From: MINELRES moderator  <minelres@mailbox.riga.lv>
Original sender: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights <office@ihf-hr.org>
Subject: Press-Release: Open letter to Mr. Geremek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, on Kosovo
 

PRESS RELEASE

Topic: Open letter to Mr. Geremek, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, on Kosovo

We distribute the latest release of four Helsinki organizations

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OPEN LETTER

Bronislav Geremek
OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Polish Foreign Ministry

12 February 1998

Dear Mr. Geremek,

Many in our organization have greeted your term as Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE with
hope and expectation, based on our respect for your wisdom and integrity.

We are writing to convey our serious concerns about the politically very dangerous
situation in Kosovo.

The long lasting status quo of peaceful and civil resistance of Albanians in Kosovo has
ended. The situation seems to be sliding out of control and heading toward large-scale
violence between Albanians and Serb police units. Every day, there are reports of more
violent assaults and increased repression over Albanians in the form of Serbian reprisal
expeditions. In addition, there are also increasing numbers of armed assaults against
Serbian police and other repression-related targets, assumed to be carried out by the so-
called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Having recently visited regions reportedly under the
control of Albanian armed resistance movements, the IHF believes the policy of passive
resistance will come to an end if Serbian repression and reprisal campaigns do not stop
and if the fundamental rights and dignity of the Albanians in Kosovo are not restored.

No political solution in Kosovo can be reached without an international mediation for
negotiation between Serbs and Albanians and strong outside pressure and assistance.
Such an international mediation should take the form of a Dayton-like international
conference on Kosovo.

To call for "dialogue" is not enough. Dialogue cannot take place between two manifestly
unequal parties, in a situation in which one party is violently and systematically oppressing
the other.

Suggestions about various partitioning scenarios of Kosovo, which would likely lead to
ethnic cleansing and further large scale suffering for Albanians, seem to have become
acceptable solutions from official Serb viewpoint.

The initiatives of the OSCE, the UN, the Council of Europe, the Contact Group, and
individual states (Germany, France, US) have an acute and strong need for much more
clarity and coordination. As during the Bosnian war, conflicting interests prevent Europe,
Russia and the US from making a decisive and timely contribution to the resolution of the
conflict. The main beneficiaries seem to be President Milosevic and Serbian nationalists.

Strong and concerted pressure must be brought to bear on President Milosevic to agree to
a process of international mediation aimed at ending Serbian oppression in Kosovo and at
negotiating a just and stable future political status for Kosovo.  This is why the IHF is
calling for a "Dayton-like" conference. A political solution requires a strong, internationally
legitimate framework, negotiated on the basis of international standards.

In fact, under the Dayton process itself, Kosovo ought to be the subject of a Peace
Implementation Council ministerial meeting.

The OSCE, as an inclusive security-framework, ought to be the context in which a plan for
action is developed and given moral priority.  The OSCE also provides a platform from
which to mobilize political energy. We would respectfully suggest that you, as Chairman-in-
Office of the OSCE, publicly and forcefully insist on a new initiative to end what is arguably
the worst human rights situation in the entire region, which threatens to degenerate into
large-scale violence.

Of course, we pledge our cooperation should there be any way in which our organizations
might be of assistance.

Sonja Biserko
Chair, Serbian Helsinki Committee

Gazmend Pula
Chair, Kosova Helsinki Committee

Slobodan Franovic
Chair, Montenegrin Helsinki Committee

Aaron Rhodes
Executive Director, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

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International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Rummelhardtgasse 2/18
1090 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Tel. +43-1-402 73 87 or +43-1-408 88 22
Fax  +43-1-408 74 44 E-mail: office@ihf-hr.org
Internet: http://www.ihf-hr.org

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