You can find the following most comprehensive
and fully documented study on Kosovo in
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI):
Stefan Troebst
Conflict in Kosovo: Failure of Prevention?
An Analytical Documentation, 1992-1998.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat
of Amnesty International *
TUESDAY 7 JULY 1998
KOSOVO PROVINCE: WHERE FOOTBALL IS A POLITICAL CRIME
Whilst attention is focused on the World Cup,
football is being turned into a political crime in Kosovo province, said
Amnesty International today. The punishment for a footballer or a football
fan can be jail, a beating, or both.
Over the past several
years, Amnesty International has received numerous reports about ethnic
Albanians sent to prison simply for organizing a football match.
On 24 February 1997,
Esat Leku, aged 24, was sentenced to 60 days' imprisonment by the local
Court for Petty Offenses in Glogovac for organizing a football game without
the prior consent of the local authorities.
On 13 March 1997, Bajram
Axemi, aged 37, was summoned before the Court for Petty Offenses in Gnjilane
for organizing a football competition in July 1996. He was sentenced to
a fine of 300 dinars [at that time, about Pounds Sterling 30] or a 15-day
prison term.
On 16 December 1997
in Lipljan, Ali Stublla, the former chairman of the "Ulpiana" football
club, was arrested and sent to serve a 30-day prison term. He had reportedly
been convicted in 1995 of failing to report games organized by "Ulpiana".
Ill-treatment by police
has been all too common when ethnic Albanians have been detained by the
Serbian police in Kosovo province. Football players have not escaped this.
On 11 April 1997, a
police squad intervened during a football match in Muhadzerov Prelaz between
teams representing the ethnic Albanian villages of Prelezi and Rakaj. The
police broke up the game and confiscated the football gear from the players.
The players themselves were ordered to appear at the police station the
following day, and Nazim Rekaj, Sabri Mihalica, Heset Mihalica, Milazim
Ferati, Fatmir Lalinovci, and Abdyl Lalinovci were reportedly ill-treated
by the police. Heset Mihalica reportedly suffered severe physical injuries
because of the ill-treatment.
BACKGROUND
Since 1990, the majority of ethnic Albanians
in Kosovo province refused to recognize Serbia's authority in the province
and so a number of "parallel" institutions were established -- government,
an education system. The "parallel" structures were extended to an alternative
football league. To the Serbian authorities, this has been intolerable.
Kosovo province has
been a human rights crisis waiting to happen. The abuses of basic human
rights have led to frustration and anger which have culminated in the present
armed confrontation.
Amnesty International
believes that any lasting solution to the present crisis must ensure guarantees
for human rights protection, and that those responsible for past and present
human rights violations by police and security forces will be brought to
justice.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Immediate Cease-Fire In Kosovo Essential To
Facilitate Internationally Mediated Settlement
IHF Calls For Monitoring and Preventive Force
Prishtina, Belgrade, Vienna, 10 June 1998. The
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), in cooperation
with the Kosova Helsinki Committee, Netherlands Helsinki Committee and
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, dispatched a fact-finding
mission to Kosovo to investigate the conflict situation and violations
of international human rights and humanitarian law resulting from the escalation
of security operations by the Yugoslav government. The mission met with
members of the negotiating team appointed by Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, was refused
a meeting with Serbian authorities in Prishtina on ambiguous grounds, made
field trips through Serbian controlled areas on two major front lines in
Kosovo, i.e., Western Kosovo and the Central Kosova region of Drenica,
including the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate in Pejë, and Kosova Liberation
Army (KLA) controlled areas in Drenica.
This mission was a follow-up
to the IHF's recent mission to Albania and Montenegro (13-18 June 1998),
to interview Kosovar refugees in Albania and internally displaced persons
(IDPs) in Montenegro forcibly displaced from their homes in the municipalities
of Gjakovë, Deçan, and Pejë.
Fighting continues between
FRY security-military forces and KLA units in areas visited by the mission.
Western and Central Kosovo are openly affected by warfare and highly insecure.
Personal security is greatly endangered, and freedom of movement is significantly
limited because of continuing conflict. This is especially the case between
Gjakovë and Pejë, where villages along the route illustrate a
Bosnia-like pattern of ethnic cleansing and destruction of civilian property.
A large fire-fight was underway while the mission was detained for one
hour at the police checkpoint in Prilep. Throughout that hour, fighting
involving heavy weapons, machine guns, and automatic weapons was heard
from the direction of Drenoc and Voksh. The mission's freedom of movement
was limited to the main road by FRY security forces for security reasons,
which precluded the mission from visiting the villages of forcibly displaced
Kosovar refugees which were interviewed in Bajram Curri by the IHF mission
to Albania. The mission was prevented by Serbian militia from traveling
to the Decani monastery to interview Serb displaced persons temporarily
sheltered there. Fighting, including heavy artillery and smoke from burning
houses, was noted by the mission in Loxha, only a couple of kilometers
from the district center of Pejë. According to unverified field information,
as many as a dozen persons from both sides were killed and wounded in Loxha.
The town of Pejë
was in a high state of tension, reflected in its resemblance to a virtually
deserted town, even in mid-afternoon, with most shops and public premises
closed, apparently due to nearby fighting. The mission spoke with Serbian
civilians who used aggressive and threatening language when speaking about
the Kosovar population. The IHF fears that such ethnic tensions could quickly
lead to a "civil-war" type of violence, which could spread to other urban
centers, including Prishtina.Highly flammable tensions were also evident
during a visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church ex-Patriarchate, where Serbian
security personnel carried Kalashnikovs on the Patriarchate grounds. In
Gjakovë, the mission also saw a militia armored personnel carrier
with hooded special forces.
The mission was strongly
harassed at security checkpoints on the Kosovo-Montenegro administrative
border near Radavc at the place called Savine Vode. At the Kosovo-Montenegro
checkpoint, one mission member was verbally threatened by a militia officer.
Later that night, at the checkpoint near Miloshevo, mission members were
subjected to search and interrogation in which the checkpoint commander
accused mission members of being Western spies and agents for the KLA.
This treatment is illustrative of the substantial risks Kosovar civilians
run when attempting to travel inside Kosovo. It is clear that government
security forces at checkpoints are prepared to maltreat individuals based
on their ethnic identity. On the final day of the fieldwork in KLA held
territory, the representative of the Serbian Helsinki Committee remained
in Prishtina, as the result of recommendations in relation to the mission´s
meeting with the KLA.
The mission traveled
to the Kishnareka area and met with the local KLA commander and officers,
and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Komoran. It is apparent that
the conflict is placing the local population and IDPs under substantial
stress. IDPs are being housed in crowded conditions with local families.
There is a lack of basic food commodities, water, and sanitation, and medical
care is virtually non-existent, except for modest efforts by Médecins
sans Frontières. These conditions are aggravated by the security
cordon imposed on the area by the FRY government. There is also a substantial
lack of international humanitarian presence in conflict-affected areas,
contrary to President Milosevic's recent declaration from Moscow to allow
unimpeded access to humanitarian organization to deliver relief materials.
It is obvious that the high insecurity in the region is hampering efforts
of humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance to IDPs and the local
population in areas under siege.
While freedom of movement
for international organizations is hampered by government security forces,
the mission was able to gain a clearer picture of the widespread displacement
of civilians and destruction of property caused by recent security operations.
It is evident that the Kosovar civilian population has been intentionally
and disproportionately targeted by security forces contrary to common Article
3 of the Geneva Conventions and Protocol II (1977) concerning non-international
conflict. The mission obtained information from the Council for the Defense
of Human Rights and Freedoms concerning the believed abduction i.e. arrest
and detention of 400 Kosova Albanians by government security forces in
violation of international law, as well as reports that the KLA has detained
an estimated 30 Serbian detainees. The IHF is gravely concerned that the
hostage-taking and forced disappearance could become a tactic used in the
conflict that would precipitate an increase in violence, placing the civilian
population in still greater jeopardy.
Recommendations
The Kosova crisis is poised on the edge of open warfare. While an increase in diplomatic involvement by Contact Group is welcome, it is insufficient in scope and scale to prevent an outbreak of full scale conflict. The Milosevic government is continuing to stall on making the necessary gestures to contribute to de-escalating tensions and creating a basis for resuming negotiations. The recent agreement to allow a small diplomatic monitoring presence is insufficient to adequately cope with the crisis conditions in Kosova. In order to preempt a further escalation in the conflict and an increase in civilian casualties and humanitarian hardship, the IHF
- calls on the international community to deploy, and the Milosevic government to accept, a robust and large scale international monitoring mission capable of monitoring the situation in Kosova. An increased international presence will improve the prospects for de-escalating tensions and enabling international facilitation of the political processes necessary for a negotiated solution.
- calls on the FRY government to withdraw security forces from Kosova and immediately cease hostilities and implement a cease-fire. The FRY government should drawback security and military units in order to facilitate the cessation of hostilities.
- calls for the deployment of a preventive force to monitor the implementation and enforcement of a cease-fire and to replace Serbian security forces.
- calls upon the Contact Group and UN Security Council to undertake all necessary measures to prevent an outbreak of full scale war in Kosovo, as it could cause massive civilian casualties, spill over international borders, and destabilize the region.
- calls on the FRY government and Kosovar political representatives to immediately restart negotiations for a internationally mediated political solution to the conflict. The KLA leadership should make an immediate effort to play a constructive role in the negotiation process.
- calls on all parties to the conflict to abide by the Geneva Conventions regarding non-international conflict, especially with respect to hostage taking and retributions against civilian non-combatants.
- calls for unimpeded deployment of international human rights investigators and forensic experts to investigate allegations of crimes committed in conjunction with the armed conflict and security operations in Kosova.
- calls on the FRY government to immediately allow unrestricted freedom of movement to international and local humanitarian organizations to deliver relief materials and medical assistance, and to assess the condition of displaced persons.
- calls on international humanitarian organizations to increase their efforts to gain access to deliver urgently needed relief materials. Humanitarian organizations should also prepare to adequately respond to key issues such as water and sanitation, food supplies, medical care, shelter rehabilitation, and quick impact projects to alleviate the hardship produced by displacement and overburdened local resources.
- calls for the FRY government to allow immediate and unrestricted access by the ICRC to prisoners of war and other persons detained during the security operations. Likewise, the KLA should allow the ICRC immediate access to any prisoners of war or detainees being held.
For more information:
Kosovo Helsinki Committee
Gazmend Pula
+381-38-26 153
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
Sandra Sljepcevic
+381-11-639 481
Netherlands Helsinki Committee
Jan ter Laak
+31-30-230 2535
IHF Secretariat
Jennifer Lincoln-Lewis
William Hayden
+43-1-402 73 87
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE
ICG Examines the Albanian Dimension of the Kosovo Crisis
10 July 1998
The International Crisis Group (ICG) publishes today a report examining the Albanian dimension of the escalating conflict in Kosovo.
The 15-page report, entitled The View from Tirana: The Albanian Dimension of the Kosovo Crisis, is the latest in a series of ICG studies of the southern Balkans.
As fighting escalates
in Kosovo and Kosovo Albanian refugees stream out of the ethnically-divided,
southern Serbian province into neighbouring Albania, that country -- Europe’s
most impoverished -- is being inexorably dragged into the conflict.
Relations between Albanians
from Albania proper and their ethnic kin over the border in Kosovo are
complex. The political division of the past half century and Albania’s
isolation have caused the two communities to evolve in a very different
fashion.
Given the nature of
the fighting in Kosovo and the ethnic and, in some cases, family ties between
Kosovo Albanians and Albanians from Albania proper, it appears almost impossible
for Tirana to stand passively by.
Since a violent outbreak
of anarchy in spring 1997 in the wake of the collapse of a series of pyramid
investment schemes, parts of northern Albania on Kosovo’s border have been
largely beyond Tirana’s control. These regions therefore potentially offer
fertile soil for insurgents, whether from Kosovo or from Albania.
The ICG report describes
the background to Kosovo-Albanian relations, both during the communist
era and more recently during the 1992-1997 administration of ex-president
Sali Berisha. It also examines the position of the current Albanian government,
its restrained response to the crisis and its relationship with Kosovo
Albanian politicians.
The report examines
how the Albanian media and opposition have reacted to the violence in Kosovo,
and considers Serbian allegations that Kosovo Albanians are using northern
Albania both to acquire weapons and to recruit soldiers. It concludes with
a series of recommendations aimed at lessening tension and contributing
to stability in the region.
For further information and copies of the report,
contact ICG in Sarajevo
on (+387 71) 447 845, 447 846 or 200 447, in
Washington on (+1 202) 986
9750, or in Brussels on (+32 2) 502 9038. The
report can also be accessed
via the internet on ICG’s web site - http://www.intl-crisis-group.org.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IFEX- News from the international freedom of expression
community
_________________________________________________________________
ACTION ALERT - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
(KOSOVO)
13 July 1998
CPJ protests attacks on journalists
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York
**This alert contains information further to IFEX alerts of 23 June and 8 July 1998**
(CPJ/IFEX) - CPJ is greatly alarmed by the continuing
pattern of intimidation and violence against journalists by Serbian special
police and military in Kosovo. In particular the organisation is distressed
by a recent incident in which special police, posing as journalists, infiltrated
an international press pool that was following a motorcade of diplomats
around the conflict zone. Such conduct presents grave safety risks for
correspondents in the area.
On 6 July 1998, nearly
50 correspondents joined a convoy of envoys in a trial run of the so-called
Kosovo Observer Mission touring the Kosovo countryside to survey the aftermath
of battles between the Serb military and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
As a pool video cameraman walked alongside the convoy filming its approach
to Prekaz, a red car with press markings occupied by three men in civilian
clothes suddenly swerved toward him, nearly striking him. When the motorcade
stopped near the town, two journalists who were part of the pool, Kurt
Schork of Reuters and Anthony Lloyd of "The Times" of London, approached
the occupants of the red car to complain about the incident. Schork and
Lloyd then turned away and started walking toward the center of town. Several
minutes later, one of the red cars' occupants grabbed Schork by the shoulder,
turned him around and punched him hard in the face. Provoked by the attack,
Lloyd struck the unidentified man, who then retaliated with two karate
kicks to Lloyd’s chest, breaking two of his ribs. The incident took place
in front of the eight foreign envoys on the mission, who identified the
occupants of the red car as Serbian special police (see IFEX alert of 8
July 1998).
CPJ is also distressed
by a 22 June 1998 attack on a Danish TV2 crew, which was targeted by Serbian
soldiers near the Glogovac mine. Correspondent Neils Brinch, cameraman
Heinrik Gram and an Albanian interpreter who asked not to be identified,
were heading back to Pristina in their rented armored car after they were
turned away by guards at a KLA checkpoint at Glogovac. The vehicle they
rented, painted white, was typical of the kind used by journalists to cover
the conflict. The crew felt two shots fired at their car, prompting Brinch
to stop. A Serb soldier in uniform ran up to their car and pointed his
gun at the crew. As soon as Brinch lifted up his arms to show he was unarmed,
the soldier started shooting at the crew’s car. Brinch sped away from the
scene. Although no one was hurt, the crew found 21 bullet marks on the
armored vehicle (see IFEX alert of 23 June 1998).
CPJ strongly protests
these violent actions by Serbian soldiers and special police against journalists
carrying out their professional duties. The infiltration of Serbian agents,
posing as journalists, into the first international observer mission in
Kosovo represents a grave breach of security and violates all international
norms that guarantee journalists the right to freely and safely practice
their profession.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to President Slobodan Milosevic:
-urging him to recall his pledge to CPJ’s Kati
Marton in December 1996 to respect press freedom and the universally recognized
rights of journalists. With this in mind, encouraging him to investigate
these incidents and take the necessary measures to prevent such attacks
in the future
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic
President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: +381 11 656 862
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
For further information, contact Chrystyna Lapychak
at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004
x 101, fax: +1 212 465 9568,
e-mail: europe@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/.
The information contained in this action alert
is the sole responsibility of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast
or publication, please credit CPJ.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G
1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1
416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org
general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat
of Amnesty International *
AI INDEX: EUR 70/45/98
10 JULY 1998
Arrest Karadzic and Mladic now -- Make Kosovo's human rights violators stop and think
Every day that SFOR fails to actively search for
and arrest suspects like Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic marks
another defeat for justice and sends the wrong message to human rights
violators in Kosovo province, Amnesty International said today, on the
eve of the third anniversary of the capture of Srebrenica.
"In a place
like Kosovo, a message that you cannot get away with murder -- backed up
by meaningful actions -- may just make potential perpetrators think twice
before they take their next brutal step," Amnesty International said.
The near-total lack
of accountability for human rights violations in Kosovo province during
the past decade has undoubtedly been one of the major causes of the current
conflict there. According to Amnesty International, accountability for
war crimes in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina could make all the difference
in preventing such crimes in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
"Arresting Karadzic
and Mladic now could help to save lives in Kosovo tomorrow," Amnesty International
said.
Karadzic and Mladic
have been indicted twice by the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia in The Hague for genocide, crimes against humanity, and
violations of the laws of war. One indictment relates to the
events which followed the capture of the former United Nations "safe area"
of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces on 11 July 1995.
More than 6000 "missing"
persons from Srebrenica remain unaccounted for, many of them almost certainly
deliberately killed and buried in mass graves still to be excavated.
The arrest of indicted
war crimes suspects in other parts of the former Yugoslavia today would
make a powerful statement to all parties involved in the conflict in Kosovo
that there can be no rest for those who violate the most basic principles
of human rights and humanitarian law.
"For the men, women
and children of Srebrenica, Saturday will be a day to remember and
mourn," Amnesty International said. "Shouldn't we also be making
sure that this anniversary is one that the likes of Karadzic and Mladic
will never forget? For the sake of the people of Srebrenica; for
the sake of the people of Kosovo - arrest now!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greek Helsinki Monitor & Minority Rights
Group - Greece
P.O. Box 51393 GR-14510
Kifisia Greece
Tel. +30-1-620.01.20
Fax +30-1-807.57.67
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
senden