“Bean Fields” in Serbia Resurface as Suspected Mass Grave Site

Although nearly three decades have passed since the end of the war in Kosovo, the fate of around 1,600 missing persons remains unknown.

Over the years, the bodies of some of the missing have been discovered in mass graves, but for many families the wait remains the same even after 27 years.

Suspicions persist that a large number of victims may still be at mass grave sites within the territory of Serbia.

In this context, Natasha Kandiq, founder of the Humanitarian Law Center, has brought renewed attention to claims of a mass grave in the area known as the “Bean Fields” in Serbia.

She said in a post on social media platform X several days ago that as early as 2008 she had informed Serbia’s then-defense minister, Dragan Sutanovac, about the testimony of a person who claimed to have transported the bodies of Albanians killed in Kosovo to the military base in that area.

According to Kandiq, although this information had been provided, the Serbian authorities took no steps and offered no response to these claims.

The Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo is also calling for the opening of the Serbian army archives, stressing that only access to official documentation can help clarify the fate of many missing persons.

“Twenty-seven years after the end of the war, there are still more than 1,600 missing people. The archives must be opened, information must be shared with the competent institutions, because the number is large. The international community must certainly put pressure on the parties in the dialogue to cooperate more seriously in this field,” said Amer Aliaj of the Humanitarian Law Center.

However, this is not considered the only place that raises suspicions of mass graves in Serbia. Representatives of the Coordinating Council of Family Members of Missing Persons and War Crimes say there are several other locations as well, mainly at Serbian army military bases, where war victims are suspected to have been buried.

According to them, without the opening of the archives and without the cooperation of the Serbian authorities, it remains difficult to clarify the fate of the missing persons.

“I have heard, more or less by chance, about the Bean Fields. There is a military training center there where they conduct activities. I have also heard of another place near Raska, a village called Brevenik. Serbs have also spoken about Prokuplje and many other places, meaning around 11 places. Those saying this are military officers…” said Ahmet Grajqevci of the Coordinating Council of Families of the Missing and War Crimes.

Clarifying the fate of missing persons and identifying possible mass grave sites remain among the main demands of victims’ family members, as well as one of the most sensitive issues in the process of confronting war crimes.