"Pogrom against the Serbs" and "March Pogrom" redirect here. For other uses, see Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo.
2004 unrest in Kosovo March Pogrom
Ruins of Serbian houses and Serbian Orthodox monasteries
Date
17–18 March 2004 (1 day)
Location
Kosovo under UN administration
Resulted in
27 dead (11 Albanians and 16 Serbs), thousands of Serbian and other non-Albanian civilians forced to leave homes[1][2]
935 houses and 35 Orthodox churches desecrated, damaged or destroyed[3][4]
Inclusion of Medieval Monuments in the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger[5][6]
Parties
Kosovo Serbs
Kosovo Albanians
Number
Unknown
Over 50,000[7]
Part of a series on the
History of Kosovo
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See Also
Timeline of Kosovo history
Destruction of Albanian heritage
Destruction of Serbian heritage
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On 17–18 March 2004, violence erupted in the partitioned town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, leaving hundreds wounded and at least 14 people dead. The unrest was precipitated by reports in the Kosovo Albanian media which falsely claimed that three Kosovo Albanian boys had drowned after being chased into the Ibar River by a group of Kosovo Serbs. UN peacekeepers and NATO troops scrambled to contain a gun battle between Serbs and Albanians.[8] Serbs call the event the March Pogrom (Serbian: Мартовски погром, romanized: Martovski pogrom),[9] while the Albanians call it the March Unrest (Albanian: Trazirat e marsit).
International courts in Pristina have prosecuted people who attacked several Serbian Orthodox churches, handing down prison sentences ranging from 21 months to 16 years.[10] Some of the destroyed churches have since been rebuilt by the Government of Kosovo in cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the UN mission in Kosovo.[11]
^"Kosovo clashes 'ethnic cleansing'". BBC News. 20 March 2004. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
^B92.net, FM talks Kosovo at U.S. college Archived 2020-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, 18 March 2011
^"Culture and Cultural Heritage at the Council of Europe - Homepage - Culture and Cultural Heritage - www.coe.int". Culture and Cultural Heritage. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
^"Six years since March violence in Kosovo". B92. 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
^"Kosovo: Protection and Conservation of a Multi-Ethnic Heritage in Danger" (PDF). UNESCO. April 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
^Ferrari, Professor Silvio; Benzo, Dr Andrea (2014). Between Cultural Diversity and Common Heritage: Legal and Religious Perspectives on the Sacred Places of the Mediterranean. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9781472426017.
^"Commentary No. 87: The Status of Kosovo: Political and Security Implications for the Balkans and Europe". Archived from the original on 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
^"Fourteen dead as ethnic violence sweeps Kosovo". theguardian.com. 18 March 2004. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
^The Government of the Republic of Serbia. "The March Pogrom (2004)". Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^"Bitter Memories of Kosovo's Deadly March Riots". balkaninsight.com. 17 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
^"Rindërtimi i kishave serbe në Kosovë pritet të përfundojë këtë vit" (in Albanian). Deutsche Welle. 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
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