Institutions, movements and structures
Organizations
UÇK · KLA · UCK — Mesi i viteve 1990 – shtator 1999
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
The armed organization of Kosovo Albanians that grew out of underground networks at home and in the diaspora linked to the People's Movement of Kosovo. After its first publicly claimed actions in the mid-1990s, its uniformed members appeared in public at Llaushë in November 1997. In 1998 it became an insurgent force with broad support, organized in operational zones under a General Staff, and took part in the Rambouillet delegation. Under its June 1999 undertaking it demilitarized by September 1999.
LPK · LPRK · Lëvizja Popullore për Republikën e Kosovës — 1982 – vitet 1990
People's Movement of Kosovo (LPK)
An underground Albanian political movement founded in 1982 as the People's Movement for the Republic of Kosovo (LPRK), when émigré groups merged after the killing of Jusuf and Bardhosh Gërvalla and Kadri Zeka. Based mainly in Switzerland and Germany, it maintained networks inside Kosovo. In the 1990s, renamed the LPK, it played an important role in creating, organizing and financing the KLA, according to academic studies.
LDK · Demokratski savez Kosova — 1989 –
Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)
A political party founded in Prishtina on 23 December 1989, chaired by Ibrahim Rugova. Throughout the 1990s it was the dominant political force among Kosovo Albanians and led the strategy of peaceful resistance: boycotting Serbian institutions, organizing parallel institutions in education and health care, holding the parallel elections of 1992 and seeking international support. After the war it remained one of Kosovo's main parties.
FARK — 1998
Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo (FARK)
An armed formation created in 1998 under the authority of the government of the Republic of Kosova in exile. Relations with the KLA were tense because of political rivalry and disputes over command; during 1998 FARK units were gradually absorbed into KLA structures. The killing of FARK commander Ahmet Krasniqi in Tirana in September 1998 remains a disputed and unresolved matter in the sources consulted.
Qeveria Bukoshi · Bukoshi government — 1991 – 1999
Government of the Republic of Kosova in exile
The government proclaimed by Kosovo Albanian representatives after the independence declarations of 1990–1991, led by Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi and based in Germany. It collected contributions from the diaspora to finance parallel institutions, especially education and health care, and in 1998 backed the creation of FARK. It was not recognized internationally, apart from Albania's recognition of the Republic of Kosova in 1991.
Nëna Tereze · Mother Teresa Society — 1990 –
Mother Teresa Humanitarian Charitable Association
An Albanian humanitarian organization founded in Kosovo in 1990. In the 1990s, when many Albanians left the public health institutions, it built a network of clinics and aid distribution that became a pillar of the parallel health system. During the war and the displacement of 1999 it was involved in assisting displaced people.
KMDLNj · CDHRF · Savet za odbranu ljudskih prava i sloboda — 1989 –
Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF)
A non-governmental organization founded in Prishtina at the end of 1989. Throughout the 1990s it documented the arrests, ill-treatment, dismissals and killings affecting Kosovo Albanians, and its reports were used by international organizations. As an organization of the affected community, its documentation is a valuable source, but figures and details should be compared with independent sources.
UPSUP — Vitet 1990
Independent Students' Union of the University of Prishtina (UPSUP)
A student organization representing the students of the parallel Albanian university in Prishtina. On 1 October 1997 it organized large peaceful protests demanding that Albanian students be allowed back into university buildings, in line with the unimplemented 1996 education agreement. The protests were dispersed by Serbian police and marked a more active form of civic resistance.
MUP · Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srbije · PJP
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia (MUP)
The ministry controlling Serbia's police and state security. Its units, including regular police and special police units, were widely deployed in Kosovo in the 1990s and during the war of 1998–1999. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted, by final judgments, senior officials of this ministry for crimes committed in 1999 by forces under their control. Criminal responsibility remains individual.
VJ · Vojska Jugoslavije · Korpusi i Prishtinës — 1992 – 2003
Yugoslav Army (VJ)
The armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Its units, especially those of the Priština Corps, took part in operations in Kosovo in 1998–1999. The ICTY convicted, by final judgments, several senior VJ commanders for crimes committed in Kosovo in 1999 in the Šainović et al. case. The judgments attribute responsibility to the persons convicted, not to every member of the army.
Škorpioni · Scorpions
The "Scorpions" unit
A Serbian paramilitary unit known for its activity in the wars of the former Yugoslavia. Members of the unit were convicted by a court in Belgrade for the killings of Albanian civilians in Podujevë on 28 March 1999. Details of the court cases are presented only after verification against official documents.
KVM · OSCE KVM · Kosovo Verification Mission — Tetor 1998 – mars 1999
OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM)
An unarmed OSCE mission established in October 1998, after the Holbrooke–Milošević agreement, to verify compliance with the ceasefire and with UN Security Council demands. Headed by US diplomat William Walker, it withdrew from Kosovo on 20 March 1999, shortly before NATO's air campaign. The documentation of its human-rights division was compiled in the report "As Seen, As Told".
KFOR — 1999 –
Kosovo Force (KFOR)
A NATO-led multinational force that entered Kosovo on 12 June 1999 under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo Military Technical Agreement. Its initial tasks included ensuring the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav forces, the demilitarization of the KLA and the establishment of a secure environment. The mission has continued after Kosovo's independence.
UNMIK — 1999 –
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
A UN mission created by Resolution 1244 in June 1999 to administer Kosovo on an interim basis and to build institutions of self-government. It issued regulations with the force of law, including the one that created the Kosovo Protection Corps. After Kosovo's constitution was adopted in 2008, its role was significantly reduced.
NATO · OTAN — 1949 –
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
An intergovernmental military alliance. From 24 March to 10 June 1999 it conducted the air campaign Operation Allied Force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, without specific Security Council authorization, on the grounds of preventing a humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo. The campaign's legality and civilian harm remain subjects of legal and academic debate. After the war it led KFOR.
Contact Group · Kontakt grupa — 1994 –
Contact Group
An informal diplomatic format of major powers — the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy — that coordinated policy towards the former Yugoslavia. In 1998–1999 it set out demands on the parties in Kosovo and convened the Rambouillet talks in February 1999. Disagreements among its members, especially with Russia, limited joint action in the Security Council.
ICTY · Tribunali i Hagës · MKSJ — 1993 – 2017
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
An international tribunal established by the UN Security Council in 1993, with jurisdiction over serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. Regarding Kosovo it tried, among others, Serbian and Yugoslav political and military leaders and several former KLA members. The Tribunal closed at the end of 2017; its remaining functions passed to the International Residual Mechanism (IRMCT).
DhSK · KSC · SPO — 2015 –
Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office
A court created by a law of the Assembly of Kosovo in 2015, following a constitutional amendment, seated in The Hague and staffed by international judges and prosecutors. It is part of Kosovo's judicial system and has jurisdiction over certain crimes committed between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000 linked to the allegations in a 2011 report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Every case concerns charges against individuals.
HLC · Fond za humanitarno pravo · FHP — 1992 –
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC)
A human-rights organization founded in Belgrade in 1992, with an office also in Prishtina (today a separate organization: Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo). It has documented crimes of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, monitored war-crimes trials and led the Kosovo Memory Book project, which records by name those killed and missing in connection with the war in Kosovo.
TMK · KPC · Kosovo Protection Corps — 1999 – 2009
Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC)
A civilian emergency organization created by UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 in September 1999, after the demilitarization of the KLA. Many former KLA members joined it. Its mandate covered disaster response, search and rescue and reconstruction, not military defence. It was dissolved in 2009, when the Kosovo Security Force was created.