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47-460: Vitia may refer to: Viti, Kosovo , a town and municipality in Kosovo Njomza Vitia (born 1994), Albanian-American singer known mononymously as Njomza Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Vitia . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

94-614: A Kosovo Albanian crowd in Viti demolished a Yugoslav-era memorial for anti-fascist Partisans that were killed during the Second World War . According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Viti has 46,987 inhabitants. Based on the population estimates from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics in 2016, the municipality has 47,370 inhabitants. The ethnic composition of the municipality: Ethnic and Religious Affiliation in

141-519: A Muslim, said "What is now happening in Kosovo confirms two things: that this is a collapse of the international mission, and a total defeat of the international community." Nebojsa Čović, the Serbian government's chief negotiator on matters relating to Kosovo, was sent to Kosovska Mitrovica on 18 March in a bid to calm the situation there. Serbian security forces also guarded the border between Serbia and Kosovo in

188-441: A bid to prevent demonstrators and paramilitaries from entering the province to foment further unrest. The events were compared by Prime Minister Koštunica to ethnic cleansing . The Serbs, represented by the "Union of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija", described the ordeal as "genocide" in a letter sent to the Serbian and Russian patriarchs, to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Serbian government, where, besides that, they quote

235-610: A special investigation team to handle cases related to the 2004 unrest. According to statistics released by the UNMIK in 2008, 242 people have been charged for the March violence and a further 157 for misdemeanors . International prosecutors and judges have dealt with cases involving serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder, incitement to national hatred and causing general danger with the rest being dealt by domestic courts. By April 2008, 301 had been convicted and 86 were handed prison sentences,

282-702: Is a town and municipality located in the District of Gjilan in Kosovo . According to the 2011 census, the town of Viti has 4,924 inhabitants, while the municipality has 46,987 inhabitants. The town of Viti and the southern part of the Municipality lies on the foothills of the Skopska Crna Gora Mountains . The municipality has several settlements historically inhabited by the Laramans , crypto-Catholics. During

329-460: Is logically at odds in several respects with other evidence," Mr. Singh said. The UN found no evidence that Serbs were responsible for drowning the three Albanian children. On 17 and 18 March 2004, a wave of violent riots swept through Kosovo, triggered by two incidents perceived as ethnically motivated acts. Demonstrations, although seemingly spontaneous at the outset, quickly focused on Serbs throughout Kosovo. Thousands of Albanians gathered at

376-570: The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) overseeing administrative affairs and the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) dealing with defence. Within post-conflict Kosovo Albanian society, calls for retaliation for previous violence done by Serb forces during the war circulated through public culture. In 2004, prolonged negotiations over Kosovo's future status, sociopolitical problems and nationalist sentiments resulted in

423-599: The Ashkali community after burning the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Elijah . 69 homes were burned. Some Kosovo Police Service officers participated in the violence, arresting and abusing Ashkalis who were defending their homes. Every Serb home and institution in Kosovo Polje was burned, including the main post office, school, hospital and church. Several Serbs were severely beaten, one to death. Serb homes and

470-514: The Kosovo War 16 KLA soldiers, as well as 5 Serb soldiers and policemen were killed in Viti. The entire fighting happened in 1999 and in the southern part of the municipality, near the Karadak Mountains , in villages such as Lubishtë , Gjylekare , Mogillë , Smirë , Kabash and Dëbëlldeh . During and after the Kosovo War 76 civilians were killed, 38 Albanians and 38 Serbs. Following

517-594: The United Kingdom , to reinforce the 18,500 troops already there. The UN and European Union both appealed for calm, calling on local leaders to restrain their supporters. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged both sides to cooperate with the peacekeeping forces but pointedly reminded the Kosovo Albanians that they had a responsibility "to protect and promote the rights of all people within Kosovo, particularly its minorities". An Austrian OSCE official called

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564-471: The 17th-century Bajrakli Mosque was set on fire. Islam-aga's Mosque in the southern city of Niš was also set on fire, while demonstrators chanted "Kill, kill Albanians!" When police arrived the mosque was already burning and some media reported that the police didn't move the crowd, so they blocked the fire fighters access to the mosque, leaving them unable to extinguish the fire. Both buildings were extensively damaged but were saved from complete destruction by

611-477: The 1999 Kosovo War , it was the home of A Company, 2/505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division , the first KFOR troops to begin stabilization efforts in the municipality. After the initial unit left, Viti was the site of a subsequent international scandal when a Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi, from A company, 3/504 Parachute Infantry Regiment raped and killed a local girl. The subsequent investigation uncovered serious training and leadership deficiencies in

658-801: The 3/504 Parachute Infantry Regiment, and catalysed a tremendous change in the training of units deploying for peacekeeping operations. The Church of the Holy Mother of God, Podgorce was looted during the conflict. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia , the Orthodox cemetery in Viti and the village of Dobreš were hit by missiles. In August 2003, explosive devices planted in Klokot destroyed five Serb houses, with several injuries, including two American KFOR soldiers. Serbian Orthodox cemeteries have been destroyed in Viti, among other towns, and in 2004 during unrest , nuns of

705-704: The Binča monastery were physically attacked, by ethnic Albanians. During the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley , the UÇPMB mostly recruited fighters from the Karadak region of Kosovo , specifically in the town of Vitia. In February 2001, many towns and villages in the region were covered with posters that instructed Albanians between the ages of 18 and 48 to join their fellow Albanians in the UÇPMB . These posters were supposedly issued by

752-537: The Kosovo unrest. On 15 March 2004 an 18-year-old Serb, Jovica Ivić, was shot and wounded in a drive-by shooting in the village of Čaglavica in the central region of Kosovo. On 16 March, three KLA war veterans associations organized widespread demonstrations in ethnic Albanian cities and towns, protesting the arrests of former KLA leaders on war crime charges, including the February arrests of four commanders. The pro-KLA, anti-UNMIK protests, with 18,000 protesters, lay

799-706: The Municipality according to the 2011 census results recorded in Kosovo . Tribal Affiliation of Albanians according to the book Gornja Morava i Izmornik. 42°19′N 21°21′E  /  42.317°N 21.350°E  / 42.317; 21.350 2004 unrest in Kosovo The violence resulted in the displacement of more than 4,000 Kosovo Serbs and other minorities. More than 935 houses, along with 35 Serbian Orthodox churches, monasteries and other religious buildings were destroyed. International and domestic courts in Pristina have prosecuted people who have taken part in

846-693: The Serbian Orthodox church in Gjakova were destroyed by Albanian rioters after the residents were evacuated and Italian KFOR withdrew. On 17 March, ethnic Albanians started attacking the Serb settlement in Prizren , including the Seminary, and reportedly there was no UNMIK, Kosovo Police and KFOR present there at the time. The mob set the Seminary on fire, with people inside, and beat several elder people, with one man dying in

893-589: The basis for the following demonstrations sparked by the sensational reports of drowning of three Albanian children. On 16 March, three Albanian children drowned in the Ibar River in the village of Çabër , near the Serb community of Zubin Potok . A fourth boy survived. It was speculated that he and his friends had been chased into the river by Serbs in revenge for the shooting of Ivić the previous day, but this claim has not been proven. UN police spokesman Neeraj Singh said

940-472: The burning of seven villages during the World War II-German occupation to the "several hundreds" burnt "under the rule of the troops of Christian Europe and America" and according to which the "occupation of Kosovo surpasses all we had to sustain under fascism." The spared Serb villages are compared to "concentration camps" because of the missing freedom of movement , electricity and heating. According to

987-604: The burning. The German KFOR's refusal to mobilize to protect the local Serbs are one of the main security failures of the 2004 unrest. UNMIK in Prizren said that the terror, 56 Serb houses and 5 historical churches that were burnt down, could have been prevented by KFOR. In an urgent appeal, issued on 18 March by the extraordinary session of the Expanded Convocation of the Holy Synod of Serbian Orthodox Church ( SPC ), it

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1034-402: The events an orchestrated plan to drive out the remaining Serbs, while one anonymous UNMIK official reportedly referred to the event as Kosovo's Kristallnacht . The commander of NATO's South Flank, Admiral Gregory G. Johnson , said on 19 March that the violence verged on ethnic cleansing of Serbs by Albanians. On 20 March, Kosovo's UN administrator, Harri Holkeri , told journalists that "Maybe

1081-495: The failure of NATO and the UN to prevent the violence, and called for a state of emergency to be imposed on Kosovo. He gave a speech blaming organized Albanian separatists: "The events in northern Kosovo-Metohija reveal the true nature of Albanian separatism, its violent and terrorist nature ... [The government will] do all it can to stop the terror in Kosovo". The Minister of Minority Rights of Serbia and Montenegro , Rasim Ljajić , himself

1128-455: The few remaining Serbs living in Pristina in the YU Program apartments. The apartments came under attack after the mob of Albanians blocked all of the entrances and set fire to the ground floors. Serbs who tried to flee the apartments were shot at by firearms or stabbed by members of the crowd. The mob began to loot apartments and were chanting pro Kosovo Liberation Army chants and calling for

1175-458: The intervention of police and firefighters. Also properties of Muslim minorities, such as Goranis, Turks or Albanians were vandalized in Novi Sad and other cities throughout Serbia. Human Rights Watch has concluded that the Serbian state failed to prosecute violence in Novi Sad. The Serbian government publicly denounced the violence in Kosovo. Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica strongly criticized

1222-584: The killing of Serbs. It took KFOR (mainly Irish Soldiers) and UNMIK police over 6 hours to evacuate the Serbs who were under constant fire from armed Albanians. Following the evacuation the crowd began to converge on the Church of the Christ Savour burning and damaging the facade and inside. Albanians rioted in the city of Peja , attacking UN offices. One knife-wielding Albanian was shot and killed by UN police in

1269-544: The letter, after 1999 there were 8,500 homicides or disappearances of non-Albanian people with no single accomplice tried. In 2011, seven years after the incident, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić spoke at the Wheaton College in Chicago , US: "In less than 72 hours, 35 churches and monasteries were set on fire, many of which date back to the 14th century or even further away in history, which represents an irretrievable loss for

1316-460: The line. After firing warning shots at the truck, the peacekeepers had to use deadly force to avoid friendly casualties, and shot the driver. 16 peacekeepers were injured, and 13 had to be evacuated. Another KFOR unit consisting of mostly Swedish soldiers also participated in defending Čaglavica that day, supported by people from the barracks who normally worked with non-military tasks. Lieutenant Colonel Hans Håkansson, who commanded 700 people during

1363-538: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vitia&oldid=1160624019 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Viti, Kosovo Viti ( Albanian definite form : Vitia ) or Vitina ( Serbian Cyrillic : Витина )

1410-609: The locations were ostensibly under the protection of KFOR at the time. During the riots and violence, at least 35 churches were damaged, including 18 monuments of culture , which were demolished, burnt or severely damaged. According to Human Rights Watch , the violence resulted in the deaths of nineteen people; 8 Kosovo Serbs and 11 Kosovo Albanians. More than a thousand were wounded including more than 120 KFOR personnel. More than 4,000 Serbs were driven out of their homes and more than 900 houses belonging to non-Albanians were burned. By one estimate, more than 50,000 people participated in

1457-536: The mankind. Dozens of people were killed. Several thousand were wounded. Thousands of houses and shops were leveled to the ground. More than 4,000 Kosovo Serbs were expelled from their homes." In Serbia the events were also called the March Pogrom. KFOR troops closed Kosovo's borders with the remainder of Serbia and Montenegro and the UN suspended flights in and out of the province. NATO announced on 18 March that it would send another 1,000 troops, 750 of them from

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1504-521: The maximum of which was 16 years. By March 2010, 143 Kosovo Albanians were convicted, of which 67 received prison terms of over a year. The events in Kosovo brought an immediate angry reaction on the streets of Serbia. On the evening of 17 March, crowds gathered in Belgrade , Novi Sad and Niš to demonstrate against the treatment of the Kosovo Serbs. Despite appeals for calm by Metropolitan Amfilohije ,

1551-550: The number close to 35 buildings of the SPC destroyed. All churches and objects of the SPC in Prizren were destroyed. The list includes several UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Among those destroyed and damaged were: HRW lists 27 Orthodox churches and monasteries burned and looted. Kosovo Albanian politicians such as President Ibrahim Rugova and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi joined UN governor Harri Holkeri, NATO southern commander Gregory Johnson, and other KFOR officials in condemning

1598-560: The potential of it to destabilize the region provoked intervention by international organizations and agencies, such as the United Nations, NATO and INGOs . Some people from non-Albanian communities such as the Serbs and Romani fled Kosovo fearing revenge attacks by armed people and returning refugees while others were pressured by the KLA and armed gangs to leave. Post conflict Kosovo was placed under an international United Nations framework with

1645-694: The previously disbanded KLA . Amidst the Insurgency in Macedonia , approximately 300 NLA fighters from the Vitia municipality, mostly recruited in Dëbëlldeh and Mjakë, participated in several battles against Macedonian security forces in Tanuševci . The NLA also used Dëbëlldeh and Mjakë as strongholds, where they would store Arms. In 2013 in response to a KLA monument being removed by Serbian authorities in Preševo ,

1692-474: The riots. In Čaglavica , 12,000 Kosovo Albanian rioters tried to storm the Serb-populated areas. KFOR peacekeepers from Sweden, Norway and Finland led by Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Hans Håkansson created a blockade by using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades, in order to keep the two groups apart. A truck was driven by a Kosovo Albanian at full speed towards the barricade in an attempt to penetrate

1739-736: The south end of the bridge across the Ibar at Mitrovica , which divides the Serb and Albanian districts of the town. A large crowd of Serbs gathered at the north end to prevent the Albanians from crossing. Peacekeepers from the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) blockaded the bridge, using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to keep the crowds apart. The violence quickly spread to other parts of Kosovo, with Kosovo Serb communities and Serbian cultural heritage (churches and monasteries) attacked by crowds of Albanians. Serb returnees were attacked. Some of

1786-498: The surviving boy had been under intense pressure from ethnic Albanian journalists who had suggested what he should say. His version of events differed from that of two other children who had also been in the river, Singh told a news conference in Pristina. The spokesperson said there were "very significant" inconsistencies in the accounts given by the child during two separate interviews, and a lack of corroboration of his story. "In fact, it

1833-487: The unrest, reported that the fighting went on for 11 hours, and that many collapsed due to dehydration and injuries while struggling to fend off waves of rioters. In total, 35 people were injured while defending the town. Hans Håkansson was awarded with a medal for his actions by the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 2005. Following the attacks in Čaglavica , the mob of Albanians turned their attention on

1880-423: The very beginning was spontaneous but after the beginning certain extremist groups had an opportunity to orchestrate the situation and that is why we urgently are working to get those perpetrators into justice." KFOR and UNIMK were criticized for their inadequate response in protecting Serbs and other minorities from Albanian rioters. Human Rights Watch pointed specifically to the example of French peacekeepers in

1927-514: The village of Belo Polje where Serb returnees were attacked. They sheltered at the local church. When they were ordered to evacuate, the Italian KFOR troops did not approach the church, leaving the evacuees vulnerable to attacks; 11 required first aid treatment for their injuries. In the town of Obiliq , burning of Serb homes took place along with the church . Witnesses state that Kosovo Police officers did not intervene and some participated in

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1974-515: The village of Svinjare , accusing them of not helping besieged Serbs even though their main base was a few hundred metres away. According to Amnesty International , at least 27 people died—11 Albanians and 16 Serbs—and over 1,000 were injured while some 730 houses belonging to minorities, mostly Kosovo Serbs, as well as 36 Orthodox churches, monasteries and other religious and cultural sites were damaged or destroyed. In less than 48 hours, 4,100 minority community members were newly displaced (more than

2021-504: The violence and appealing for peace in Kosovo. Hashim Thaçi , the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader, "rejected ethnic division of Kosovo and said independence is a pre-condition for stability in the region." He has also said, "Kosovo, NATO and the West have not fought for Kosovo only for Albanians, nor for a Kosovo ruled by violence. Violence is not the way to solve problems, violence only creates problems." Kosovo Police established

2068-659: The violence, including those who attacked several Serbian Orthodox churches, handing down prison sentences ranging from 21 months to 16 years. Some of the destroyed churches have since been rebuilt by the Government of Kosovo in cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the UN mission in Kosovo . The events led to protests in Serbia, and the burning of mosques in Belgrade and other places. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)

2115-579: The violence. Albanians and KFOR were engaged in gunfights in the town of Lipjan . Four Serbs were murdered, while Serbs taking refuge in the local Orthodox church were attacked. All Serb houses in the Serb-inhabited village of Svinjare in Vushtrri , near Kosovo Mitrovica , were burnt down. In the village of Sllatina , a group of Albanians threw stones at Serb houses; several elderly Serbs were severely beaten and wounded. In Vushtrri, rioters targeted

2162-540: Was an ethnic-Albanian organisation which had as its founding goal unification of Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans, stressing Albanian culture , ethnicity and nation. Conflict escalated from 1997 onward due to the Yugoslav army retaliating with a crackdown in the region resulting in violence and population displacements. The bloodshed, ethnic cleansing of thousands of Albanians driving them into neighbouring countries and

2209-399: Was reported that a number of Serbian churches and shrines in Kosovo had been damaged or destroyed by rioters. At least 30 sites were completely destroyed, more or less destroyed, or further destroyed (sites that had been previously damaged). Apart from the churches and monasteries, tens of support buildings (such as parish buildings, economical buildings and residences) were destroyed, bringing

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