The Bombing of Prizren - the Destruction of Cultural Heritage

On 13 April 1999, NATO bombed Prizren, a city with an exceptional cultural and religious heritage, causing incalculable damage to cultural monuments.

Destruction of world cultural heritage

UNESCO-protected sites that were hit and damaged:

• The Church of Our Lady of Ljeviš (Bogorodica Ljeviška) (14th century) - UNESCO World Heritage
• The Church of the Holy Saviour (14th century)
• The old stone bridge (16th century)
• The Sinan Pasha Mosque (17th century)

Victims

In the attacks on the city, 7 civilians were killed:

• Jovan Ilić (72 years old, monastery caretaker)
• Fatmir Krasniqi (45 years old, Albanian)
• Nexhat Gashi (38 years old, Albanian)
• Milica Stojanović (56 years old)
• Ramiz Shala (29 years old, Albanian)
• Dragan Petrović (51 years old)
• Besim Morina (34 years old, Albanian)

Violation of international law

The bombing of cultural monuments is explicitly prohibited:

• The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property (1954)
• The Additional Protocol (1999)
• The UNESCO Convention

UNESCO reaction

The Director of UNESCO stated that he was "deeply concerned" but took no concrete action against NATO.

Long-term consequences

After the war, many Serbian monuments in Prizren were further destroyed in the ethnic violence of 2004. The damage inflicted in 1999 facilitated the later destruction.