Today in history, 2 November: The Izbicë massacre

The recorded event closest to today's date in the archive calendar.

Date of the event: 28 March 1999
Place: Izbicë
Evidence status: Evidence status: Judicially established. Established in a final court judgment. It covers only what the court found, not every later interpretation.

On 28 March 1999, after thousands of displaced people had gathered in a field at Izbicë, men were separated from women and children, divided into groups and shot; several elderly people were also killed in the field. Villagers buried and filmed the dead.

Full event record, with sources and map

Historical context

1999

From the Reçak massacre to the entry of KFOR: six months that saw failed negotiations, NATO's intervention, the mass expulsion of Albanians and crimes documented by international courts.

Read the chapter “1999: Reçak, expulsions and the end of the war”

Sources

[1]Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY). Prosecutor v. Milutinović et al., Judgement, Vol. 2 of 4. 2009-02-26. IT-05-87-T. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/milutinovic/tjug/en/jud090226-e2of4.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
[2]Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY). Prosecutor v. Vlastimir Đorđević, Public Judgement with Confidential Annex. 2011-02-23. IT-05-87/1-T. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/djordjevic/tjug/en/110223_djordjevic_judgt_en.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
[3]Fred Abrahams, Benjamin Ward. Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo. 2001-10-26. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/. Accessed 2026-09-16.
[4]OSBE — Zyra për Institucione Demokratike dhe të Drejta të Njeriut (ODIHR). Kosovo/Kosova: As Seen, As Told: An analysis of the human rights findings of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission, October 1998 to June 1999. 1999. https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/d/d/17772.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.