The Municipality of Mitrovica in Kosovo has vowed to add the name of a Roma child in the memorial commemorating a massacre of civilians in 1999.
In a statement on Monday, the municipality expressed their concern about yesterday’s denunciation by activist Shkelzen Gashi, and vowed to rectify their eventual mistake by adding 5-year-old Elizabeta Hasani’s name in the memorial.
They explained that the information they got before building the memorial didn’t include her name among victims of the massacre. The statement vehemently denied that Elizabeta’s name could have been excluded intentionally.
“The eventual mistake, though neither municipality’s fault nor intentional, will be corrected without hesitation,” they promised.
Also on Monday, representatives of 15 non-governmental organizations and other non-affiliated activists demanded the Municipality of Mitrovica to add Elzabeta’s name among seven victims in the memorial as soon as possible.
On March 13, 1999, a grenade was thrown at the Green Market in Mitrovica, killing seven people and injuring dozens. The massacre is thought to have been carried out by Serbian forces.
In March 2020, the municipality erected a memorial to commemorate the massacre, but only the names of six Albanians are found in it.
The name of five-year-old Roma girl Elizabeta Hasani, who according to activist Shkelzen Gashi was among the victims, is missing.
Gashi also posted a photo of the massacre aftermath by photographer Tylor Hicks, which shows a child lying on the ground.
He claimed the child is five-year-old Roma girl Elizabeta Hasani, who according to Kosovo’s Humanitarian Law Center was killed in the massacre.
On Monday, activists placed a sign on the memorial proclaiming: “The name of Elizabeta Hasani (1994 – 13.03.1999) must be added here.”
