Over 345 meters of physical material and 23.6 terabytes of digital data are now preserved in the archives of the Kosovo Institute for War Crimes (IKKL), Prime Minister in office Albin Kurti announced on Wednesday.
The announcement came during the presentation of the annex to the IKKL’s methodology for documenting and researching economic crimes committed during the Kosovo War. Kurti emphasized that documenting wartime economic crimes will help establish a reliable and comprehensive archive.
“We have over 345 meters of physical material stored in this institute, consisting of more than 500 valuable sources that have been submitted for documentation purposes,” Kurti said.
IKKL Director Atdhe Hetemi added that the institute operates through six regional offices across the country, ensuring widespread collection and verification of wartime evidence.
Background and Importance
The Kosovo Institute for War Crimes was legally established in November 2023. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, the war left 154,272 households affected, with damages to households alone estimated at over €5 billion.
During the last war in Kosovo, more than 13,000 civilians were killed, over 20,000 women and men were subjected to sexual violence, and the fate of more than 1,600 people remains unknown.
Kurti stressed that systematic documentation of war crimes, including economic crimes, is vital for historical accountability, justice, and reconciliation.
