Dubrava Prison bombings and executions
[2] The consistency of the testimonies among witnesses, including specific details about times and locations, leaves no doubt that Serbian and possibly Yugoslav government forces deliberately and unnecessarily killed a substantial number of ethnic Albanians in the prison.Located a few miles east of Istog in north-western Kosovo (Dukagjini region), near the border with Montenegro, the prison had three pavilions with a capacity of more than 1,000.[3] There were many complaints of torture and beatings from people held in the prison, with injuries ranging from broken bones to permanent kidney failure.[3] One former prisoner transferred to Dubrava on 30 April said that approximately 165 ethnic Albanians from Gjakova were brought in a short time after he had arrived.[3] Among the ethnic Albanians in Dubrava was one of Kosovo's most prominent political prisoners, Ukshin Hoti, who was finishing the last year of a five-year sentence.[3] Witnesses before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have testified that Yugoslav army tanks and anti-aircraft guns had been placed around the jail, which in April were hit by NATO aircraft.[3] The next day, Tanjug (the state news agency for FR Yugoslavia) reported that nineteen prisoners and guards had been killed and more than ten were wounded.[5] The witnesses stated that about 20 officers opened fire, and that this was followed by a large number of Albanian prisoners collapsing to the ground and widespread disorder.Witness testimony, complete with details of times and locations, indicates that government forces were directly responsible for a substantial number of executions in the prison.[3] In 2011 the Republic of Kosovo Member of Parliament and witness to the massacre Nait Hasani stated: ... we were called to this place, surrounded by a crowd of guards - and then the hunting started ... they fired from three sides with grenades and machine guns ... you saw nothing than flames, fire and blood ....Another witness told Human Rights Watch: They put us in a line.The assault lasted approximately twenty minutes, during which time hand grenades were thrown into the school building, allegedly killing at least two people.The prisoners remained hidden during the night, some of them preparing to defend themselves with makeshift weapons made from broken furniture or garden tools.[3] The wounded, numbering about 120 to 150, were placed in the basement of Pavilion C. The following morning, the witnesses said, new soldiers or paramilitary units came to the jail, opened the drains and threw hand grenades in.In her 10 November 1999 report to the U.N. Security Council, ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said that 97 bodies had been found at the Rakosh site.