Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told left deserted. Throughout the OSCE-KVM presence it was difficult to corroborate the allegations of villagers that their possessions were being looted, as the Serbian forces regularly denied the OSCE-KVM patrols access to 2 the areas of concern. In a number of incidents throughout Kosovo, however, the damage and destruction could be documented after the military/ security operation had ended. Throughout the reporting period Serbian forces also extorted, blackmailed and robbed Kosovo Albanians of their private property. Wanton destruction, looting and pillage in the course of Serbian military/security operations In this period the most common and severe cases including looting, pillage and the wanton destruction of property occurred during and after cordon and search operations. In January and February 1999 it seemed that in most cases the perpetrators were VJ forces. The patterns of those offensives were similar: the VJ shelled A destroyed house, Gladno Selo/ the area with heavy military materiel and the villagers Gllanaselle [zoom] fled either in advance or after the shelling started. As soon as the villages were empty, the perpetrators entered and looted the houses, some of which they ransacked. They loaded their booty onto trucks and occasionally set fire to houses. It appears that the VJ at first tried to conceal their actions from the OSCE-KVM, sealing off the area of operation and not allowing OSCE-KVM patrols in "for OSCE's own security". For example, this was the case in Tenes Do/Tenezhdoll (Pristina/Prishtina) in January 1999. It was reported that VJ forces entered the village on 17 January and all the inhabitants fled to the hills. From there the villagers could observe 3 the VJ looting the houses and loading trucks. On 31 January an OSCE-KVM patrol escorted several 4 civilians on their way back to Tenes Do where they found their houses ransacked and looted. Around the same time police looted villages in Kosovska Mitrovica/Mitrovice municipality and around 5,000 people fled their homes. When they returned, accompanied by the OSCE-KVM, they found their houses had been ransacked and some objects destroyed. In two houses objects had been thrown into the wells and 15 litres of cooking oil had been apparently poured into one family's water source. 5 By early March the VJ and police were carrying out acts of deliberate destruction and looting sometimes in plain sight of the OSCE-KVM, and the mission was recording such destruction, looting and pillage in many locations in Kosovo. On 16 March, during VJ "winter exercises" in Vucitrn/Vushtrri municipality, an OSCE-KVM patrol saw a T-55 tank drive into the Vucitrn town barracks with looted household items http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch12.htm (2 of 8)12/5/2003 11:52:45 AM