Organizations, political and legal terms
Glossary
«Organizatë terroriste», «kryengritje», «ushtri çlirimtare»
“Terrorist organization”, “insurgency”, “liberation army”
Labels that different actors applied to the KLA at different times. None is a timeless fact: every use must be read with its actor, date and legal or diplomatic context. The KLA page shows, for each label, who used it, when and whether it changed.
Heqja e autonomisë (1989–1990)
Abolition of autonomy (1989–1990)
The process by which Serbia's constitutional amendments of March 1989, the dissolution of Kosovo's Assembly and government in July 1990 and the new Serbian constitution of 1990 removed most of Kosovo's autonomous powers.
Emrat alternativë të vendeve
Alternative place names
Many places in Kosovo have Albanian and Serbian names, and sometimes historical forms too. The archive shows the preferred Albanian name and keeps other forms for search, e.g. Reçak / Račak, Gjakovë / Đakovica, Pejë / Peć, Drenas / Glogovac, Skenderaj / Srbica.
Ankesë (apel)
Appeal
A request by the defence or the prosecution for a higher court to review a first-instance judgment for errors of law or fact. The appeals court may uphold, revise or quash the decision, or order a retrial.
Atribuimi i përgjegjësisë
Attribution of responsibility
Naming the institution, unit, authority or person responsible for an act as precisely as the sources allow. The archive does not use collective ethnic attributions and states clearly when perpetrators have not been identified.
KMDLNj — Këshilli për Mbrojtjen e të Drejtave dhe Lirive të Njeriut
CDHRF — Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms
A non-governmental organization based in Prishtina, founded in 1989, that documented human-rights violations against Kosovo Albanians. Its reports are a contemporaneous source, with the perspective of an advocacy organization.
Aktakuzë e konfirmuar
Confirmed indictment
An indictment that a judge has reviewed and found to provide sufficient grounds to proceed to trial. Confirmation is not a finding of guilt and does not weigh the evidence as a trial does.
Grupi i Kontaktit
Contact Group
An informal diplomatic format of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Russia that coordinated international policy on the former Yugoslavia. In 1998–1999 it convened the Rambouillet and Paris talks.
Krime kundër njerëzimit
Crimes against humanity
Serious acts — such as murder, deportation, persecution or imprisonment — committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population. At the ICTY, the attack had to be linked to an armed conflict; definitions vary slightly with each court's statute.
Deportim
Deportation
The forced displacement of persons across a state border or de facto border, without grounds permitted under international law. The ICTY found that Kosovo Albanians were deported on a mass scale in 1999.
Pohim i kontestuar
Disputed claim
A claim on which serious sources give different versions, figures or interpretations. The archive presents the positions side by side and does not quietly choose the most convenient version.
Drenica
Drenica
A hilly region in central Kosovo, mainly covering the municipalities of Skenderaj and Drenas. In 1998 it was among the first areas of armed conflict, with events such as the attacks on Likoshan, Qirez and Prekaz.
Rrafshi i Dukagjinit
Dukagjin plain
A region in western Kosovo around Pejë, Deçan, Gjakovë and Istog, known in Serbian sources as Metohija. The region's name varies with the language of the source and should be recognized for research.
FARK — Forcat e Armatosura të Republikës së Kosovës
FARK — Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo
An armed formation linked to Kosovo's government in exile, active in 1998. Its relations with the KLA were tense and remain a subject of debate among scholars and participants; many of its members later joined KLA structures.
Aktgjykim i formës së prerë
Final judgment
A court decision that can no longer be challenged through ordinary legal remedies, because the appeal has been decided or the time limit has passed. Only findings in such a judgment are labelled “Judicially established” in this archive.
Aktgjykim i shkallës së parë
First-instance (trial) judgment
The trial chamber's decision after trial, containing its findings of fact, on guilt or innocence and, where applicable, the sentence. It can be appealed; while an appeal is possible or pending, it is not final.
Zhvendosje e dhunshme
Forcible transfer
The forced displacement of persons within the same state, without grounds permitted under international law. It differs from deportation because the victims do not cross a border; it is usually prosecuted as an “other inhumane act”.
ICTY — Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë
ICTY — International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
A UN court based in The Hague, established by the Security Council in 1993 to try serious crimes committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. It tried cases concerning crimes in Kosovo against Serbian and Yugoslav officials and against some KLA members. It closed at the end of 2017.
Aktakuzë
Indictment
The document by which a prosecutor brings criminal charges against a person. An indictment contains the prosecution's allegations and is not proof of guilt; the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final judgment.
IRMCT — Mekanizmi Ndërkombëtar Mbetës për Tribunalet Penale
IRMCT — International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
A UN institution that took over the residual functions of the ICTY and the Rwanda tribunal, such as supervising the enforcement of sentences, protecting witnesses and preserving the judicial archives.
Ndërmarrje e përbashkët kriminale (JCE)
Joint criminal enterprise (JCE)
A mode of individual criminal liability developed in ICTY case law, under which a person who significantly participates in a common criminal plan is responsible for crimes committed in carrying it out. It remains a subject of debate among lawyers.
KFOR — Forca e Kosovës
KFOR — Kosovo Force
The NATO-led international military presence authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1244. KFOR entered Kosovo on 12 June 1999, following the Kumanovo Military Technical Agreement.
Zotimi i UÇK-së për çmilitarizim dhe transformim
KLA Undertaking of Demilitarisation and Transformation
A document dated 20 June 1999 and signed in the early hours of 21 June 1999 between the KLA and KFOR, under which the KLA undertook to demilitarize within set deadlines. The process concluded in September 1999, when the Kosovo Protection Corps was created.
Dhomat e Specializuara të Kosovës
Kosovo Specialist Chambers
A court established under Kosovo law in 2015, part of Kosovo's judicial system but based in The Hague and staffed by international judges. Together with the Specialist Prosecutor's Office, it has jurisdiction over certain crimes committed from 1998 to 2000. The status of each case is given only in the court tracker.
TMK — Trupat Mbrojtëse të Kosovës
KPC — Kosovo Protection Corps
A civilian emergency organization created in September 1999 by UNMIK Regulation 1999/8, as part of the KLA's transformation after demilitarization. Many of its members were former combatants. It was dissolved in 2009.
Marrëveshja e Kumanovës
Kumanovo Agreement
The Military Technical Agreement signed in Kumanovo on 9 June 1999 between KFOR and the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia. It set the timelines and procedures for the withdrawal of forces from Kosovo, completed on 20 June 1999.
KVM — Misioni Verifikues i OSBE-së në Kosovë
KVM — OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission
An unarmed OSCE civilian mission established in October 1998 to verify compliance with the ceasefire and the October agreements. It was headed by William Walker and withdrew from Kosovo on 20 March 1999. Its reporting is an important contemporaneous source.
LDK — Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës
LDK — Democratic League of Kosovo
A political party founded in Prishtina in December 1989 and led by Ibrahim Rugova. In the 1990s it was the main political force of Kosovo Albanians and led the strategy of peaceful resistance and the parallel institutions.
LPK — Lëvizja Popullore e Kosovës
LPK — People's Movement of Kosovo
An underground political organization of Kosovo Albanians, rooted in groups of the 1980s and especially active in the diaspora. Scholars link it to the networks that helped create the KLA; the exact extent of that role is part of the debate over the organization's origins.
Shoqata Humanitare «Nëna Tereze»
Mother Teresa Society
A Kosovo Albanian humanitarian organization founded in 1990 that provided aid and health services through a network of volunteer clinics during the years of the parallel institutions.
MUP — Ministria e Punëve të Brendshme e Serbisë
MUP — Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs
The ministry that controlled the police in Serbia, including police units deployed in Kosovo. In ICTY judgments, MUP forces are named, together with Yugoslav Army units, in connection with the crimes of 1999.
Konflikt i armatosur jondërkombëtar
Non-international armed conflict
Protracted armed violence between government forces and organized armed groups, or between such groups, within a state. Its existence is a condition for applying certain war-crimes norms; in specific cases the ICTY found that such a conflict existed in Kosovo in 1998.
Institucionet paralele
Parallel institutions
The system of education, health care, funding and political representation that Kosovo Albanians built in the 1990s after being excluded from state institutions. Teaching often took place in private homes and was funded largely by contributions from the population and the diaspora.
Rezistenca paqësore
Peaceful resistance
The political strategy led by the LDK in the 1990s, which sought to internationalize the Kosovo question and sustain society through parallel institutions while avoiding armed confrontation. Its achievements and limits are a subject of historiographical debate.
Persekutim
Persecution
The intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights of persons because of their political, racial, national, ethnic or religious identity, committed as a crime against humanity.
Dëshmi personale
Personal testimony
An account by a witness or participant of their own experience, recorded in an interview, a memoir or before a court. In this archive it is an evidence label: valuable as lived experience, with factual details compared against other sources.
PJP — Njësitë e Posaçme të Policisë
PJP — Special Police Units
Police units of the Serbian MUP (Posebne jedinice policije) used in operations in Kosovo in 1998–1999. Naming the unit precisely matters for attributing responsibility in sources and court decisions.
Prezumimi i pafajësisë
Presumption of innocence
The fundamental principle that every accused person is considered innocent until their guilt is established by a final court decision. The burden of proof rests on the prosecution.
Burim primar
Primary source
A document or material created at the time of the event or by a participant: a resolution, a mission report, a court transcript, a photograph, an interview. It brings one close to the event but is often partial and needs context.
Rambouillet
Rambouillet
The name of the talks held at the château of Rambouillet near Paris, 6–23 February 1999, and of the draft interim agreement for peace and self-government in Kosovo. The Albanian delegation signed it in Paris on 18 March 1999; the Yugoslav and Serbian delegation did not.
Rezoluta 1244
Resolution 1244
A UN Security Council resolution adopted on 10 June 1999 that authorized an international civil presence (UNMIK) and an international security presence (KFOR) in Kosovo and provided for substantial autonomy pending a final settlement, without determining status.
Rigjykim
Retrial
A new trial on some or all charges, ordered by an appeals court when the first trial had fundamental flaws. At the ICTY, for example, a partial retrial was ordered in the Haradinaj et al. case.
Burim dytësor
Secondary source
Later analysis that interprets primary sources, such as a historical monograph or a journal article. It offers context and synthesis but also contains the author's interpretation and choices.
Përgjegjësi eprore (komanduese)
Superior (command) responsibility
The criminal responsibility of a superior for crimes by subordinates, where the superior knew or had reason to know of them and failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or punish them. It is individual, not collective, responsibility.
Autonomia e vitit 1974
The 1974 autonomy
The status of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo under the 1974 Yugoslav constitution: its own constitution, assembly and bodies, and representation in federal institutions, while formally remaining part of Serbia. It was drastically curtailed by the constitutional changes of 1989.
UÇK — Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës
UÇK / KLA — Kosovo Liberation Army
An armed organization of Kosovo Albanians that emerged publicly in 1997 and became the central force of armed resistance in the war of 1998–1999. After June 1999 it demilitarized under an undertaking signed with KFOR. The labels applied to it varied with the actor and the period.
UNMIK — Misioni i Administratës së Përkohshme të OKB-së në Kosovë
UNMIK — United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
The international civil administration established by Resolution 1244 in June 1999. It exercised executive, legislative and judicial authority in Kosovo in the postwar period, before powers were gradually transferred to local institutions.
VJ — Ushtria Jugosllave
VJ — Yugoslav Army
The armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Vojska Jugoslavije). Its units took part in operations in Kosovo in 1998–1999; the responsibility of some senior commanders was tried before the ICTY.
Krime lufte
War crimes
Serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during an armed conflict, such as the murder of civilians or prisoners, torture or the cruel treatment of detainees. Criminal responsibility for them is individual.