually indicted and put on trial by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.The importance of this event lies in the fact that it is very widely known and has became a benchmark for other similar operations of Yugoslav forces. Those who oppose the international treatment of Yugoslavia and the NATO bombing campaign that ensued will point say that Racak was a legitimate anti-terrorist operation and claim that other operations were legitimate anti-terrorist operations too. Those who support NATO will say that it was a brutal massacre and claim that other operations were massacres too.
1 Background
Racak is a small Albanian-inhabited village in the Stimlje Municipality of southern Kosovo. By 1998 it had become the scene of activity by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA, or UCK in Albanian). It had a population of around 2,000 people prior to the displacement of most of its inhabitants during Yugoslav and Serbian military activity in the summer of 1998. By January 1999, around 350 people were reported by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to be living in the village despite the continued presence of KLA and Yugoslav units in the vicinity.
On January 8January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 357 days remaining (358 in leap years). Events 871 Battle of Ashdown Ethelred of Wessex defeats Danish invasion army. 1198 Innocentius III becomes Pope. 1734 Premiere of George Frid and January 10January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 355 days remaining (356 in leap years). Events 49 BC Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon which signaled civil war. 1072 Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo. 1776 Thomas Paine publishes, the KLA mounted attacks on Serbian police in the neighboring municipalities of Suva Reka and UrosevacUroSevac is a town located in the province of Kosovo in Serbia and Montenegro at 42. 38° North, 21. Its Serbian name commemorates the medieval St UroS, who is also commemorated by a cathedral in the town (badly damaged in June 1999). In Albanian, the city, causing a number of fatalities. In response, Yugoslav and Serbian security forces established a security cordon in the immediate area of the attacks and around Racak and its neighboring communities. On January 15, reports emerged of civilians being killed in Racak. Monitors from the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM), an unarmed observer force from the OSCE, attempted to gain access to the area but were refused permission by security forces. They finally gained access on January 16January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 349 days remaining (350 in leap years). Events 27 BC Octavian Caesar given the title Augustus by the Roman Senate. 1362 One of the North Sea's greatest stormtides ever destroys th along with a number of foreign journalists and found a total of 40 bodies in and around the village. Eleven were found in houses with more than 20 found together in a gully. Another five bodies had already been removed by family members. In all, 45 were reported killed, including a 12-year-old boy and three women. All had been shot and the KVM team reported that several bodies had been decapitated.
KVM head William WalkerWilliam Walker was the name of two 19th century Americans: William Walker, briefly ruler of Nicaragua William Walker, composer in the shape note tradition, author of Southern Harmony Other William Walkers, for whom no Wikipedia article yet exists, include was among the first OSCE personnel on the scene. He immediately condemned what he labelled "an unspeakable atrocity" which was "a crime against humanity" before he had the chance to investigate whether the dead were KLA fighters or not. He told the party of journalists accompanying him:
- "I do not hesitate to accuse the (Yugoslav) government security forces. We want to know who gave the orders, and who carried them out. I will insist that justice will be done. They certainly didn't deserve to die in circumstances like this."
Two days later, on January 18January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 347 days remaining (348 in leap years) Events 300-1899 350 General Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans, proclaims himself Emperor. 474 Leo II becomes briefly Byzantine emper, the Chief Prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Louise Arbour, attempted to enter Kosovo to investigate the killings but was refused access by the Yugoslav authorities. On the same day, heavily armed Serbian police entered Racak and removed the bodies by force, taking them to a morgue in the Kosovo capital Pristina. A joint Serbian- Belarussian team of pathologists conducted post-mortems at the end of January, following which a Finnish forensic team working for the European Union conducted a second post-mortem, which was more detailed but less contemporaneous than the first. The bodies were finally released to the families and buried on February 11.
