SEC. 703. KOSOVAR ALBANIAN PRISONERS HELD IN SERBIA.
Text of amendment (passed 424-0) is below,
followed by the full debate on the amendment
in the House of Representatives on July 21, 1999
as reported in the Congressional Record from:SEC. 703. KOSOVAR ALBANIAN PRISONERS HELD IN SERBIA.
(a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) At the conclusion of the NATO campaign to halt the Serbian and Yugoslav ethnic cleansing in Kosova, a large, but undetermined number of Kosovar Albanians held in Serbian prisons in Kosova were taken from Kosova before and during the withdrawal of Serbian and Yugoslav police and military forces from Kosova.
(2) Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic has admitted that 1,860 prisoners were brought to Serbia from Kosova on June 10, 1999, the day Serbian and Yugoslav police and military forces began their withdrawal from Kosova.
(3) International humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Human Rights Watch, have expressed serious concern with the detention of Kosovar Albanians in prisons in Serbia.
(4) On June 25, 1999, Serbia released 166 of the detained Kosovar Albanian prisoners to the ICRC.
(5) On July 10, 1999, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, comprised of parliamentarians from Across Europe, the United States and Canada, adopted a resolution calling upon Serbia and Yugoslavia, in accordance with international humanitarian law, to grant full, immediate and ongoing ICRC access to all prisoners held in relation to the Kosova crisis, to ensure the humane treatment of such prisoners, and to arrange for the release of all such prisoners.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the Serbian and Yugoslav Governments should immediately account for all Kosovar Albanians held in their prisons and treat them in accordance with all applicable international standards;
(2) the ICRC should be given full, immediate, and ongoing access to all Kosovar Albanians held in Serbian and Yugoslav prisons;
and(3) all Kosovar Albanians held in Serbian and Yugoslav prisons should be released and returned to Kosova.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 247, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
[Page: H6067] GPO's PDF
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition to the Engel amendment although I am not opposed to the amendment.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2 1/2 minutes.
Mr. Chairman, after the allies won the war in Kosovo, when the Serbian forces left Kosovo to go back to Serbia, they kidnapped anywhere from 1,800 prisoners, Kosovar Albanian prisoners, to up to 5,000 Kosovar Albanian prisoners, and took them back to Serbia, away from their homes, and jailed them.
The Serbian justice minister mentions a total of 1,860 Kosovar Albanians jailed. But I have from a very respected newspaper, Koha Ditore, a list of 5,000 ethnic Albanian prisoners who are now detained in jails in Serbia.
This amendment simply would call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to be allowed to visit these prisoners to call for an accounting of these prisoners and to give the International Committee of the Red Cross access to all Kosovar Albanians detained in Serbian prisons.
It also asks for the release and return to Kosovo of all these people and is virtually identical to a resolution that was passed by the OSCE recently which contained the same provisions and was the European parliamentarians' same request.
We cannot allow Slobodan Milosevic to capture these people and to keep them there as virtual prisoners. It is absolutely important that the world community stand up and say that we will not tolerate the continued Serbian aggression.
Mr. Chairman, I include for the Record the list of prisoners and two articles, one from the Washington Post and one from the Los Angeles Times, which highlights this problem and the problem of the Kosovar Albanians who are captured and kidnapped in Serbian prisons.
The List of Kosovar Prisoners Held in Serbia Taken From Koha Ditore
City Prison-Pozharevc (Serbia):
Lutfi Xhaferi, Muhamet Bajrami, Fadil Salihu, Naser Osmani, Rijad Begu, Isak Abazi, Xhemshit Ferati, Shaqir Pllana, Afrim Salihu, Ibrahim Bajrami, Sylejman Bejtullahu, Xhevdet Bejtullahu, Agron Pllana, Nexhat Brahimi, Hazir Peci, Milaim Hajrizi, Fehmi Hasani, Shaban Duraku, Adem Tahiri, Rushit Strana, Isa Aliu, Ferit Pllana, Kaplan Salihu, Sami Hasani, Nuhi Januzi, Behxhet Maloku, Besim Brahimi, Sabit Strana, Rexhep Uka, Hamit Maleta, Ismet Pllana, Xhelal Bejtullahu, Hajrullah Peci, Agim Peci, Ismail Peci, Miftar Gashi, Feti Asllanaj, Sejdi Lahu, SkeyAE4nder Sadiku, Sejdi Zekaj, Fazli Kadriu, Ramadan Bislimi, SkeyAE4nder Haxha, Shaban Zuhranaj, Bajram Rukolli, Imer Haziraj, Xhevat Mustafa, Zani Mustafa, Sabit Arifi, Bexhet Zeneli, Miftar Sahiti, Mustafa Ramadani, Sabri Osmani, Agim Islami, Aziz Islami, Kadri Durguti, Abdyl KlecyAE9ka, Behajdin KlecyAE9ka, Burim Ejupi, Sabit Shehu, Zeqir Shehu, Jusuf Kollari, Xhevdet Durguti, Mehdi Kollari, Arben Shala, Destan Nurshaba, Mujedin Korenica, Veton Mulija, Beqir Kollari, Fahredin Dina, Bashkim Hoxha, Arsim Haska, Fadil Isma, Esad Kasapi, Zijadin Miftari, Eshref KlecyAE9ka, Selami Sharku, Lan Isufaj, Rasim Isufaj, Njazi Isufaj, Naim Hadergjonaj, Rasim Selmanaj, Jahir Agushi, Visar Muriqi, Ragip Ahmeti, Ramadan Gashi, Fatmir Shishani, Agim Leka, Hazir Stoliqi, Gani Ahmetxhekaj, MujeyAE4 Zekaj, Salih Zariqi, Jakup Rexhepi, Bajram Gashi, Nezir Bajraktari, MustafeyAE4 Mehmetaj, Arben Bajraktaraj, Nexhat Dervishaj, DemeyAE4 Ramosaj, Shaban Mehmetaj, Sadik Haradini, Ramiz Isufaj, Ministet Shala, Ismet PacyAE9arizi, Izet Zenuni, Gani Baqaj, Sali Gashi, SkeyAE4nder Bajraktari, Llmi Zeneli, Xhafer Qufaj, GeyAE4zim ZecyAE9aj, Bujar Goranci, Muhamet Gashi, XhemeyAE4 Morina, Florim Zukaj, Asllan Asllani, Shpend Dobrunaj, Luan Ahmetxhekaj, Besnik Ismaili, Xhavit MuseyAE4shabanaj, Driton Zukaj, Llmi Karaxha, NikolleyAE4 Markaj, UkeyAE4 Golaj, Dervish Zukaj, Rasim Gjota, SkeyAE4nder Hajdari, Ardian Kumnova, Flamur Krasniqi, Isak Hoti, Ramadan Morina, Ismet Krasniqi, Demir Limaj, Lavdim Tetaj, Arsim Krasniqi, Arton Krasniqi, Avni Shala, Hazir Krasniqi, Llir Krasniqi, Fahri Krasniqi, ZhujeyAE4 Gashi, Muhamed Avdiaj, Bekim Istogu, Azem Buzhala, Faik Topalli, Nysret Hoti, Nazim Zenelaj, Adnan Topalli, Musli Leku, Remzi Morina, Avni Memia, Avdi Kabashi, Ibrahim Ferizi, Visar Demiri, Bekim Rama, Tahir Rraci, Blerim Camaj, Reshat Nurboja, Brahim Gashi, Astrit Elshani, Hasan VeyAE4rslaku, Avdullah Lushi, Lush Marku, MustafeyAE4 Gjocaj, Rrustem Jetishi, Bekim MacyAE9i, Asllan Nebihi, Afrim VeyAE4rslaku, Kujtim Jetishi, Avdyl MacyAE9i, SkeyAE4nder Hoxha, Muhamet KicyAE9ina, Fadil Avdyli, Bajram Avdyli, Sokol Syla, Hasan Berisha, Luan Mazrreku, Enver Hoxhaj, Ismet Gashi, Zeqir Gashi, Fadil Topalli, Bujar Sylaj, Agim Gashi, Hetem Elshani, Isa Topalli, Flurim Haxhymeri, Haki Haxhimustafa, Beqir Alimusaj, Bajram Shala, Gazmend Zeka, Fadil Jetishi, Isa Shala, Isuf Shala, Ylber Dizdari, Milaim Cekaj, Musa Krasniqi, Ismet Berbati, Ramiz Gjocaj, DemeyAE4 Batusha, Reshat Suka, Tahir Panxhaj, SyleyAE4 Salihu, Ismet Isufi, UkeyAE4 Rexha, Fehmi Kukiqi, Arsllan Selimi, Fetah Shala, Milazim Shehu, Nait Hasani, Riza Alia, Gani Cekaj, Sefedin Morina, Sadri TeyAE4rdevci, Habib Morina, Elmi Morina, Rexhep Morina, Isa Morina, Lajet Mola, Sylejman Bajgora, Feriz CyAE9orri, Raif Hasi, Smail Hasi, Rrahim Limani, Sadik Limani, Jakup Limani, Agim Nimani, Besnik Heta, Afrim RucyAE9aj, Qamil Pllana, Hashim Mecinaj, Shemsi Shaqiri, Avdush Hysi, Miftar Dobra, Nexhat Ahmeti, Fadil Ajeti, Bahri Istrefi, Bedri Qerimi, Nexhat Mustafa, Izet Miftaraj, Fuat BucyAE9inca, Reci Dosti, Naim Haziri, Sali Azemi, Kenan Hasani, Rifat Dobra, Shaban Rexhepi, Daut Rrahmani, Ali Haradini, Latif Ismaili (minor), Fehmi Jashari, Naim Peci, Gani Arslani, Muharrem Zymeri, Elmaz Hasani, Ukshin Hasani, Hakif Duraku, Sherafedin Hasani, Jashar Istrefi, Rrahman Istrefi, Gani Muja, Rrahman Ahmeti, Ferid Zeneli, Duka Aliu, Nuredin Jashari, Ilmi Jashari, Hajro Brahimi, Fahri Berisha, Naim Pllana, ShkeyAE4lzen Pllana, Fehmi Pllana, Megdia Pllana, Behxhet Sejdiaj, Faik Sejdiaj, Bekim Sejdiaj, Tafil Prokshi, Shemsi Miftaraj, Ahmet Murati, Dibran Krasniqi, Shefki Tahiri, Shefqet Duraku, Beqir Bialku, Brahim Krasniqi, Mehmet Xhelili, Idriz Klinaku, Ahmet Hasani, PeyAE4rparim Mustafa, Halil Mustafa, Milazim Mustafaj, Fatos Asllanaj, Enes Kalludra, Hajriz Islami, Ismet Laka, Fazli Ademi, MujeyAE4 Shabani, Avdyl Sejdiu, Rifat Hasani, Ejup Sejdiu, Nasuf Deliaj, Agim Ahmetaj, Kasem Ahmetaj, MustafeyAE4 Ahmetaj, Ekrem Avdiu, Nexhmedin Llausha, Shpend Kopriva, Lulzim Ymeri, Ertan Bislimi, Krenar TelcyAE9iu, Bashkim Gllogovci, Ilir Hoxha, Luan Sejdiu, Agim Morina, Fehmi Muharremi, Brahim Berisha, MustafeyAE4 Berisha, Gani Baliqi, Osman Kastrati, Shaban CyAE9upi, Arben Jahaj, Ardian Haxhaj, Mehmet MemcyAE9aj, Agim Lumi, SkeyAE4nder Hoti, Sokol Morina, Fazli Gashi, Besim Kastrati, Sherif Berisha, Shefget Topojani, Naim Krasniqi, MujeyAE4 Prekuni, Elmi Cujani, Qazim Sejdia, Ali CyAE9uliqi, Isak Shabani, Selim Gashi, ShkeyAE4lzen Zariqi, Agron Tolaj, Hajdin Ramaj, Ismet Gashi, Muhamet Rama, Esat Shehu, Selman UkeyAE4haxhaj, Agim Syla, Hasan Rama, Ramadan Nishori, Hidajim Morina, Sadik BytycyAE9i, Enver Hashani, Besim Rama, Valon Berisha, Nexhat Shulaku, Edmond Dushi, Naser Shurnjaku, Visar Dushi, Agim Hoda, MustafeyAE4 Ahmeti, Arsim Bakalli, Menduh Duraku, Muhedin Zeka, Kreshnik Hoda, Admir Pruthi, Nexhmedin Baraku, Mehdi Ferizi, Fisnik Zhaveli, Muhamet Guta, Faik Mustafaj, Selami Curraj, Artan Nasi, Yll Kusari, Yll Ferizi, PeyAE4raprim Efendija, Arbnor Koshi, Petrit Vula, Idriz Feta, Jeton Rizniqi, Genc Xhara, Behar Hoti, Qamil Haxhibeqiri, Fahri Hoti, Adnan Hoti, Fatmir Tafarshiku, Shpetim Hoxha, Esat Ahma, Hysen Juniku, Yll Pepa, Erdogan Mati, ShkeyAE4lzen Nura, Esat Zherka, Shpend Musacana, Adriatik Pula, Labinot Pula, GeyAE4zim Sada, Bekim Jota, Emin Delia, Zog Delia, Alb Delia, Yll Delia, As Ahmeti, Yll Kastrati, Adnan Haxhibeqiri, Gazmend Zhubi, Gent Nushi, Enver Dula, Mithat Buza, Bekim Rragomi, Aliriza Truti, SkeyAE4nder Zhina, Petrit Jakupaj, Elmi Tahiri, Agim Muhaxheri, Faton Hoda, Agron Pula, Tahir KajdomcyAE9aj, Florent Trudi, Adriatik Vokshi, Ymri Ahmeti, Armond Koshi, Atli Kryeziu, Dukagjin Pula, Jusuf Brovina, Gani Gexha, Sulejman Brovina, Hasan Halilaj, Halil Guta, Albert Koshi, Fatos Dautaga, Sami Morina, Luan Xheka, Tahir SkeyAE4nderaj, Bjerem Juniku, Sabit Beqiri, Dijamant Mici, Nexhat Vehapi, Fadil Lushaj, Binak Haxhija, Avdyl Precaj, Xhamajl ThacyAE9i, Nazim Morina, Flamur Pana, Fatos Deva, Musat Ukaj, Ardian Tetrica, Driton Aliaga, Bekim Mullahasani, Bashkim Mustafa, Besfort Mullahasani, Driton Ballata, Diamant Manxhuka, Rinor Lama, Fatmir Pruthi, Ferhat Luhani, Bekim Musa, Petrit KeyAE4puska, Mithat Guta, Agim Hasiqi, Gembi Batusha, Hysni Hoda, Hivzi Perolli, Mazllom Grushti, Jeton BytycyAE9i, Bujar Hasiqi, Petrit Sahatqija, Vllaznim Radogoshi, Imer Guta, Shefqet Bokshi, Kastriot Zhubi, Florent Zhubi, Edmond Shtaloja, Burim Dobruna, Isa Axhanela, Driton Xhiha, Hasan Zeneli, Rasim Rexha, Haqif Ilazi, Bilbil Duraku, Sejdi Bellanica, Defrim Rifaj, Nehat Binaku, Enver Berisha, Jakif Mazreku, Hysni Krasniqi, Haki Elshani, Avni Koleci, Shaban Kolgeci, Rexhep Agilaj, Arif Kabashi, Azem Nedrotaj, Xhevat Shukolli, Zaim CyAE9atapi, Milaim Kabashi, Xhavit Kolgeci, Maliq Sokoli, Haxhi Ukaj, Ramadan Kokollari, Arben Basha, Feriz Haziri, Sedji Haziraj, Hazir Zenelaj, Xhavit Krasniqi, Milaim Matoshi, MustafeyAE4 Kolgeci, Arsim Gashi, Emin Kryeziu, Sherif Ilazi, Arsim Ziba, Defrim Kiqina, Zenel Ademi, Fadil Xhulani, Qamil Rama, PjeteyAE4r CyAE9ira, Bilbil Shehu, Isuf Bardoshi, Ilir Kortoshi, Osman Tortoshi, Sulo Kuqi, Sulejman Deliu, Gazmend Krasniqi, Zil Qipa, Shaban Rama, JaheyAE4 Sadrija, Muharrem Pajaziti, Naser Tahirsylaj, Muhamet Tahiri, Arben Dobani, Besim Zogaj, Xhavit Gashi, Sali Cunaj, Fatmir Kokollari, Nezir Zogaj, Naim Baleci, Agron Borani, Rakip Mirena, Bekim Krasniqi, Rexhep Luzha, Ramiz Bajrami, Ali Gashi, Ramadan Berisha, Abdullah Cunaj, Sinan Bytyci, Shemsi Gallopeni, Shefqet Kabashi, Fazli Pranca, Musli Avdyli, Ibrahim Isufaj, Sulejman Bytyci, Muharrem Qypaj, Ahmet Demiri, Xhafer Shala, Sami Gashi, Agron Berisha, Sahit Ziba, Nijazi Kryeziu, Hasan Shala, Abaz Beqiri, Filip Pjetri, Nazmi Haliti, Agim Ibraj, Haxhi Barjaktari, Ruzhdi Morina, Bashkim Jusufi, Burim Musliu, HimeyAE4 Shala, Haki Haziraj, Valdet Rama, Gasper Selmanaj, Besnik Kuqi, Adem Kuqi, Jeton Alia, Ademali Metaj, Naim Balaj, Halit Ndrecaj, Bajram, Bajraj, Xhavit Kacaniku, Naim Zejnaj, Feriz Zabelaj, Nexhat Sylaj, Nuhi Boka, Hajrullah Samadraxha, Naser Kalimoshi, Qazim Krasniqi, Ali Isa, Kadri Jaha, Ymer Krasniqu, Sali Ahmedi, Hajdin Alia, Asllan Lumi, Xhemajl Sallauka, Murat Kabashi, Hamit Buzhala, Lumni Matoshi, Gazmend Bytyci, Xhavit Malaj, Daut Gashi, Zymer Gashi, Mehdi Gashi, Nasuf Gorani, Osman Llugaxhia, Fatmir Berisha, Hasan Istogu, Milaim Kastrati, Rexhep Alimusaj, Abdullah Shala, UkeyAE4 Kolgeci, Hasan Kuqi, Sali Loshi, Burim Bllaca, Sedat Kolgeci, Albert Kolgeci, Emri Loshi, Sherif Hamza, UkeyAE4 Thaci, Nazmi Franca, Naim Leku, Riza Krasniqi, TafeyAE4 Kurtaj, Ismet Beqiraj, Bahri Beqaj, Sali Maliqaj, Muhedin Nivokazi, Ramadan Zymeraj, Haki Ademaj, Hajzer Hajrullahu, Hekuran Cari, Adem Zenuni, Dul Cunaj, Ferit Tafallari, Sinan Tafilaj, Shaqir Selmanaj, Hasan Sadikaj, Blerim Krasniqi, Maki Begolli, Behar Jetishi, Agim Jetishi, Kastriot Jetishi, Zenel Jetishi, SkeyAE4nder Kelmendi, Nexhat Krasniqi, Bashkim Dvorani, Bekim Mazrreku, Izet Sejfijaj, Rexhep Xhemajli, Xhemajl Muharremi, Ismet Sukaj, Besim Ramaj, Blerim Shala, Adem Morina, Hasan Mulaj, FrasheyAE4r Shabani, Xhevat Haziri, Ismet Musaj, Fatos Malaj, Haki Mahmutademaj, Kamber Goxholi, MustafeyAE4 Shala, Avni Syla, Ahmet Kapitaj, Pashk Quni, Driton Berisha, Luan Bajrami, Selim Sutaj, Riza Tahirukaj, RexheyAE4 Jakupi, Hamdi Hyseni, Mersin Berisha, Nexhdet Kida, LaheyAE4 Mataj, Naim Kidaj, Ismet Ademi, Tahir Salihi, Arben Bazi, Arif Ahmeti, Istref Sadrija, Sadik Zeqiri, Bajram Merqa, GeyAE4zim Abazi, Sahit Haxhosaj, Idriz Asllanaj, Agim Makolli, Halil Deliu, Bektesh Qahili, Adil Kollari, Avdyl Jetishi, Burim Jetishi, ShkeyAE4lzen Kida, Skender Cakolli, Qerim Jetishi, Mikel Dodaj, LekeyAE4 PeyAE4vorfi, Brahim Pepshi, Rrahmon Jonuzaj, Fitim Halimi, Behar Jetishi, Bedri Shabanaj, Shkumbin Malaj, Zenel Kurmehaj, Jeton Malaj, Sejdi Begaj, Misin Rexha, Hasan Daloshi, Fatmir Kurtaj, Agim Reqica, ShpeyAE4tim Krasniqi, Zeqir Leshani, Ylber Topalli, Shefqet Beqa, Besim Zymberi, Qamil Abazi, BraheyAE4 Beqiraj, Din Gjoni, Skender Gashi, Shaban Beka, Agron Ramadani, Arif Vokshi, Nebi Tahiri, Skender Racaj, Ilaz Bislimi, RexheyAE4 Gashi, Sabri Arifaj, Nizat Morina, Ahmet Ahmeti, Burim Brovina, PeyAE4rparim Zejnullahu, Abdurrahman Naha, Artan Morina, Falmur Godeni, Valdet Krasniqi, Adnan Brovina, Fatmir Bytyqi, Mexhit Zenelaj, Rizo Bekiq, Milazim Kolgeci, Vesel Llugaxhia, Arben Llugaxhia, Selim Hasani, Arben Morina, Gani Igalli, Genc Kida, Ajet Ibraj, MujeyAE4 Ibraj, Tarap Kida, Samat Gati, Leonard Krasniqi, Bashkim Haziraj, Bashkim Kabashi, CyAE9aush Sevgja, Ramiz Berisha, Gjon Sefaj, Arsim Kullashi, Hasan Zariqi, Mehmet Rexhaj, Agim Hulaj, MujeyAE4 Tafilaj, Ramadan Avdiu, Raim Aliu, Isuf Zekaj, Smajl Smajli.
From the Washington Post, July 10, 1999
[FROM THE WASHINGTON POST, JULY 10, 1999]
Among the Missing: Prisoners of Serbia
(BY WILLIAM BOOTH)
Pozarevac, Yugoslavia: The most famous prisoner in Serbia shuffled into the deputy warden's office today, her boots missing their laces and her hands clasped behind her back. She was pale and her fingers trembled, but she was defiant and angry.
Flore Brovina, a middle-aged pediatrician and poet with dyed blond hair, beloved in her native Kosovo but accused of being an enemy of the state by Yugoslav authorities, is among hundreds of ethnic Albanians who were taken from jails in Kosovo in the last days of the war last month and moved to prisons in Serbia.
Brovina is among the lucky ones; she has been found. Most of the prisoners have yet to be accounted for, and they are among the larger ranks of missing ethnic Albanians whose fate is one of the great human rights mysteries of the Kosovo conflict. Over the three months of war, thousands of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, mostly men of fighting age, were pulled from their homes and from columns of refugees streaming into Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro.
They vanished without a trace.
Some were killed, and only the digging in graves and forensic investigations will tell their stories. But many were incarcerated in seven prisons around Kosovo. Many were held without formal charges, allowed under a martial law decree that governed Yugoslavia during the war.
At war's end, as NATO forces advanced into Kosovo province, some prisoners escaped--how many is unknown. At least 800 were marched to the Albanian border and released by Yugoslav security forces. The rest were taken in a long convoy of buses and trucks to Serbia.
Today, Brovina took a seat before her captors and announced to her first visitor since her arrest in April, `I do not consider myself a prisoner, but a slave.'
She said, `I have only one question: Why am I here?'
For the next two hours, as the deputy warden and a guard by turns grimaced with shame or anger, disbelief or disgust, Brovina, 50, described her journey through the Serbian criminal justice system, where she is charged with being a terrorist.
Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said in an interview this week that his staff has accounted for 1,860 prisoners brought to Serbia from Kosovo on June 10, the day Yugoslav forces began withdrawing from the province. The prisons of Kosovo are now empty, and the largest, at Istok, was bombed into rubble--and prisoners killed--by NATO airstrikes in late May.
According to Jankovic, there are 800 of the missing at the prison here in Pozarevac; 400 in Nis; 330 in Sremska Mitrovica; 180 in Leskovac; 95 in Prokuplje; and 55 in Zajecar. These cities are all in Serbia.
The minister said he will soon turn over the names and locations, still being tabulated, to the International Committee for the Red Cross.
The 1,860--or more--brought to Serbia from Kosovo are approximately the same number of missing prisoners circulating among humanitarian groups and lawyers in Serbia and Kosovo, its southern province. But even Jankovic acknowledged the final tally may grow. He said that many prisoners were moved, but their case files and other documentation, including investigative and trial proceedings, were lost in the race by Yugoslav forces and Serbian authorities to withdraw from Kosovo. Serbia is the dominant republic in the Yugoslav federation.
`We're doing the best we can under very difficult circumstances,' Jankovic said.
The Belgrade government released 166 ethnic Albanian prisoners in June. Jankovic said another 200 would probably be freed soon.
The chief warden here, Stipe Marusic, said he received 647 prisoners from Kosovo on the last day of the war, of which 579 were ethnic Albanians, most of whom are not yet convicted of any crime but are listed on his manifests as `detainees' or `under investigation.' Others are simply prisoners arrested in the last four months by the Serbian special police.
We expect some to be convicted' of charges of terrorist activities, he said, `and some to be exchanged.'
From the Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1999
[FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 9, 1999]
Detainees Lost in Maze of Yugoslav Prison System
(BY MARK FINEMAN)
Belgrade, Yugoslavia.--When they boarded the Fati Tours bus from Slovenia to Kosovo last July, Baljaj Naim, Zogaj Enver and Hrecaj Haljit were much like the 51 other ethnic Albanian passengers.
Like the others, the three men were contract workers going home--their pockets full of hard-earned construction wages--to wives, children and parents they hadn't seen for months.
But nearly a year after all the workers were detained at a Serbian police checkpoint in Kosovo on suspicion of being terrorists, the three men and 12 others still haven't made it home.
After a torturous eight months of trials and appeals that moved them from prison to prison, the 15 men--who were convicted on vague terrorist charges just weeks before NATO launched its air war March 24--personify the problem now known simply as `the prisoners.'
They are among an estimated 2,000 ethnic Albanian detainees and convicts who, the Yugoslav government acknowledges, were in Kosovo's prisons during NATO's air war. An undetermined number of those prisoners were moved to jails elsewhere in Serbia during the final weeks of the conflict.
The fate of imprisoned ethnic Albanians is moving to center stage in the aftermath of NATO's war on Yugoslavia. And the saga of the men from the bus, say their lawyers here, epitomizes their advocates' frustrated search for justice.
Eight of the 15 passengers, missing since May, finally turned up this week in a Serbian prison in Nis. The other seven--including Naim, Enver and Haljit--simple vanished in the chaos and killing that was Kosovo during and after NATO's 11-week air war. They are among hundreds of prisoners whose fate is unknown.
On Thursday, the head of an International Committee of the Red Cross delegation, which interviewed its first 330 ethnic Albanian prisoners in Serbia this week, said tracing the rest and resolving their cases rank among the most enduring and confounding problems of the postwar period.
`It's Benedictine work,' Dominique Dufour said. `This will probably keep us busy for many, many years to come.'
Compounding the problem, he and other Western officials said, is the fact that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Yugoslav officials never addressed the issue of the ethnic Albanian prisoners when they negotiated the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Kosovo last month.
`The attitude of the Serbian government about these Albanian prisoners is, `We are holding a number of Yugoslav citizens detained within Yugoslavia and still being detained within Yugoslavia for crimes committed in Yugoslavia,' explained Dufour, who stressed that the Justice Ministry of Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia, has been cooperating in the effort to trace them.
`So now, in their eyes, you're talking about some form of amnesty,' Dufour said. `But there was no agreement reached between the Western powers and Yugoslavia regarding these prisoners, and there probably needs to be.'
Human rights workers in Kosovo and elsewhere in Serbia say that, in addition to prisoners who were formally charged before and during the air war, Serbian authorities searching for members and supporters of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, plucked hundreds of ethnic Albanian refugees out of the columns of those fleeing last spring and detained them despite having little or no known documentation of a crime.
Serbian authorities have, in fact, released about 1,000 of those prisoners in recent weeks: About 800 were freed near the Albanian border last month as Yugoslav troops withdrew from the province, and 166 prisoners were turned over to the Red Cross here this month.
The Yugoslav government says the issue is further complicated by the rapid withdrawal from the province last month of Yugoslav troops, court personnel and judicial staff, which left prisoners' court files in disarray.
But Dufour and others working to resolve the issue say that, in most of the cases involving ethnic Albanian prisoners who were removed from Kosovo or are missing, Serbian authorities kept detailed records of court proceedings and prisoner transfers. Justice Ministry officials, defense lawyers and the Red Cross are working to reconstruct the records.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the Engel amendment.
Only last week we passed a resolution calling on Mr. Milosevic to release the humanitarian workers for the CARE organization. Those workers had his thugs arrested and convicted.
It is also reported that Milosevic's troops have imprisoned up to 2,000 citizens of Kosovo inside Serbia long after the war's end. Those prisoners must be released. Serb authorities must provide the Red Cross access to those prisoners and then turn them over to the custody of the U.N.
Our committee is going to be taking a long look at the manner in which Milosevic has been holding on to power and ways in which we can help to bring the Democratic opposition to power through elections in Serbia.
The world now knows Milosevic is a war criminal, and the list of his crimes will only grow as the investigations and investigators continue their work in Kosovo.
This amendment serves notice that we are watching what is happening with regard to the 2,000 prisoners that he is holding. Accordingly, I urge our colleagues to fully support the Engel amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).
[TIME: 1615]
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding me the time, but more importantly for his leadership on this issue. This is an important amendment. I would hope that it would pass unanimously.
The gentleman from New York has mentioned a list of 5,000 people who are unaccounted for. We know the ruthless, lawless way in which the Serbian military, paramilitary and police have treated Kosovar Albanians. But these 5,000 people are represented by families, thousands of people who do not know whether their loved ones have been executed in any number of the brutal massacres that we know have occurred in Kosovo or whether they are being held in prison.
If we allow access by the International Committee of the Red Cross, we will at least enable the parents, the families, to know what might have happened to their loved ones. It also means that we will be able to impose some limits on the conditions in which these people are living.
There is a good reason why the Red Cross has not been allowed access, we are afraid, and, that is, that they do not want us to know what they are doing, how they are treating the prisoners in their jails.
This is a good amendment and it should pass unanimously.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the distinguished chairman of our Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank my very good friend for yielding me this time and rise in strong support of the Engel amendment and thank him for offering it to us this afternoon.
Mr. Chairman, the people of Kosovo suffered greatly in the past 18 months, especially during the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign which paralleled the NATO air strikes from March to June of this year.
While now is the time for Kosovars to return and rebuild their homes and their lives, many continue to be held in Serbian prisons, wrongly held, and illegally held.
Over the 3 months of the conflict, thousands of Albanians in Kosovo, mostly men, were pulled from their homes and from columns of refugees. Some were killed and only the excavation of mass graves and subsequent forensic investigations will tell their stories. But many were incarcerated in seven prisons around Kosovo, without formal charges, under a martial law decree that governed Yugoslavia during the war. At war's end as NATO forces advanced into Kosovo province, some prisoners escaped, others were marched to the Albanian border and released by Yugoslav forces, and the rest were taken in a long convoy of buses and trucks to Serbia. We do not know the exact numbers, but these are the people that we speak to in this amendment.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).
[TIME: 1615]
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding me the time, but more importantly for his leadership on this issue. This is an important amendment. I would hope that it would pass unanimously.
The gentleman from New York has mentioned a list of 5,000 people who are unaccounted for. We know the ruthless, lawless way in which the Serbian military, paramilitary and police have treated Kosovar Albanians. But these 5,000 people are represented by families, thousands of people who do not know whether their loved ones have been executed in any number of the brutal massacres that we know have occurred in Kosovo or whether they are being held in prison.
If we allow access by the International Committee of the Red Cross, we will at least enable the parents, the families, to know what might have happened to their loved ones. It also means that we will be able to impose some limits on the conditions in which these people are living.
There is a good reason why the Red Cross has not been allowed access, we are afraid, and, that is, that they do not want us to know what they are doing, how they are treating the prisoners in their jails.
This is a good amendment and it should pass unanimously.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the distinguished chairman of our Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore (Mr. Hastings of Washington). The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank my very good friend for yielding me this time and rise in strong support of the Engel amendment and thank him for offering it to us this afternoon.
Mr. Chairman, the people of Kosovo suffered greatly in the past 18 months, especially during the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign which paralleled the NATO air strikes from March to June of this year.
While now is the time for Kosovars to return and rebuild their homes and their lives, many continue to be held in Serbian prisons, wrongly held, and illegally held.
Over the 3 months of the conflict, thousands of Albanians in Kosovo, mostly men, were pulled from their homes and from columns of refugees. Some were killed and only the excavation of mass graves and subsequent forensic investigations will tell their stories. But many were incarcerated in seven prisons around Kosovo, without formal charges, under a martial law decree that governed Yugoslavia during the war. At war's end as NATO forces advanced into Kosovo province, some prisoners escaped, others were marched to the Albanian border and released by Yugoslav forces, and the rest were taken in a long convoy of buses and trucks to Serbia. We do not know the exact numbers, but these are the people that we speak to in this amendment.
I would like to point out that recently I led a delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE in St. Petersburg. I want to commend the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) because he was able to raise the issue during the course of those deliberations and we got language in the concluding document, the St. Petersburg Declaration, that raised this issue in a way that hopefully will get the attention of the entire international community and especially of Belgrade to let them go.
The bottom line, Mr. Chairman, is that the continued incarceration of Kosovar Albanians by Serbian authorities is in violation of the Geneva Conventions, as is the denial of outside access by other international observers like the Red Cross. This must be corrected. It is very important that we go on the record, hopefully unanimously, saying: Let these people go.
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Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned before, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, passed a resolution similar to our amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), the author of that resolution.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) for authoring this amendment. It is a very important amendment. It does carry out what we have done in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Mr. Chairman, international organizations, including U.N. officials, have reported that between 1,500 to 5,000 prisoners were transferred from Kosovo to jails in Serbia around the time of the entry of international forces into Kosovo and that the Serbian Ministry of Justice has acknowledged that such transfers were made.
International humanitarian law requires humane treatment of all prisoners seized in conjunction with the Kosovo crisis, and Red Cross access to such prisoners is guaranteed under international law. They must be released without delay after the cessation of active hostilities. That has not occurred.
The Belgrade authorities have provided inaccurate lists and have not allowed access by the Red Cross. The illegal detention of these individuals is unacceptable. The OSCE has adopted a resolution that I authored on behalf of the United States delegation, a very similar resolution.
It is time that the United States Congress also acts. I encourage my colleagues to approve this resolution.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent for an additional 2 minutes.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Without objection, both sides will be granted an additional 2 minutes.
There was no objection.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver).
Mr. OLVER. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the indulgence of the body for that additional time. This resolution seems not to have any significant opposition and I assume it is going to be adopted unanimously, but I thought I would make just a couple of comments and also describe a little bit of the experience of the congressional delegation that went to Kosovo that was built out of the leadership of the chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Construction of the Committee on Appropriations of which I am the ranking member just a matter of a week or so ago.
The men and boys that are involved in this resolution are those largely that were randomly pulled from columns of refugees and taken without trial, held without trial, without contact as an act really of terrorism on the part of the paramilitary Serbian forces at that time.
Now, they should be released. They should be, and we should adopt that resolution unanimously. If there are problems, if there are people who were actively law-breakers, then what should happen is that the detention process that is happening in every one of the occupation zones in Kosovo should take over.
We visited a detention camp where there were several Serbs and about twice as many Albanian ethnics, Kosovars, who were being detained because they had committed some crime, which could have been murder or arson or robbery or whatever after the agreement had been reached. And ultimately if there are people who have committed a crime, they should be dealt with in the same way because we need to build a system, a legal system in which people can trust.
I would hope that this amendment would be adopted unanimously without dissent.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I just want to thank my colleagues. This obviously is supported on both sides of the aisle very strongly. I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his wonderful work on human rights and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and all the people on both sides of the aisle who have supported this.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly).
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the amendment offered by my colleague and good friend from New York. The Kosovar Albanians that are being held in the Serbian prisons must be released and accounted for. Think of the agony felt by the families of these 5,000 men who do not know what happened to their fathers, husbands and sons. The events that have taken place that have affected the families in Kosovo during the last several years have been atrocious and we cannot stand by and continue to allow this blatant disregard for the peace agreement. With the implementation of the Military Technical Agreement on June 9, the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo have been working to bring peace and stability back to this historically troubled region, but this job has only begun. The Kosovar Albanians held in these prisons are there without any formal charge, are being held in clear violation of international law, and this can only prove to erode the faith in the peace agreement.
Mr. Chairman, despite the end of the military action that the international community had engaged in to bring about an end of the Serbian aggression, the war is not over for these 5,000 people. They still have a long way to go, they have lived through a terrible time, until they can live in peace and not fear for their safety.
Mr. Chairman, Congress has to weigh in on this important issue.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).
The question was taken; and the Chairman pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 247, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) will be postponed.
(record vote 424-0)
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