Part Two
Anna Di Lellio: When did you get the bodies of your brothers?
Ilir Bytyqi: Well, the remains of my brothers were transferred from Serbia in 2002, in 2002, in, I believe it was in… March. And there was a big ceremony in Pristina, in Sheshi, in Skanderbeu, I think. It was, it was a big ceremony for them, honoring them as, you know, as fighters, heroes of Kosovo. They went for a cause, to help people who couldn’t help themselves, you know. They did a humanitarian deed, they didn’t do any crime, you know what I mean, you do a humanitarian deed all over the world people recognize you as a humanitarian, you know what I mean… They award you, you know what I mean, with a humanitarian decoration or… But instead of awarding them for, you know, doing a humanitarian deed, they were death sentenced.
So, it’s ridiculous, it’s ridiculous that Serbia hasn’t, you know, to this day it doesn’t, it doesn’t, it doesn’t care, doesn’t care. And this is a country that {makes air quotes} “is trying to go into the EU” and then you have… Believe it or not the EU does know exactly Serbia’s plan, you know, every… the Humanitarian Law Center, the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade, Amnesty International, you have… Everybody knows as far as… what really Serbia is all about.
Anna Di Lellio: Have you been fighting this fight all alone or people are helping you?
Ilir Bytyqi: No, we had, in the beginning we had, we had the US government help us, but the US government can’t do much. They also have to protect their own political interests. But, we had the American Albanian community, we had family members here in Europe, you know we had a lot, a lot, and we had former members of the US government, employees helping us, like ambassador Bob Barry, Tanya Domi. We have a lot, we have a lot, you know, assisting us with…
As I said the American Albanian community is helping us, assisting us. We have the full support of the Kosovo government, you know, so it’s just the will and power of Serbia to, to, to do, to bring justice. Not only my family, there’s almost 1500 people who are missing, there’s 1500 more other people, it’s not only my family that is suffering, you know, and there’s a lot more. And Serbia chooses not to acknowledge it. And Serbia acknowledged war crimes, only that were committed against Serbs, they will not acknowledge the ones that were committed against Albanians. It’s like, “Look what I’ve suffered, not you.” You know what I mean. “What about me?”
Anna Di Lellio: And do you have any help in Serbia? When you go to Serbia, who…?
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, we do, we do, the Humanitarian Law Center and… Also by the way, we have the Helsinki Commission, the staff at the Helsinki Commission has been great helping us. We have the congressional… Congressman [Eliot] Engel, we have a lot, a lot, a lot. We have members of Congress, everybody… Just recently we, I was in DC and testified and it was just, it was just, how should I put it? I’m thankful for the US government’ s congressional district, the Senate too, you know, assisting on this matter, to shed light.
We have also the… speaking about, in Serbia the Humanitarian Law Center, they’ve been bending backwards, not only for my family, but also for other Albanian families. But as I said, it’s the Serbian will, the Serbian government’s will to shed light on these deaths and these horrific crimes that were committed by Serbian forces.
Anna Di Lellio: You have a lot of memories of your brothers, can you tell us? We always… you’re talking of course about them as the three brothers who went, fought, then helped someone who needed help and then they were brutally killed, unlawfully killed. What were like? Agron, Agron was the oldest, right?
Ilir Bytyqi: No, Ylli was…
Anna Di Lellio: Ylli was the oldest…
Ilir Bytyqi: Agron was the second, Mehmet was the youngest one of the three. They were fun, outgoing, you know. They’d do anything for a person, believe it or not. They were very outgoing, very respectful, you know, even people in our town, in Hampton Bay said… they were like, “What? This is what happened to them?” They were shocked about it, you know, they’re shocked. A lot of people are shocked, you know what I mean? My brothers were always, always there for somebody… Today, this day, we have friends of them that call and check up on us, you know what I mean, you know. Then we talk about what they did here, they did there…
They were outgoing, on weekends they’d go out, they won’t be all by themselves, they’ll call friends and you know what I mean, and they were very, very outgoing, outspoken, out… You know, loved life, you know what I mean? as everybody does, you know what I mean?
Anna Di Lellio: Yeah. Who, who worked in a pizza place?
Ilir Bytyqi: Ylli.
Anna Di Lellio: Ylli. Did you like his pizza?
Ilir Bytyqi: Oh loved it, he did great pizza, very good pizza, very good pizza, very good. Agron and Mehmet, they were construction workers. They were the greatest, you know? Their bosses, they were like, “We can’t find better workers than these.” You know, they were very hard-working American Albanians. They had a goal, they wanted a better life for themselves, you know, as our parents wanted, you know, when they emigrated in the ‘70s, you know, to have a better future, you know what I mean? for us, and that’s what they wanted, you know, they wanted a better future and they didn’t, you know… They had good times, you know. They had fun, I mean, they worked, and they had their fun, they had their rest, you know what I mean. It’s like eight hours of work, but actually there’s no such thing as eight hours of work, it’s more ten, twelve hours a day. But they had their fun when they had their fun, they had their fun.
They enjoyed life you know, they’d always come and be like, “Oh, you’re a party spoiler.” I’m like, “Oh, you know, listen…” I was a chef at the time, and the restaurant that I worked for it was very busy, and me at the time, I didn’t have time for anything, believe it or not. And they always would call me, “Come on out, come on out…” But when I went out with them, we had a blast, we had a blast, you know. The nightclubs, you know, out here in the city, they were full of life, full of life, you know, full of life, you know. They were always giving, always, you know, donating to charities, to people in need, they were very, very good, very good, very cool brothers, you know. And I was proud to have them.
Anna Di Lellio: They were very young, were they engaged?
Ilir Bytyqi: No, they weren’t engaged, they were single, single. They were bachelors, they were bachelors, yeah. High on life, enjoyed life. They would have settled down, engaged but…
Anna Di Lellio: Yeah, later. Were you already married at the time?
Ilir Bytyqi: No, no, no. I was single too, I was single too. We all had girlfriends, girls… Excuse me. We all had girlfriends, you know what I mean? you know, but nothing serious. It was… having a partner in life is always important, being married, engaged, but no, no. We were looking into getting, you know, situated and all that stuff, but then the war happened and then ever since just… yeah.
Anna Di Lellio: When did you get married?
Ilir Bytyqi: I got married when I was about 29, I think, 28.
Anna Di Lellio: After the war?
Ilir Bytyqi: After the war, yes. In 2001 actually. It was three months before my brothers were discovered that were dead, in a mass grave, you know. Yes…… It was really bad. And we had hoped that they will be alive, you know, they’ll be released. But after I got married, and three months later, I believe three months later, or four months, four months, {to himself} March, April, May, June… Four months later they were found executed in a mass grave.
Anna Di Lellio: And do you have children now?
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, I do. I have two, I have twins, a boy and a girl, yes. I have named him, my son, Agron, after my brother Agron. My brother Fatos had named his son Mehmet, after Mehmet. And my older brother in Germany, ha has named his son Ylli so you know…
Anna Di Lellio: They live on.
Ilir Bytyqi: They live on.
Anna Di Lellio: Do you talk to your children… I don’t know how old your children are, but they are old enough to know their story? They’ve grown up probably with the story.
Ilir Bytyqi: They’re eleven years, they’ll be eleven in June, July actually, they’ll be eleven in July. They’ve seen it lately, when they were young like five, six, seven years they’ve looked into it, but they’re not, you know what I mean, cartoons, and all that stuff, you know. But now that they’re starting to really get into life, and they see what is going on, you what I mean. My son once asked me, “Dad, these people are bad, Serbs are bad.” I’m like, “No, no son, Serbs are not bad, it’s the government, and the criminals who run the government, you know what I mean? People who choose to be bad, to do bad, to inflict pain. All Serbs are not bad.” You know what I mean? Not all Albanians…Albanians are not, you know… If you wanna delete that, you can delete it, if you’re not…
But, you gotta give people a chance, you know what I mean. Serbs are, at this day their nationalism, like racism…In Serbia it’s one thing if… Like Nazis, like Nazis did to the Jewish [sic], you know, they robbed them, they killed them, they raped them, and nobody is answering for it today. There’s no justice, there is justice but very slightly. Bosnia, same thing happened in Bosnia, same thing happened in Croatia. It’s unbelievable, it’s unbelievable, who inflicted all this pain? Serbia. Just recently the Serbian president came out and praised Milošević as a great leader. That means…You’re not… I guess if you praise a butcher that much, that, well, that means that you’re not far away, you are following his path, I guess, you’re not heading into a different direction. That means if tomorrow Serbia goes into war with let’s say another country, that’s what’s gonna happen, same thing.
Anna Di Lellio: Now your brothers are in Yonkers, right? In a cemetery in Yonkers.
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, they are in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Yonkers.
Anna Di Lellio: Can you tell us a little bit more about them, because you live in Long Island, your family…
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, yes…
Anna Di Lellio: Do you live with your parents? Or your parents live with you?
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, I do.
Anna Di Lellio: Because you’re the oldest ?
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, I am the oldest, yeah. Well the reason why my brothers were buried in Yonkers is because that’s the place where they left from, when the Kosovo Liberation Army, the Atlantic Brigade was formed. So, it was from where they left, that’s where they’ll be buried kind of thing. And they decided to put them in Yonkers at the cemetery.
Anna Di Lellio: It is far from your home, right?
Ilir Bytyqi: Yeah, but we go visit them often, my parents go visit them often, they do, we do. You know, the members of the American Albanian community visit them all the time, because every time we go there, there’s been like fresh flowers put in about three-four days, five days prior, you know what I mean. And it is very nice to know that, you know, they’re been visited. Not only by the family but by the whole American Albanan community.
Anna Di Lellio: Do you think you’re ever gonna get justice?
Ilir Bytyqi: Well, we for sure, we will. I’m confident that we will, we have every branch of, of the US government on it. We have the congressional, we have the Senate, we have, you know, the community, you know what I mean. We gotta be thankful to the American Albanian community, they’ve been very, very, very influential you know, assisting the family in each and as many ways they can.
Anna Di Lellio: Do you have any particular memory of your brothers, or one of them, or some little story that you can tell us?
Ilir Bytyqi: Which ones? Good ones, bad ones (laughs).
Anna Di Lellio: Oh well…
Ilir Bytyqi: The good one is… They enjoyed soccer, we enjoyed soccer, we enjoyed sports, you know. We used to play and we used to go actually to this river called Drini, and we used to go out, you know, picnic, and enjoy life, you know what I mean. It was this, you know, it was, they were full of life, you know what I mean, full of life. They always helped, like one instance we were driving… this before they went to war, here in New York, in Long Island. It was pouring rain, and I mean it was pouring, you couldn’t see two feet in front of you. And there were two elderly, elderly gentlemen and a lady, I believe it was an Oldsmobile, they had an Oldsmobile, and from the rain, I guess, they must have hit a puddle and the car shut down, and the guy just had the flash lights going on. And there was nobody in the street, and we were going out to 7/11 to pick up a cup of coffee.
And all of the sudden my brothers are like, “Stop, stop, stop!” I’m like, “What’s going on?” And not knowing that there was a cop car about a quarter of a mile, right in the middle of the stoplight I made a U-turn. He was like, “Make a U-turn, let’s see what’s going on.” I’m like, “Leave them alone, you never know what’s going on, you know, you might get in trouble, you trying to help people, you might get in trouble. This is America. Relax.” And, “No, no, let’s turn around.” “Okay.”
We’re pulling up and go up front and we go knock on the… I mean it was pouring, I mean you couldn’t see two feet in front of you and these elderly people, like, “Oh my car stalled and I can’t start…” Ok. We popped the hood and all of the sudden the cop comes out, I’m like, “Oh we’re gonna get a ticket now, this is gonna happen.” And then I had the jumping cables, and we jumped it up, they started up, we made sure, we follow them through… The cop pulled up, put the lights on, he was like, “What’s going on?” We were like, “These guys got stuck and…” And I thought we’re gonna get a ticket, but he said, “No, thank you very much guys for doing it, you know, a humanitarian deed, thank you.” I’m like, “Oh great, I’ll take the ticket before…” He said, “No, no, thank you very much for helping…” I’m like, “They got stuck, what do you want me to do?” He’s like, “No, no thank you very much.” He thanked us… The elderly just went on.
It is, as I said, my brothers were full of life, full of goodness, you know what I mean? full of goodness. They’d never know how to inflict pain or harm to anybody, you know what I mean, they were good-hearted people, you know, very good-hearted people.
Anna Di Lellio: Did you ever get mad at them? Because you’re the oldest, are you?
Ilir Bytyqi: As, as… Of course you get mad, you disagree, you agree to disagree, you know what I mean. But it was like in the moment, you know what I mean? We’re mad at each other right there and you know, for stupidity (smiles). “No, I’m doing this, I’m gonna do that…” You know, we planned, you know, we planned to go out to Manhattan, you know, “No, I don’t wanna go to Manhattan, I wanna go to Montauk.” “Oh come on,” I’m like, “We planned this stuff, you know, what’s going on?” And then almost five minutes later we agreed to it, and everybody, you know, on their way, you know.
Anna Di Lellio: Who won the argument, you or them?
Ilir Bytyqi: Well, you know, we were very, very, very caring for one another’s feelings, everybody, one another, you know what I mean? We were, “Okay, let’s, we’ll do this…” You know what I mean. We tried to get everybody, you know, everybody happy, make everybody happy. “Okay we’re doing this this weekend, but we gotta do that next weekend.” “Okay, we’ll do it.” You know what I mean, and everybody agreed to it. “Okay, good, go.” We never stayed mad at one another, there was no reason, you know what I mean. We shared the house together, with my dad. You know they were perfect kids, they were perfect brothers, you know what I mean.
My parents were proud of us, I’m proud, I was proud of them, you know what I mean. ‘Cause I spent most of the time with them, I was like a parent too, you know. But I’m like, “Okay…” You know.
Anna Di Lellio: So, who did the cooking when your mom was away, because you were all men there, right?
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes, we were here with my dad at the time, because my mom was in Kosovo. I did the cooking, my brother did the cooking, the pizza man, yeah, never… Even two, the other two of my brothers they know how to cook too, because a cook family… A family cooking, you know what I mean, they knew how to cook too. But you know, it was… I mean we cooked on weekdays, because sometimes that’s why probably take our days off. Ylli, Agron and Mehmet would be off on Sundays, you know. Me and Ylli probably will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Monday, you know what I mean? We made sure we had, everybody has everything, you know what I mean. It’s a typical family, you know what I mean. You know, everyday life.
Anna Di Lellio: Speaking about family, are you still in touch with the Roma family?
Ilir Bytyqi: Uh, no we have lost contact, I believe the person passed away from cancer. He passed away from cancer, the husband I believe, Mixhu… Maxhuni, Mexhid or Maxhun, I don’t remember. I’m bad with names, believe it or not (smiles).
Anna Di Lellio: That’s the American side (laughs)…
Ilir Bytyqi: We’re American… No, it’s not American, it’s just too much, have too much, involved in life, you know what I mean, too much going on. It’s just if I see the person, you know, facially, I recognize them, but names, I’m just like, “Stop talking because I don’t know who he is.” Or she, or… But if I see them in person, I have a good memory, like that, but names, I’d be just like, “Oh God…” You know.
Anna Di Lellio: I know that it is something now that is really upsetting you and your family, and all the people who fight for justice, for your brothers. Can you tell us a little bit more… what’s going on?
Ilir Bytyqi: As I said the case is… It’s been a hard, a hard 20 years, it will be 20 years, in July will be the twentieth anniversary of my brothers… And it hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been easy, it has been very painful. Because it gets repeated over and over and over and over and over again, it’s like, it’s like pouring salt in an open wound, you know what I mean. But that doesn’t hurt us, that just gives us more, it gives us strength to keep going, keep moving forward. And hopefully justice will prevail, justice will prevail.
Anna Di Lellio: What do you do every anniversary, do you commemorate?
Ilir Bytyqi: We commemorate, we go to the cemetery, you know, every year we go sit down with family, dinner, you know what I mean, and remember them, talk about them, you know what I mean. Which is… it doesn’t bring you any closure but does help a little, you know what I mean. But as I said, it does hurt more, it does hurt, you know what I mean, it does, it does, it does.
Anna Di Lellio: But you don’t stop fighting, what about this petition that is going on?
Ilir Bytyqi: The petition we are filing, the petition is first, trying to stop a war criminal who is responsible for my brothers’ deaths. The responsible… When I said my brothers’ death, he was the one who also, when I said about my brothers’ death, he is the one who ordered for my brothers to be taken from the prison. Early in the conversation we spoke about the Roman [sic] neighbor waiting at the prison when he was told they already left, they already took them to the border, you know what I mean? He was the one, Goran… I mean, Vlastimir Djordjević was the one who ordered my brothers to be taken from the prison to other side of Serbia in Petrovaselo.
And we are petitioning that he shouldn’t be released due to because of his involvement in my brothers’ murder, and also for much more mass graves that haven’t been uncovered. Just recently a mass grave in Rudnica was discovered and he is responsible for it. But he hasn’t been charged for it, so he has to face the consequences, he has been charged only with the mass graves that had been discovered, he hasn’t been charged with the rest of these mass graves that still exist today in Serbia, which almost 1500 people are missing. Today, today their loved ones in Kosovo don’t know their whereabouts, you know what I mean? they can’t get closure. They are only constantly living in pain. You know, understandable if they had their remains, and they know where their buried and they could go, go, go and mourn, to them. But they don’t have even that.
This is a crime within a crime that Serbia has committed, and it’s not allowing the people of Kosovo, my family to mourn. It’s continuing with conflicting [sic] pain.
Anna Di Lellio: Yeah…
Ilir Bytyqi: And this criminal should be held accountable for his crimes, he’s the one, a hundred percent, no doubt in my mind, he is the one who committed, who ordered all these mass graves to be spread out to Serbia. There’s 1500 people missing still, this is 1500 families, they don’t know where, they don’t have no closure, they don’t have a place to mourn. They go and mourn to an empty grave. But I guess it doesn’t bother Serbia, because Serbia, I guess, is still enjoying the pleasure of the pain that’s being conflicted [sic] on Albanian people.
Anna Di Lellio: What gives you, and your family, your mother, your father, more comfort?
Ilir Bytyqi: Justice. Justice. Justice. And one day we’ll see that justice will prevail. And no doubt in my mind that it will, it will. If president Vučić wants his legacy to be well-known as a great president, he has to finish this up. He has to finish what he started. He has to. Just recently I was watching him in the news media, he knows, he’s crying about… everybody was going on… “But the surrounding neighbors are not allowing Serbia to move forward.” But it’s not that, Serbia itself is not allowing itself. Him, himself with this political, criminals, organized crime…
He has gathered organized crime leaders, he has gathered war criminals into his party, and what do you think? You think, with that kind of people in your party, they wanna move forward to the EU? No, that’s just an excuse that you blame your surrounding neighbors. It’s their fault that Serbia cannot, not move into the future. No, it’s your own fault, you’re the one. Who’s holding Serbia back? That’s not your surrounding neighbors. Because believe it or not surrounding neighbors and the US is all up for it. Germany is all up for it, Austria is all up for, everybody is all up for Serbia going to EU. But he’s the one holding his own country back and blaming the surrounding neighbors that, that they’re the problem. It’s not the problem, they’re not the problem. You are the problem. Vučić actually is the problem.
Anna Di Lellio: I, I asked you the questions, do you wanna add something? Do you feel like…
Ilir Bytyqi: No, per, per content. What do you think? How was it?
Anna Di Lellio: I think it was good.
Ilir Bytyqi: Yes. If you think…
Anna Di Lellio: Thank you so much!
Ilir Bytyqi: Well, I’m glad to be here. Thank you very much, Anna.