The Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM) was a group of independent observers sent to

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. In a compromise agreement between

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

and

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

in June 1998, the FR Yugoslavian government agreed to accept an independent observer mission. This was initially a group of approximately fifty diplomats from different countries, who acted as observers in Kosovo and relayed information to the international community. Embassy staff were augmented with additional military and diplomatic personnel. Canada called their involvement Operation Perseverance. The KDOM reported that Yugoslav state forces continued widespread attacks even after Resolution 1199; in particular, KDOM reported on atrocities around

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

: "KDOM reported that the bodies of several women and children had been found near the village of Gornje Obrinje to the west of Pristina. The victims had been shot in the back of the head at close range as they tried to escape." KDOM succeeded in brokering ceasefires around Pristina, encouraging the withdrawal of some army tanks and armoured vehicles from Kosovo. In September, the

Kosovo Verification Mission The 1998-1999 Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) was an OSCE mission to verify that the Serbian and Yugoslav forces were complying with the UN October Agreement to end atrocities in Kosovo, withdraw armed forces from Kosovo, and abide by a ceasef ...

was set up to replace the KDOM; it was augmented by Operation Eagle Eye which provided additional evidence.

References

{{reflist Kosovo War Organizations established in 1998