Jahjaga: Wartime sexual violence 'an open wound' in Kosovo

Atifete Jahjaga was president of the Republic of Kosovo from 2011 to 2016 and the country's first female head of state. After taking a law degree at the University of Pristina, she specialized in criminal law. After the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, she held various positions in the newly established Kosovar Police and was appointed the force's deputy director in 2009. During her time as president, the politically independent Jahjaga fought for greater rights and equality for women and girls in Kosovo. Through the Jahjaga Foundation, which was set up in 2018, she works, among other things, for the survivors of sexual violence during the Kosovo War and for interethnic dialogue in the Western Balkan region.

DW: President Jahjaga, there are estimates that around 20,000 women were raped during the Kosovo War. You were directly involved in raising awareness of this issue during your presidency. How was this evidence gathered and how accurate are these figures?

Atifete Jahjaga: When we talk about sexual violence during the war in Kosovo, it has been and continues to be an open wound and a taboo subject for our state and citizens.

In the 25 years since the war ended, I have worked actively on this subject, especially during my term as president of Kosovo and afterwards as former president, and now through the Jahjaga Foundation.

The statistics we refer to are based on a methodology used not only in Kosovo but also in Bosnia, Rwanda and Myanmar. It is a specific formula for estimating numbers. We have cases that were reported by international organizations at the time these acts were committed.

The percentage is very high, with the number being around 20,000 women. But it was not just women; about 1,000 men were also raped.

There are cases where the victims themselves reported the rape to the organizations that received refugees when they went to refugee camps in neighboring countries.

We have statistics from the International Red Cross and many other organizations. Then there is the number of abortions that occurred in refugee camps, as well as reports after the liberation of Kosovo.

There are various methods of arriving at the approximate number of 20,000. To date we have not had a complete report from any organization on the exact number.

During my involvement in this issue alone, I have met with over 8,000 women and men who were raped during the war. The biggest problem is that a large number of women and men have still not taken the step of talking openly with their families or anyone else.

DW: As you say, not enough attention has been paid to the issue of wartime sexual violence in Kosovar society. It still seems to be a taboo topic within Kosovar families. Why is that?

Jahjaga: It's a combination of many factors.

Firstly, it has a bit to do with the patriarchal mentality of our society. In 2011, when I began to speak publicly about this topic — advocating for institutional involvement and addressing this issue, which was not a constitutional responsibility of the president but a moral obligation — I received various reactions, from one extreme to the other.

Some said Kosovo and its people were not ready to talk about this subject. They acknowledged that it had happened but insisted that this chapter was closed. My response at the time was, "How can you close a chapter that has never been opened?"

A great injustice was done immediately after the war when we took on all those institutional and social obligations toward every war-related category, but marginalized the survivors of sexual violence, pointing fingers at them, never realizing that their bodies had been turned into battlegrounds. While we were opening graves for the missing and erecting monuments for countless martyrs, we never understood the pain and the consequences faced by survivors of sexual violence.

At the time, there was an attempt to discourage us, claiming that Kosovar society was not ready to discuss this issue. However, after the activism of my office and team, along with the significant efforts of civil society, I was compelled to respond to the political elites of the time, stating that the people had always been ready to confront this topic — it was just that proper leadership had been lacking to openly address the unhealed wounds of our society.

The extremes were very real. On the one hand, some family members personally brought survivors to organizations, saying, "You need to help our family members." On the other, there was the painful extreme where women and girls were forced to keep their secret to themselves and within their families for the sake of protecting "morality."

But the shame was never theirs. It was the shame of those who committed these atrocities. The blame should not be directed at the survivors, but at the perpetrators, who used rape as a weapon of war against the citizens of Kosovo.

DW: What have justice institutions done to bring charges against the perpetrators? Many non-governmental organizations have continuously raised their voices, stating that the country has done nothing in this regard. You served as president for one term. How valid are these concerns?

Jahjaga: So far, if I am not mistaken, we have had only nine or ten cases, indictments drafted by the prosecution and law enforcement institutions, while there is only one case where a final decision has been made, and the sentencing raises many questions.

It is painful that thousands of cases were built by UNMIK and EULEX, and these cases were transferred to the hands of local institutions but were never treated as separate cases, only as part of the general cases related to war crimes. Thus, impunity has caused the survivors of sexual violence to lose trust in the institutions of justice.

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan