Name: The Meja massacre (Operation Reka)
Start: 1999-04-27
End: 1999-04-28
Location: Mejë

The Meja massacre (Operation Reka)

In the joint VJ and MUP operation in the Carragoj valley on 27–28 April 1999, villagers were expelled towards Albania and men were separated from refugee columns at checkpoints near Meja and Korenica and killed.

Judicially establishedThe 1998–1999 warCrimesDisplacement

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

Key facts

Date: 27–28 April 1999
Place: Mejë
Coordinates: Approximate location
Sources: 4
Evidence status: Evidence status: Judicially established. Established in a final court judgment. It covers only what the court found, not every later interpretation.

Content warning

This material describes violence, death or loss. Read it when you are ready; you can close it at any time.

The Milutinović et al. judgment found that at least 287 Albanians were killed by VJ and MUP personnel together with members of paramilitary groups; the Đorđević judgment found 296 of the 344 listed victims [1] [2]. Many bodies were later exhumed and moved to the Batajnica mass graves.

The Humanitarian Law Center has publicly objected to the presentation of Meja's victims as “armed persons” in a 2026 exhibition: according to the HLC, the men were separated unarmed and without uniforms from columns of civilians [3].

How do we know this?

The ICTY found that at least 287 Albanians were killed in Operation Reka around Meja and Korenica on 27–28 April 1999.
Evidence status: Judicially established. Established in a final court judgment. It covers only what the court found, not every later interpretation.Last reviewed: 16 September 2026
- Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY), Prosecutor v. Milutinović et al., Judgement, Vol. 2 of 4, 2009, para. 236
- Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY), Prosecutor v. Vlastimir Đorđević, Public Judgement with Confidential Annex, 2011, para. 995

Sources

Last reviewed: 16 September 2026

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