complete (this latter tactic sometimes being referred to as archival cleansing). massacres of civilians memorial to albanian victims in vushtrri račak massacre (or "operation račak") on 15 january 1999 – 45 albanians were rounded up and killed by serbian special forces. the first forensic report, by a joint yugoslavian and belarusian team, concluded that those killed were not civilians. the massacre provoked a shift in western policy towards the war. imeraj massacre on 26 march 1999 – serbian forces entered the village of pemishtë/cërkolez and killed 19 albanian civilians including 13 women and children. mala kaludra massacre on 19 april 1999 – 23 albanian refugees were killed by serbian paramilitaries as they fled towards montenegro. suva reka massacre on 26 march 1999 – 48 albanian civilians killed, among them many children. podujevo massacre – 19 albanian civilians were killed, including women, children and the elderly. massacre at velika kruša – according to the icty, serbian special anti-terrorist units murdered 42 persons. there were also allegations of mass rape. izbica massacre – serbian forces killed about 93 albanian civilians. drenica massacre – there were 29 identified corpses discovered in a mass-grave, committed by serbian law enforcement. gornje obrinje massacre – 18 corpses were found, but more people were slaughtered. ćuška massacre – 41 known victims. bela crkva massacre – 62 known fatalities meja massacre – at least 300 persons were killed by serbian police and paramilitary forces in may 1999. orahovac massacre – estimates range from 50 to more than 200 ethnic albanians killed dubrava prison massacre – prison guards killed more than 70 albanian prisoners in dubrava prison. poklek massacre – 17 april 1999 – at least 47 people were forced into one room and systematically gunned down. the precise number of dead is unknown, although it is certain that 23 children under the age of fifteen were killed in the massacre. vučitrn massacre – more than 100 kosovo refugees were killed by serbian police. cover-up soon after nato started bombing yugoslavia, slobodan milošević ordered that all bodies in kosovo that could be of interest to the hague tribunal should be removed. the yugoslav army systematically transported the corpses of albanians to places like the trepča mines near kosovska mitrovica, where their remains were allegedly cremated. thus, according to one source, it was estimated that between 1,200 and 1,500 bodies were burned in the trepča mines. however, these allegations surrounding the trepča mines turned out to be false. more corpses of kosovo albanians were transported into serbia, where the bodies were buried in mass-graves such as those at batajnica. in may 2001, the serbian government announced that 86 bodies of kosovo albanians were thrown into the river danube during the kosovo war. after four months of excavations, serbian forensic-experts located at least seven mass graves and some 430 bodies (including the corpses of women and children) in central serbia. those sites included the graves at batajnica near belgrade, at petrovo selo in eastern serbia and near perućac dam in western serbia. so far, about 800 remains of albanians killed and buried in mass graves in serbia have been exhumed and returned to their families in kosovo. most of the bodies were discovered near special anti-terrorist police bases where serbian anti-terrorism units were stationed and trained in clandestine operations. as a witness in the trial of eight police officers for war crimes against albanian civilians during the suva reka massacre, dragan karleuša, the investigator of the ministry of interior of serbia, testified that there are more graves in serbia. he commented, "why would they remove bodies in this way if the people had died normally," and concluded that they did not die normally and that the campaign to remove the bodies was, in fact, a cover-up for a "terrible crime". kla war crimes monument to serbian victims in mitrovica kidnappings and summary executions in some villages under albanian control in 1998, militants drove ethnic-serbs from their homes. some of those who remained are unaccounted for and are presumed to have been abducted by the kla and killed. the kla detained an estimated 85 serbs during its 19 july 1998 attack on orahovac. 35 of these were subsequently released but the others remained. on 22 july 1998, the kla briefly took control of the belaćevac mine near the town of obilić. nine serb mineworkers were captured that day and they remain on the international committee of the red cross's list of the missing and are presumed to have been killed. in august 1998, 22 serbian civilians were reportedly killed in the village of klečka, where the police claimed to have discovered human remains and a kiln used to cremate the bodies. in september 1998, serbian police collected 34 bodies of people believed to have been seized and murdered by the kla, among them some ethnic albanians, at lake radonjić near glođane (gllogjan) in what became known as the lake radonjić massacre. according to the international committee of the red cross and the icty, 97 kosovo serbs were kidnapped in 1998. according to a serbian government report, from 1 january 1998 to 10 june 1999 the uçk killed 988 people and kidnapped 287; of those killed, 335 were civilians, 351 were soldiers, 230 were police and 72 were unidentified; by nationality, 87 of the civilians killed were serbs, 230 were albanians, and 18 were of other nationalities. massacres of civilians staro gracko massacre memorial incomplete list of massacres: non-albanian civilian disappearances in kosovo – according to the kosovo government's commission on missing persons, 560 non-albanians are still missing from the war, including 360 serbs. they are believed to have been kidnapped by kla in kosovo beginning in 1998 with the majority disappearing between june 1999 and december 2000 following the withdrawal of yugoslav troops from the region. lake radonjić massacre – 34 individuals of serb, roma and albanian ethnicity were discovered by a serbian forensic team near the lake. gnjilane killings in 1999 – the remains of 51 serbs were discovered in mass graves after they were killed by albanian militants. orahovac massacre – more than 100 serbian and roma civilians were kidnapped and placed in concentration camps, 47 were killed. staro gračko massacre – 14 serbian farmers were murdered by albanian militants. klečka killings – 22 serb civilians were murdered and their bodies were cremated. ugljare massacre – 15 serbs were murdered by albanian separatists. peć massacre – 20 serbs were murdered and their corpses were thrown down wells. volujak massacre – 25 male kosovo serb civilians were murdered by members of the kla in july 1998. albanian leaders massacre - 5 albanian leaders were killed after they had attended the funeral of an albanian lawyer. ethnic cleansing serbian and other non-albanian refugees according to a 2001 report by human rights watch (hrw): the kla was responsible for serious abuses... including abductions and murders of serbs and ethnic albanians considered collaborators with the state. elements of the kla are also responsible for post-conflict attacks on serbs, roma, and other non-albanians, as well as ethnic albanian political rivals... widespread and systematic burning and looting of homes belonging to serbs, roma, and other minorities and the destruction of orthodox churches and monasteries... combined with harassment and intimidation designed to force people from their homes and communities... elements of the kla are clearly responsible for many of these crimes. use of child soldiers around 10% of all kla insurgents engaged in fighting during the conflict were under the age of 18, with some being as young as 13. the majority of them were 16 and 17 years old. around 2% were below the age of 16. these were mainly girls recruited to cook for the soldiers rather than to actually fight. prison camps the “missing” monument in gračanica dedicated for the serb victims missing from the kosovo war some of the prison camps in kosovo were: lapušnik prison camp – a kla prison camp in glogovac where 23 serbs and albanians were killed. hardina bala; an uçk prison guard was found guilty of torture, mistreatment of prisoners and murder for crimes committed at the camp. prison camp jablanica – 10 individuals were detained and tortured by kla forces including: one serb, three montenegrins, one bosnian, three albanians, and two victims of unknown ethnicity. detention camps in albania – serbs and roma civilians kidnapped by albanian militants and taken across the border into albania where they were held, interrogated, tortured and in most cases killed. several investigations into these camps have led to evidence detailing that several prisoners had their organs removed. organ theft allegations during and after the 1999 war, accusations were made of people being killed in order to remove their organs to sell them on the black market. various sources estimated that the number of victims ranged from a "handful", up to 50, between 24 and 100 to over 300. the allegations were first publicized by then chief prosecutor for the icty carla del ponte in her book the hunt: me and the war criminals in 2008, causing a large response. according to the book after the end of the war in 1999, kosovo albanians were smuggling organs of between 100 and 300 serbs and other minorities from the province to albania. the perpetrators are said to have strong links to the kosovo liberation army (uçk). claims were investigated first by the icty who found medical equipment and traces of blood in and around the house in albania that had allegedly been used as an operating theater to remove the organs. they were then investigated by the un, who received witness reports from many ex-uçk fighters who stated that several of the prisoners had their organs removed. in 2011; french media outlet; france24 released a classified un document written in 2003 which documented the crimes. in 2010, a report by swiss prosecutor dick marty to the council of europe (coe) uncovered "credible, convergent indications" of an illegal trade in human organs going back over a decade, including the deaths of a "handful" of serb captives killed for this purpose. on 25 january 2011, the report was endorsed by the coe, which called for a full and serious investigation. since the issuance of the report, however, senior sources in the european union rule of law mission in kosovo (eulex) and many members of the european parliament have expressed serious doubts regarding the report and its foundations, believing marty failed to provide "any evidence" concerning the allegations. a eulex special investigation was launched in august 2011. responding to this allegation, the head of the war crimes unit of eulex (the european law and justice mission in kosovo), matti raatikainen, claimed "the fact is that there is no evidence whatsoever in this case, no bodies. no witnesses. all the reports and media attention to this issue have not been helpful to us. in fact they have not been helpful to anyone." he described these allegations as a "distraction" that prevented the war crimes unit from finding the remains of close to 2,000 individuals of serb, albanian, and roma ethnicity still missing in the conflict. the eu report which was released in 2014 concluded that organ theft and trafficking took place but "on a very limited scale with a few individuals involved". other summary killings of prominent ethnic albanian leaders and intellectuals have also been reported (including bajram kelmendi). nato a monument to the children killed in the nato bombing located in tašmajdan park, belgrade, featuring a bronze sculpture of milica rakić the nato cluster munition in the aeronautical museum belgrade civilian casualties the serbian government and a number of international human rights groups (e.g., amnesty international) claimed that nato had carried out war crimes by bombing civilians. according to human rights watch, between 489 and 528 civilians were killed by nato airstrikes. according to serbian sources, the number of civilian casualties caused by the nato bombing stood at 2,500. incomplete list of civilian casualties caused by nato: grdelica train bombing nato bombing of albanian refugees near đakovica koriša bombing nato bombing of the radio television of serbia headquarters lužane bus bombing cluster bombing of niš (cluster bombs were illegal by 2008, but were legal in 1999) us bombing of the people's republic of china embassy in belgrade varvarin bridge bombing aftermath refugees an estimated