On March 25, 1999, just one day after NATO began its bombing campaign, the violence of Slobodan Milošević’s regime against Kosovar Albanian civilians escalated dramatically. On the same day, organized massacres were carried out in several villages of the Rahovec municipality, including Celinë, Fortesë, Goden, Randobravë, and Tërrnje, resulting in the deaths of approximately 200 innocent civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.
Today, in remembrance of the 25th anniversary, Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, along with institutional colleagues, participated in commemorative ceremonies in Tërrnje, laying flowers at the memorial dedicated to the massacre’s victims.
Minister Haxhiu also visited the home of Bekim Gashi, the sole survivor of the massacre, who lost his mother and four sisters, whose remains have yet to be recovered. Gashi shared his decades-long pursuit of justice, including participation in legal proceedings in Belgrade and exhumations, which have so far yielded no results.
“The pain of Bekim is the pain of our entire nation. We share the grief of families who have lost loved ones and those who have yet to recover the bodies of relatives taken by force. We will never forget, and we will never stop seeking justice for them,” Minister Haxhiu said.
She added that achieving justice for the victims of the March 1999 massacres remains both a state and moral obligation that will not fade.
