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Attacks in February 2008 in Vojvodina

Most of the attacks against minorities that followed the Kosovo declaration of independence occurred in the province of Vojvodina. The province is situated in the northern part of the Serbia, between Croatia to the west, Hungary to the north and Romania to the east. According police statistics, 190 of the 221 incidents linked to the Kosovo declaration (including those with no ethnic dimension) registered in February and March took place in Vojvodina province. Seventy-seven incidents of the incidents the province were registered in the city of Novi Sad, 48 in the town of Sombor, and 23 in Zrenjanin.

Vojvodina was the scene of much of the anti-minority violence between 2003 and 2005. This could be explained by the fact that Vojvodina is the most ethnically diverse region of Serbia, which creates much more possibilities for inter-ethnic interactions, but also opportunities for clashes.

What differentiates the violence in 2008 from that of previous years is that property was almost exclusively targeted rather than people. The vast majority of the incidents involved damage to property caused by attacks with stones and bricks, including 56 of those registered in Novi Sad, 41 in Sombor, 19 in Zrenjanin and 11 in Kikinda.³⁰ There were six attacks registered in which Molotov cocktails were used, two of them in Vojvodina (one in Sremska Mitrovica and one in Zrenjanin.) Other incidents included the painting of hate graffiti (15 in Novi Sad, seven in Sombor), anonymous threats and physical altercations.³¹

According to Petar Ladjevic, then Director of the Serbian National Office of Human and Minority Rights, in the 56 incidents registered in Novi Sad in February alone, “there was not a single incident that included physical violence against a person, there were no incidents in which explosives were used, and the great majority of the incidents that occurred consisted of smashing windows of properties belonging to minorities.”³²

Novi Sad

On February 17, 2008, there was an authorized public protest in Novi Sad against Kosovo’s declaration of independence. With 260,000 inhabitants, Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina, is the second largest city in Serbia, after the capital Belgrade. Statistical data confirms its reputation as one of the most ethnically diverse municipalities in the country, with Serbs composing 65.3% of population; persons declaring themselves to be “Yugoslavs” (a national identity linked to the former Yugoslav communist state)  12.4%; Hungarians 7.6%; Croats 3,3%; Slovaks 3.1%; Montenegrins 2.3%; Ruthenians 0.9%; and others (including Albanians and Roma) 5.1 %.³³ According to the 2003 census, there were 299 Albanians living in Novi Sad.³⁴

Attacks on “Vojvodina” bakery

According to Drita Binaj, one of the two ethnic Albanian owners, the “Vojvodina” bakery in Novi Sad was attacked three times following the February 17 mass protests. The first time, in the immediate aftermath of the protests, the attackers smashed windows and the glass counter inside the bakery with bricks. After the attack, the police arrived promptly at the scene and filed a report.³⁵

A few days later in the afternoon, four young men with baseball bats arrived by car, briefly parked in front of the bakery, and smashed the windows and glass counter with baseball bats, destroying furniture and breaking equipment. They also set fire to the premises and then fled the scene.³⁶ The overall material damage was significant, including to a large neon sign, which Binaj estimated would cost 2,800 Euro to replace.³⁷

The incident was caught on a CCTV security camera located inside the shop. According to the victim, the faces of the attackers were visible on the security tape. When the police arrived, Ms. Binaj showed them the footage on the tape, but did not give them the tape as she “did not want it to get lost”.³⁸ The Novi Sad police claimed in a written statement to have no record of the tape.³⁹ According to Ms. Binaj, the police took no follow-up action after the second incident.

A third attack took place in the evening on the following day, during which the attackers smashed the newly replaced windows yet again. According to Ms. Binaj, the bakery workers were too intimidated by this violence to resume their jobs, and she had to hire new workers to replace them. As a result of the repeated attacks, the bakery lost some of its customers, which resulted in further material damage in the form of lost business income.

Human Rights Watch contacted the Novi Sad district prosecutor Branka Atanackovic to further inquire about this case, receiving an official answer dated May 5, 2008. The district prosecutor informed Human Rights Watch that the police had not transferred any files regarding any attacks on the business owned by Drita Binaj to the district prosecutor at that time.⁴⁰

Human Rights Watch received a written response to its inquiries from the Novi Sad police on June 19, 2008. Although Binaj told Human Rights Watch that the police had failed to follow up after the second attack, the police statement said that they had conducted an on-site investigation after the first and second attacks, after which “the district prosecutor qualified the attack as a criminal act of destroying property from Article 212 of the criminal code.”⁴¹ However, according to the information received from the district prosecutor Branka Atanackovic, no criminal complaint was filed in relation to the attack on the bakery.⁴²

Human Rights Watch re-contacted the same district prosecutor on September 2, 2008, and was informed that as of that date no further steps had been taken with relation to the case.

Attack on a flower shop, city center⁴³

Human Rights Watch spoke to an ethnic Albanian flower shop owner in the market located in the center of Novi Sad.⁴⁴ On the evening of the 17 February mass protest, he decided to close his shop early, around 6 p.m., because he believed that the demonstration would pass in the vicinity of his shop. He watched the protest from a location across the street from his premises.

The owner told Human Rights Watch that he saw  a group of youths he estimated at between 300-400 people marching, screaming and chanting during the protest, and that there were around 30 policemen following them. “At some point, a group of protesters, who were part of the protest, started smashing the windows in my shop” said the victim. “I kept watching from the other side of the street as they continued. The police only watched and did not intervene. Afterwards, I found 52 bricks smashed inside and in the close vicinity of my premises.”⁴⁵

The overall material damages incurred by the flower shop owner, which had been repaired at the time of our visit, were estimated by him at EUR 2,000. According to a letter from the Novi Sad District Prosecutor, as of May 2008 no criminal charges had been brought in relation to the case.⁴⁶ Human Rights Watch wrote on August 11, 2008, to the Uniform Police Directorate (see Annex 1), asking for comment on the allegation that the police failed to respond when protestors smashed windows. The reply received on September 16 (see Annex 3) did not provide any information on the case.

Attacks on a bakery, city center⁴⁷

Human Rights Watch also spoke to a second bakery owner from Novi Said city center whose bakery was attacked on two different occasions. He told Human Rights Watch that the first attack took place during the night of the mass protest on February 17. Following the advice of the police, he did not close the shop early to “avoid creating suspicion that he had gone home early to celebrate [Kosovo’s declaration of independence].”⁴⁸ That evening during the protest, he saw a group of protesters he estimated to number approximately 100 passing his bakery. Some threw stones and bricks at his business, breaking the windows and glass inside. According to the victim, the police walked behind the protesters and must have seen what was happening, but did not respond. Human Rights Watch wrote on August 11, 2008, to the Uniform Police Directorate (see Annex 1), asking for comment on the allegation that the police failed to respond when protestors attacked the bakery. The reply received on September 16 (see Annex 3) provided no information about the case.

Five days later (the night of February 22-23), while the owner was absent, a group of men in a car stopped in front of his bakery. According to the owner, who did not witness the incident, they broke the windows and tried to set the bakery on fire.⁴⁹ One of the neighbors called the police, who promptly arrived and extinguished the fire.

For eight days after the second attack, policemen in civilian clothes maintained frequent patrols in the vicinity of the bakery. Petar Ladjevic, then Director of the National Office of Human and Minority Rights, visited the bakery’s owner the day after the second attack, together with the local police commander.⁵⁰ No further attacks on the bakery took place after this visit.⁵¹

Attacks in Other Parts of Vojvodina

While these attacks documented in Novi Sad were committed during and in the immediate aftermath of public protests, the majority of attacks that Human Rights Watch documented in other cities and towns occurred outside the context of protests. In each of the locations that Human Rights Watch visited, the number of ethnic Albanians is very small, constituting less than 1% of the overall population. Several Gorani-owned businesses and one Turkish-owned business were also attacked but Albanian-owned businesses appeared to be the primary targets.⁵² The repeated number of the attacks on the same objects suggests that the incidents detailed below may not have been spontaneous but carefully planned.

Zrenjanin

Zrenjanin is a town located in the eastern part of Vojvodina, with approximately 80,000 inhabitants. The town’s population, according to the most recent census, is composed of 70.9% Serbs, 14.55% Hungarians, 2.44% who described themselves as Yugoslavs, 1.98% Roma and 78 Albanians.⁵³ 

Snezana Ilic, a local human rights activist from the Centre for Development of Civil Society in Zrenjanin, reported that 12 Albanian-owned bakeries in Zrenjanin were attacked during the period of 10 days following February 17.⁵⁴

Attacks on the bakery “Zrenjaninka”

Burim Binaj originally comes from Kosovo and has been living in Zrenjanin for 28 years. His bakery, “Zrenjaninka” is located in the outskirts of the town. Mr. Binaj’s bakery was attacked on three separate occasions during the week following Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Each time, the windows and display glasses were smashed with bricks and stones. All of the attacks took place at night. The same bakery had been damaged in 1999 and in 2004.⁵⁵ The bakery owner reported material damage he estimated at EUR 3,500. Human Rights Watch observed that the display window glass had been broken and not fully fixed (it was boarded up). “If these things keep happening, I will have to leave” the owner told Human Rights Watch.⁵⁶

Mr. Binaj informed Human Rights Watch that he had received a visit from Petar Ladjevic, then Director of the Serbian National Office of Human and Minority Rights, a few days after the second attack.

Attack on the bakery “Zlatni Klas”

Cazim Hoxhaj is an owner of four bakeries in Zrenjanin, two of which were attacked in the aftermath of Kosovo’s declaration of independence. The first bakery that was attacked is called “Zlatni Klas” and is located in the center of the town. On February 18, at around 11 p.m., a young man threw stones at his bakery, breaking the windows and display glasses. The attack was filmed on a CCTV security camera installed in the shop, and the identity of the perpetrator is reportedly recognizable on the security tape. The second bakery was attacked on three separate occasions, each time at night with no witnesses.⁵⁷ According to the owner, the police frequently patrolled the areas surrounding the bakeries after the attacks. Human Rights Watch wrote on August 11, 2008, to the Uniform Police Directorate (see Annex 1), to ask whether the police had charged anyone for the attack on the “Zlatni Klas” bakery, and if the police were aware of, and had viewed, the CCTV footage.  The reply received on September 16 (see Annex 3) contained no information about the case.

Mr. Hoxhaj attributed responsibility for the attacks on his shop to the hateful discourse “spread by the nationalist politicians.” He commended the attitude of the majority of citizens, who continued to purchase bread in his shop. “The day when they stop coming, I will not have a place here anymore” he said.⁵⁸

Novi Becej

Novi Becej is a small town in the Vojvodina region, in the north of Serbia. Novi Becej has a population of approximately 14,500 people. Its population includes 61.36% Serbs, 26.63% Hungarians, 2.68 % Roma, and 2.44% Yugoslavs. According to census data, there are only 14 Albanians living in the municipality.⁵⁹

Attacks on a bakery “Plavi Jadran”

Fatim Dacaj is an owner of a bakery “Plavi Jadran” in Novi Becej. His bakery was attacked three times: on the night of 20-21 February, the night of 22-23 February, and again on the night of 29 February-1 March. According to Dacaj, the police apprehended a youth suspect on suspicion of attempting to break the windows with his leg during the third attack.

The owner told Human Rights Watch he is unaware of any charges or disciplinary measures against the alleged perpetrator. During the second attack, a brick thrown at the glass window wounded the victim’s brother. The owner estimated the overall material damage at 500 Euro. Human Rights Watch observed that the glass of the display window was cracked in a few places and covered with paper. Nobody had contacted him about compensation at the time Human Rights Watch spoke to him.⁶⁰

In general, the victims Human Rights Watch interviewed were interested in getting compensation (especially those uninsured), but appeared reluctant to approach the authorities or ask for information about the procedures for fear it would cause “more trouble” or “appear greedy.”⁶¹

For a couple of days after the first attack, the police kept a patrol car parked in front of the bakery. The second attack took place during the patrol’s shift rotation, just after the first police car departed and minutes before the second police car arrived. The shift rotation left the bakery unattended for only a few minutes.⁶²

Human Rights Watch wrote on August 11, 2008, to the Uniform Police Directorate to enquire further about this case (see Annex 1), to enquire confirm whether a suspect had been apprehended by police, other suspects identified, or charges brought against anyone. The reply, received on September 16 (see Annex 3), contained no information about the case.

The bakery owner attempted to contact the municipal authorities a few times to talk about his situation and see if “anything else could be done to safeguard him.”⁶³ He told Human Rights Watch that despite his efforts, nobody from the municipal authorities showed any interest in his plight. He said that the attacks left him feeling threatened and unwelcome in the community:

Even though the majority of people here continued to behave well with me, I could not help thinking, why do I seem to bother some of them? I have been living here many years, I am a good businessman and citizen, I often sponsor community events, frequently sponsor the junior female sports team in the local school. I give employment to people of all ethnicities but somehow nothing I do seems to be enough…⁶⁴

Human Rights Watch spoke to a second ethnic Albanian business owner from Novi Becej whose property was attacked and damaged. The owner did not authorize the release of any information related to his case, fearing for his safety and what he termed “possible consequences” of an unspecified nature.⁶⁵

Sombor

Sombor is located in the north-west part of Vojvodina and has approximately 52,000 inhabitants. The population there is composed of 64.09% Serbs, 7.27% Hungarians, 6.46% Yugoslavs, 6.21% Croats, and 4.32% Bunjevci⁶⁶, with approximately 100 Albanians.⁶⁷

Attack and boycott of the bakery “Dva Brata”

Shtjefin Kerhoni, the owner of a number of bakeries and a restaurant in Sombor experienced a week-long boycott of one of his bakeries, the result of an initiative of a group of people who publicly called for the boycott and denounced the Kerhoni family as providers of weaponry and drugs for Kosovo Albanians. The number of people demonstrating outside the bakery during the week-long boycott suggests that there was an element of planning involved.

On February 17, after Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the police contacted Kerhoni and asked him to keep them informed of any incidents. The following day, a protest took place in the center of Sombor. Sometime that night, the windows of the bakery “Dva Brata” were smashed by unknown perpetrators. The police responded by placing patrol cars in front of the bakery and the Mr. Kerhoni’s house for 5-6 days after the attack.

On February 22, the boycott of the “Dva Brata” bakery began. A few young men (whom the owner estimated to be around 20-25 years old) handed out free bread in front of the bakery, along with leaflets calling for a boycott of the business, which the leaflet alleged was “funding guns and drugs in Kosovo.”⁶⁸ During that week, Mr. Kerhoni’s house in another part of town was vandalized with derogatory anti-Albanian graffiti.⁶⁹

The Sombor boycott was covered by the Serbian newspapers and TV stations, including Blic, Danas, and B92, as well as local publications.⁷⁰ The city mayor Jovan Slavkovic, national Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, Vojvodina Ombudsman Petar Teofilovic, and a number of human rights activists from the local community and Belgrade organized a solidarity visit to Sombor on March 4, 2008, during which they ate breakfast together in the boycotted bakery.⁷¹

According the owner, some customers continued to shop there, despite the threatening presence and actions of the men organizing the boycott. However, some other frequent customers stopped. Mr. Kerhoni stated that, in addition to damage from the smashed windows resulting from the attack on his bakery, he lost regular customers and a significant amount of business: “My bakery has been working at only 65-80% of its normal capacity ever since [the boycott].”⁷² At the time of this writing, nobody had contacted Mr. Kerhoni about compensation for damages incurred during the night of protest. Nor had he contacted the authorities about compensation—he told Human Rights Watch that bringing those responsible for the attacks on his property to justice was his key concern, not obtaining compensation.⁷³

On September 1, 2008 Human Rights Watch re-contacted Slobodan Dimitrijevic, the deputy district prosecutor of Sombor to follow up on the case. He said that the district prosecutor has not opened the case “due to the lack of sufficient evidence that the actions taken [both the boycott and the physical attack] were based on national hatred.”⁷⁴ As the for the derogatory graffiti spraying of the victim’s house, the district prosecutor found sufficient motivation of ethnic hatred and asked the police to investigate the case and report the findings to him. The police failed to identify any perpetrators.

Kikinda

Kikinda is a town in the north-east part of Vojvodina, close to the border with Romania. Its population of 41,000 is composed of 74.68% Serbs, 12.62% Hungarians, and 3.23% Yugoslavs. According to the census there are 841 Roma, and 56 Albanians living in the town.⁷⁵

Four Albanian and one Turkish business owners whose premises in Kikinda were attacked during February 2008 agreed to speak to Human Rights Watch on condition of anonymity. In each of these cases, the attack took place at night, with no witnesses to identify the perpetrators.⁷⁶

One of the owners told Human Rights Watch about a demonstration that took place in front of his house. Around 300 elementary school students, accompanied by some teachers, stood in front of his home for around half an hour. Some of the children threw stones at his house, smashing one of the windows.⁷⁷ The police were there, but did not intervene when the stones were thrown. The police did, however, guard the house for some days after the demonstration.

Human Rights Watch wrote on August 11, 2008, to the Uniform Police Directorate (see Annex 1), seeking to confirm whether any suspects were been apprehended following the incident. The reply, received on September 16 (see Annex 3), contained no information on the case.

A few hours after the demonstration, a school director visited the victim to apologize. He referred to the protesters as “hooligans”. The victim, however, did not feel that this explanation was adequate:

“These children were from the schools my sons go to. They came accompanied by their teachers. So how is it that later on the director comes and tells me they were some random hooligans? I feel very sorry for my children, they understand that something wrong is happening, they ask me why, and I don’t know what to tell them.”⁷⁸

To the victim’s knowledge, nobody (i.e. neither students nor the professors) who attended the demonstration was subsequently disciplined. Human Rights Watch was unable to contact the school principal.

The victim told Human Rights Watch about his efforts to integrate himself in the community by actively participating in civic life through sponsoring various cultural and sports events. He told Human Rights Watch that he was particularly saddened to be targeted despite those efforts.⁷⁹

Subotica

Subotica is the second largest city in Vojvodina, with approximately 100,000 inhabitants. It is located in the north of Vojvodina, about 10 kilometers from the border with Hungary. Subotica is a multiethnic city composed of 34.99% Hungarians, 26.25% Serbs, 10.87% Bunjevci, 10.43% Croats, 1.60% Montenegrins, and 1.17% Roma. It has 256 Albanian inhabitants according to census data.⁸⁰

Attack on a bakery, city center

An Albanian-owned bakery in the city center of Subotica was attacked on the night of February 17, during which some groups of individuals protested on the streets. The policemen stood in front of the property as the protesters passed. Despite the police presence, stones and rocks were thrown in the direction of the bakery, smashing the windows and the glass counter. According to the owner, the police present witnessed the acts but did not intervene.⁸¹

After this incident, two uniformed police guarded the premises round-the-clock for the next five days. The owner told Human Rights Watch he was unaware of any action to identify or charge those responsible.

The owner says that he twice spoke to the police to ask why they did not respond when witnessing the protesters damaging his shop. The answer he reportedly received was that the police had orders not to intervene when the attack amounts only to property damage.⁸² This allegation was strongly rejected by the head of the Uniformed Police Directorate in Belgrade, who said that no such orders had been given. ⁸³

Despite the police protection provided in the days that followed February 17, the owner did not feel safe either while working or sleeping at night (his family occupies the floor of the house above the bakery). He complained about what he felt to be a permissive atmosphere which arose from inflammatory statements by some Serbian politicians:

I had two policemen in front of my house, but I did not feel safe. I have seen on TV government officials saying that people like the ones who attacked my shop are not hooligans but patriots angry about Kosovo. Sometimes I think if somebody offers me a good price for my business, perhaps I should take my family and go somewhere else, to be able to live like a human being, not like this.⁸⁴

Human Rights Watch spoke to two more ethnic Albanian business owners from Subotica whose property was attacked and damaged. The owners did not authorize the release of any information related to their cases, fearing for their families’ safety.⁸⁵