Today in history, 5 November: The killings in Gjakova's Qerim neighbourhood

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

Date of the event: 1–2 April 1999
Place: Gjakova
Evidence status: Evidence status: Judicially established. Established in a final court judgment. It covers only what the court found, not every later interpretation.

On the night of 1–2 April 1999, during a police operation in Gjakova's Qerim neighbourhood, 20 people, mostly women and children, were shot or died when Lulzim Vejsa's house was set on fire; other residents were killed the same night.

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.