During a visit today to the Institute for Crimes Committed During the War in Kosovo (IKKL), the prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, received the institution’s annual work report from its director, Atdhe Hetemi.
According to Kurti, the impressive results presented in the report demonstrate how great the need was to establish the Institute. He highlighted the close cooperation IKKL has developed with various organizations, institutions, municipalities and citizens in Kosovo and beyond.
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Among the results singled out by the prime minister was the publication of a preliminary list of people killed during the war, which includes 13,195 verified individuals for the period 1998–2000. He said the data is updated daily and that updated results will be made public in six months.
Kurti also visited the Institute’s archive. He described its expansion through the collection, digitization and verification of documents on war crimes as an achievement of particular importance. In his view, the institution is becoming the institutional memory of the people’s history.
The prime minister thanked director Hetemi and his colleagues for their tireless work. He praised their efforts to make up for lost time and leave future generations as rich a documentary record as possible of what their parents and grandparents experienced.
In his remarks, Kurti explained that he had returned to the Institute to meet with its director, Dr. Atdhe Hetemi, and staff, and to receive the annual work report. This was the third time he had received the report from Hetemi in his capacity as prime minister. He said the achievements listed in it showed both the necessity of the Institute and its close cooperation with organizations, institutions, municipalities and citizens in Kosovo and beyond.
Referring to the documentation of victims, the prime minister recalled that the preliminary list of those killed during the war was published at the end of July. It contains 13,195 verified individuals for the years 1998–2000.
He explained that the database is expanded daily, while the new results will be published in six months, specifically at the end of January 2027.
On the academic front, Kurti mentioned the publication of a first volume containing 12 research papers by the prestigious international publisher Routledge. He also highlighted the second international academic conference, which drew more than 200 participants and addressed the scale, prosecution and documentation of crimes committed during the war in Kosovo.
Another event he mentioned was a forum with survivors of the poisonings of the early 1990s, in the final decade of the last century. Kurti linked that period to what he described as a warning of the new genocide Serbia would commit after Kosovo’s autonomy was revoked in 1989.
The prime minister also discussed growing international cooperation through agreements with partner institutions. He outlined their progression over the years: 7 agreements in the first year, 10 in the second and 21 in the third. The agreements cover professional training for staff in various countries and cooperation of mutual interest.
Work has also been carried out with Kosovo’s embassies and consulates to make the Institute’s activities known to the international public. Various exhibitions have presented the crimes committed and the work to document them to international audiences.
Under the “Memory of the Massacres” project, the collection of testimony and interviews with survivors have resulted in more than 127 interviews, out of approximately 1000 planned. Kurti stressed that the collection, digitization and verification of evidence relating to war crimes are continually expanding the archive, which he also visited during this stop. He described the process as one of the Institute’s main achievements on its path to becoming an institutional memory of the people’s history.
According to the prime minister, this work is building a lasting documentary and scientific foundation for defending the historical truth. At the same time, it is creating an archive of great value to the justice system, particularly the State Prosecutor’s Office, in establishing the truth and seeking accountability. He emphasized the goal of having those who ordered and carried out crimes against Albanians—committed by various Serbian forces under the direction of the Milošević regime—tried and convicted in the Republic of Kosovo.
Kurti also noted that conviction in absentia is now possible. He said he believed everyone had observed the year-on-year increase in the number of people facing charges, trials and convictions.
In closing, the prime minister again thanked Atdhe Hetemi and all his colleagues, praising their sustained commitment to making up for lost time. He stressed that their work also serves future generations, who should inherit as much documented evidence as possible of what their parents and grandparents experienced.
