Tagesnachrichten 6. August 1998
von ALBANEWS und anderen
Daily Report No 1513 August 6, 1998
Kosova Information Center
Tagesnachrichten 6. August 1998
7. to call on the Commission and the Council to provide all necessary humanitarian aid to the victims of and the refugees from the acts of violence and call on member states to stop returning refugees and asylum seekers to Kosova where protection cannot be guaranteed;________________________________________________________________________
Geplant sind Fußball-Begegnungen zwischen
FC Bayern München und FK Obilic Belgrad am
12. und am 26. August. - An sich schön, a b e r
Scheduled are football-maches between FC Bayern
München and FK Obilic Belgrad on 12th and 26th August. - Very nice,
b u t
"If you look at: http://www.sport1.de/vereine/bayern/verein/obilic.html
you will find that Bayern Munchen is writing NOTHING at all about the background
that the leader of FK Obilic Belgrad is having !!!!!
... About -Arkan-, official name Zeljko Raznjatovic´,
You can read about him in the final report of the United Nations Commission
of Experts established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992).
For futher info about this facts please look at: http://mprofaca.cro.net/kosovo04.html
This man is a
- wellknown criminal,
- member of the Serbian Parliament,
- Leader of the notorius pramilitarian force
the Serbian Tigers who are accused for
murdering 200 croatian patients
when they were still lying in their hospital bed
at the hospital of Vukovar in
Croatia,
- international wanted by INTERPOL for heavy
robbery and suspected for other
things in Sweden as f.e. organizing
to Sweden heavy smuggling of ciggarets;
alcohol;narcotica and so on,
- on the run from a prison sentence in Belgium,
- accused for murder in Holland, Croatia,
Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosova."
P R O T E S T !
Protest against the football match between
FC Bayern Munchen and
Arkan´s propaganda weapon, the team
FK Obilic.
If FC Bayern Munchen refuses to boycott the
match, urge them to have a
SILENT MINUTE for all the victims of the
GENOCIDE IN KOSOVA, CROATIA and BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA
( all the countries that Arkan is suspected
of conducting genocide)
before the match starts as an emphasis
of their feeling.
Please protest by e-mail :
info@bayernmuenchen.de Mail 
senden
or by FC Bayern Munchen Treffpunkt -Forum at
internet
http://www.sport1.de/vereine/bayern/treffpunkt/index_treffpunkt.html
or by fax:
+49 (0) 89 64 41 65
or make a protest telephone call
to the President of FC Bayern Munchen
Franz Beckenbauer: +49 (0) 89 699 31-0
or at the address:
FC Bayern Munchen
Postfach 900451
D-81504 Munchen
Germany
Thank you for your support to the people of Kosova !
Anders Wessman
member of the council of the
Swedish Albanians Friendship Ties
President Rugova Declares Friday a Day of National Mourning in Kosova
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - The President of the
Republic of Kosova Dr. Ibrahim Rugova declared Friday, 7 August, a day
of national mourning in Kosova to honor those killed and massacred in Rahovec
by Serbian military and paramilitary police troops.
This declaration comes amidst reports that massive
graves exist in Rahovec in which Albanians slain by Serb troops late last
month have been interred.
Kosova, a Collective Site of Serb Crime
Massive graves in Rahovec?
There is a massive-scale Serbian crime in Kosova.
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Are there massive graves
in Rahovec? Reports in the Austrian and German press about the existence
of collective grave sites highlighted the fact which puts journalists and
politicians at odds: the former tend to use their eyes, the latter to turn
one or both of them blind.
There was footage aired yesterday of a mass grave
in the suburbs of Rahovec, at a garbage dump site!
Serb-installed authorities said the bodies of
40 members of the UÇK, killed two weeks ago, were interned there,
adding that there were seven women among the 58 bodies collected by Serb
forces.
Who would believe that a garbage dump site would
be turned into a mass grave? Serbs have shown propensity of desecrating
human bodies in the conflicts in Bosnia, in Croatia and now in Kosova.
The dilemma about mass graves has been aired
by major world media in the past 24 hours. Belgrade tried to refute reports.
The EU observers came up with a statement implying refutation of such reports.
The controversy will last.
There is sound ground, though, to believe that
collective burial sites exist, as there is a possibility that the burial
sites may have been hidden by Serbs.
Serb experts who chose the garbage dump site
as a location for the burial site may have reasoned that in the heat the
bodies would decompose swiftly, and, besides, those passing by would be
led to think it was garbage that was stinking.
Tens of thousands of residents of Rahovec area
have been scattered all over Kosova, unaware of the whereabouts of their
kin, or even whether they were alive at all.
The dilemma will continue to live as to whether
there are massive graves in Rahovec.
What is beyond any doubt is that Belgrade has
committed and is continuing to commit crimes against humanity in Kosova.
There is no doubt that the Serb crime in Kosova and in Rahovec is a fact.
The controversy and speculation about the mass
graves in the West is reminiscent of the talk of Serb forces resorting
to 'excessive force' in Kosova.
The matter is now whether a massive-scale crime
will be rewarded or punished, not whether somebody will be tried and punished
for the digging of a massive burial site.
CSCE Urges Clinton on Immediate And Decisive Action to Stop Conflict in Kosova
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Senator Alfonse D'Amato
(R-NY) and Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), co-chairman of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), sent a letter
to President Clinton August 5 calling for "immediate and decisive action
to stop the conflict in Kosovo before the ethnic cleansers win." The letter
said, "We believe that strong action to stop the fighting is urgently needed.
We need a forceful response to these Yugoslav/Serbian attacks, or a new
crisis in the Balkans will result." Yugoslav/Serbian forces using tanks
and other heavy weapons are attacking Albanian-inhabited towns and villages
in several regions of Kosovo."
D'Amato and Smith urged Clinton "to seek an agreement
within NATO to act directly against those within Kosovo who are attacking
civilian populations."
The letter said the "crisis cannot be avoided
by additional aid, but only by stopping its cause - Milosevic's use of
armed force to pursue his political ambitions. Moreover, we know Milosevic's
record not only in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 but now in Kosovo
as well. Milosevic will only cooperate with our diplomatic efforts when
he can no longer freely use force to attain his goals."
D' Amato and Smith stressed that "an active and
direct response ... is what is needed most right now.... Delay will prove
costly and reduce the chance for success."
In conclusion, they warned that "if the ethnic
cleansers win, even while the spotlight of international attention is turned
on them, hope for a peaceful future for all of mankind where each individual's
rights are respected under the rule of law will be diminished for the foreseeable
future."
The CSCE, also known as the Helsinki Commission,
is an independent agency of the U.S. government mandated to monitor and
encourage compliance of the participating States with the Helsinki Final
Act and subsequent documents.
Serbian Forces Shell Rrezallë and Likoc Villages
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Serbian troops launched
overnight missiles on the villages of Rrezallë and Likoc, in the municipality
of Skenderaj ('Srbica').
A local human rights activist in Likoc told the
KIC by phone at ten o'clock in the morning today Serb forces resumed shelling
Likoc today, whereas infantry troops entered parts of the village of Rrezallë.
Entire family compounds are in flames in this village after Serb shelling,
he said.
Serb shells are reportedly landing in the villages
of Likoc, Plluzhinë, Izbicë, and elseewhere in the vicinity.
Part of the population has been evacuated from Likoc, but there are still
people in the village, the human rights activist said.
Last week, the U.S. envoy Chris Hill met with
UÇK representatives in the village of Likoc.
Fighting Continues in Gjakova Area
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Fighting between Serb
troops and local Albanian resistance forces was reported last night and
today in the Gjakova area.
In the Reka e Keqe region the fighting was of
a low intensity. In the Junik area, local Albanian forces have been resisting
fierce attacks mounted by Serb military and police, the LDK Information
Commission in Gjakova reported.
Reports say all the villages of the Reka e Keqe
region have been deserted of the population, some 15,000 Albanians, who
have fled to the relative safety of outlying villages and the town of Gjakova
itself. Many of them have found refuge in the surrounding mountainous forests.
Overnight fighting was reported in the region
of Dushkajë, which resumed today, concentrated mostly in the village
of Rakovinë, but extending also to the villages of the Drini river
area.
Serbian military and police forces, positioned
on the Beci hills and the Suka e Biteshit (Biteshi upland), have been shelling
Rakovinë and outlying villages last night and today, local sources
said. Fierce fighting is reported between Serb troops and local Albanian
resistance forces.
Meanwhile, reports said the Serb military and
police shelled yesterday for three hours, from 21:00 through 24:00 hrs,
the Albanian farmsteads in the village of Pnish, in the Has region of Gjakova.
Serbs were stationed in the local Albanian elementary school building and
around it. There have been no reported casualties, but the material damage
was immense.
Local LDK sources said an Albanian catholic cleric,
Don Kolë Thaçi, was beaten up yesterday by Serb policemen manning
a checkpoint at the entrance to the town of Gjakova.
Two Albanians Killed in Meqe Village of Gjakova
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - The bodies of two killed
Albanians were taken by police to the Gjakova town morgue today. Their
identity has not been established yet.
The LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said
the two Albanian were killed by Serb forces during an attack on the village
of Meqe in the Dushkajë region of the municipality of Gjakova.
Meanwhile, the identity of a killed man who body
has been lying between the villages of Mejë and Madanaj, has been
established. The man was Nekë Halit Pajaziti (53), resident of the
village of Dobrosh, municipality of Gjakova.
Fate of Ten Albanians, Abducted by Serbs, Unknown
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - A month elapsed since Serb police and paramilitaries abducted ten Albanians in the village of Gorozhdec of Peja ('Pec'), the LDK Information Commission in Klina said. The ten Albanians were residents of the village of Rudicë, municipality of Klina. Seven of the ten were taken to the police station in Peja then, whereas the fate and location of Niman Bajraktari, Haki Ahmetgjekaj, and Bashkim Mehemtaj, is unknown, LDK sources said.
Albanian Dies of Torture in Serb Police Custody
Two Albanians killed on July 28 buried yesterday
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - A 26-year-Albanian, Teki
Ramshaj from Rahovec, was reported tortured to death in the hands of the
Serb police.
Quoting eyewitnesses, the LDK chapter in Prizren
said Teki Ramshaj was subjected to savage torture in the premises of the
Serb police in Prizren. He died on Tuesday and was reportedly buried the
same day somewhere near Rahovec ('Orahovac').
Meanwhile, the LDK Information Commission said
that two Albanians killed in fighting with Serb forces were buried today
in their native villages on the Kosova-Albanian border region.
Nexhat Fanaj (31) was buried in his Grazhdanik
village, while Behamir Memaj (28) in Zhur, the report said. The two Albanians
were killed on 28 July, but their bodies could only be collected yesterday.
One Albanian Killed, Three Wounded, in Pantina of Vushtrri Thursday
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Serb (Yugoslav) army
troops were reported sent early in the morning today near the Pantina village
of Vushtrri. They were immediately engaged in shelling farmhouses there.
Sources in Vushtrri ('Vucitrn') said Serbs fired
only a few shells in the direction of Pantina, yet they caused fear and
panic amongst villagers, who started fleeing their homes.
Heavy Serb forces have been positioned around
the village of Pantina for days now, targeting farmhouses there now and
then.
The local LDK chapter in Vushtrri said around
25,000 uprooted persons from the neighboring municipalities have arrived
in the Vushtrri area.
Senior members of the LDK Presidency visited
yesterday some of the villages in the area swelled with refugees. Most
of them have been for the time being accommodated with and fed by local
people, said the Hajzer Krasniqi and Ibush Jonuzi, who warned that their
food supplies have been rapidly running short. The major problem for the
moment is lack of medical supplies and treatment, they were quoted as saying.
Ali Xhibexhiu, owner of a private bakery in Vushtrri,
was reported beaten up brutally by a Serb police patrol which broke into
his shop Wednesday evening. The reason he was beaten up was baking bread
for the refugees with the flour delivered to him by the "Mother Teresa"
charity.
Meanwhile, the Council for the Defense of Human
Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said a 24-year-old Albanian, Jeton Tërstena,
was killed, and at least three others were wounded in today's shelling
of Pantina village.
The CDHRF said that immense damage was caused
to several houses in the village.
Dread and Hunger Loom over Thousands of Refugees Hiding in Klina Hills
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Over ten thousand Albanians
from several villages around Klina have been for days living in the open,
while hunger and possible Serb crackdown looms over them.
Sources in Klina said thousands of homeless people,
including children, women, and weak persons have been on the verge of starvation.
The people have been lacking the very basic necessities, like water and
food, as well as medication, witnesses said.
Entire villages in the municipality have been
pounded for days, some of them like Çaskova have been leveled, reports
said. Heavy artillery fire has been reported still going on today around
the Jabllanica village, in the neighboring municipality of Gjakova.
Clouds of smoke have been billowing from the
area, said witnesses who were not able to tell what has been all going
on in the village under continued Serb artillery fire.
Serb Police Shoots Dead Albanian in Peja Suburb
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - A 28-year-old Albanian,
Agim Zekaj, resident of Raushiq village of Peja, western Kosova, was shot
dead by the Serb police, local LDK sources reported.
Witnesses have told the LDK chapter in Peja that
the late Albanian was gunned down by Serb police just outside Peja, on
the road to the Gryka e Rugovës (the Rugova Gorge), an area where
there has not been fighting so far.
The late Agim Zekaj was buried in the town cemetery
in Peja on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the LDK Information Commission in
Peja said today that a group of drunk Serb policemen harassed passerby
in the streets of the town yesterday afternoon.
Serbs terrorized at gunpoint random passengers
in the town and opened fire on several houses, the report said.
Serb Police Shoots at Local LDK Official in Istog
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - A Serb policeman, Salem
Djogovic, illtreated and shot at Zymber Ademaj, member of the LDK leadership
in Istog, on Tuesday afternoon. He ill-treated a number of other Albanians
that day.
LDK chapter in Istog said the Serb policeman
hit Mr. Ademaj with a gun barrel, and even shot in his direction, but missed
him.
Djogovic then took two Albanians by forces in
the police station.
Rexhep Maksutaj and Ramadan Selmanaj, taken allegedly
as witnesses, were ill-treated in police station.
The Serb policemen got out of the police station
with an automatic rifle, provoking other Albanians in the center of Istog.
Albanians Flee Obiliq Villages as Serbs Press with Intimidation Campaign
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - The Serb population in
the villages of the Obiliq municipality, north-west of Prishtina, have
been increasingly mobilized with the Serb troops, the local LDK Information
Commission said.
The Commission said several Albanian villages
in the municipality have been under continued fire for the sixth straight
day today.
The shelling is of a low intensity, but it has
made more and more people flee their homes fearing a possible crackdown
by Serb troops and paramilitary gangs. The villages of Graboc i Epërm,
Graboc i Ulët, Shipitullë, Siboc, Lajthishtë, Hamidi and
Plemetin have been targeted most.
In addition to shelling of villages by Serb troops,
armed Serbs have been intimidating Albanians in the villages of the area.
Four Albanians Sentenced with Long Imprisonment on Alleged Terrorism Charges
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - A 'Yugoslav' military
court in Nis (Serbia) sentenced Wednesday four Kosovar Albanians from Deçan
to long-term imprisonment on terrorism-related charges.
The Prishtina-based daily Koha Ditore said Fadil
Dabiçaj (39), Bedri Kukalaj (20), Hysen Latifaj (34) were sentenced
to 13 years in prison each. A minor, A.M. (aged 17), was convicted to 8
years, the paper said.
According to the Serb indictment, the four Albanians,
residents of Prejlep village of Deçan, faced charges for "affiliation
with hostile gangs aiming at jeopardizing order and persons".
All the four defendants pleaded not guilty in
the courtroom.
Azem Vllasi, a defending attorney from Prishtina,
told Koha Ditore that the ruling adopted by the Serb court was a political
rather than legal thing. "The court failed utterly to corroborate charges
against them, yet the punishment was draconian," he said.
Serb court authorities have recently instituted
criminal investigations on terrorism-related charges and affiliation with
the Liberation Army of Kosova against over 150 Kosova Albanians. Many are
being held in pre-trial detention in Peja, Gjakova, Prizren and other towns.
Serb Civilians Open Fire on Albanian Houses in Kamenica
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (KIC) - Albanian residents in
a couple of villages of Kamenica was terrorized by their armed Serb neighbors
for hours on Tuesday evening.
The LDK chapter in Kamenica, a municipality in
eastern part of Kosova, said Serbs opened fire from automatic rifles and
machine- guns on Albanian farmhouses in Dajkoc, Muçivër and
Stralicë. The only thing helpless villagers could do was hide and
hope that their Serb neighbors would quit doing that eventually.
Serb civilians have stepped up intimidation campaigns
against the Albanians in towns and villages of Kosova. The latter have
been reluctant to report such cases with the Serb police, who have themselves
been encouraging such drives.
Kosova Information Center
Last page!
_______________________________________________________________________Albanian parliament passes a resolution on Kosova
TIRANA, Aug 6 (ATA) - By Ylli Pata: The Albanian parliament approved on Thursday a resolution on the present events in Kosova calling on international community to energetically intervene to halt the tragedy caused by the genocide of Milosevic.
The resolution, proposed by the parliamentary commission on foreign policy, was unanimously voted by the deputies and was the fourth resolution passed by the parliament on events in Kosova.
"Now the war has engulfed the whole Kosova and Milosevic is using Serb military and civil forces against the Albanian civilians returning the conflict in Kosova in a mere ethnic war with worse consequences for the stability in the region," the resolution said.
"Serb provocations in the state border of the Republic of Albania, which claimed the lives of 10 people, and attacks on buildings are developing an open aggression and Serb military operations in Kosova and surrounding areas are putting under serious threat the peace in the Balkans and broader," it said.
The Albanian parliament praised the initiative of the international community for a quick and long-term solution to the Kosova issue and hoped that the US president Bill Clinton takes again into consideration his generous warning that he will not allow that Kosova be a second Bosnia.
The resolution called on the United Nations, Security Council, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Council of Europe, European Union, NATO and West European Union to intervene militarily and immediately in Kosova as the only way to halt the war and resume negotiations for a peaceful solution.
Through this resolution, the Albanian parliament called once again on all the political forces in Albania to draw up and apply a common stand for a more powerful support to Kosova.
It reiterated the need for a maximum engagement by the Albanian government to achieve necessary measures in order to secure the defence of Albania, treatment of refugees from Kosova and intensive continuation of the whole respective diplomatic activity of Albania. ake/pas/ak/Fighting goes on in Gjakova
PRISHTINA, Aug 6 (ATA) - Fighting between Serb military- police forces and the Albanian resistance forces as well as Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) units continued on Wednesday in villages of Gjakova (Western Kosova) but with a lower intensity, Center for Information in Kosova (QIK) said referring to LDK sources in Gjakova.
QIK also said that villages of Nec, Ramoc, Smolice, Stubell, Berjah. Nivokaz, Dobrosh and others are turned into burnt lands while villages of Sheremet, Rracaj and other Albanian settlements were pounded.
After bombarding the villages of Dushkaje, Serb infantry units raided and torched on Tuesday the houses and properties of Albanians in Cermjan, Gergoc, Zhabel, Bardhaq, Jabllanice and Krelan. So far, around 10 thousand people have fled these villages and settled in mountains. pta/ak/Relatively calm situation in Has
HAS, August 6 (ata) - The situation in the district of Has (northeastern Albania) following the influx of refugees from Kosova on Wednesday is considered relatively calm. During the recent days there have been no incidents on the border line while border police are following the situation every moment on the 25.6 km long border of this district, the police commissariat chief of Tropoje district, Sali Gera told ATA Thursday.
During the past night and in the first hours of Thursday, there have been no people coming from Kosove, chairman of the district council, Hysni Alia said. He added that yesterday's refugees, mainly from the village Deve of the commune of Gjakove (near the border with Albania) have been accommodated in the border villages of the commune of Golaj, in Letaj and Peraj.
Alia said that they are being supplied with food and clothes by the Albanian Red Cross. Food articles for the refugees from Kosova in that district suffice only for 10 days.
A medical team from the hospital of the town of Krume went to see the newcomers and confirmed that they had no big medical problems. On Thursday local government structures started registering the refugees from Kosova in Tropoje.
/a.ke/pas/xh/Attacks of Serb forces in Drenice and Rrafsh of Dukagjin.
PRISHTINE, August 6 (ata) - ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reports: The attacks of Serb forces have continued today too in Drenice and Rrafsh of Kosove (Central Kosove.) After bombing last night, today Serb troops have entered a part of village Rezalle, while ruining and burning continued today too in the villages Likovc, Plluzhine, Izbice and some other villages of Drenice.
Forces of the Yugoslav Army were seen today morning also on the Rrafsh of Kosove, near village Pantine, between the cities Vushtri and Mitrovice, where bombing has started. Near Pantine is one of the ways used by war refugees from Drenice to pass through Qyqaveca towards Vushtri. In the commune of Vushtri over 25 000 Albanian refugees have arrived from the regions of Skenderaj, Malisheve and Kline, covered by the flames of war. /p.ta/xh/Albania must declare war on Serbia - BKP deputy chairman
TIRANE, August 6 (ata) - By P Shuteriqi:
The Balli Kombetar Party demanded Thursday that the Albanian state must declare war on Serbia.
In a news conference today, the deputy chairman of the BKP, Shpetim Roqi, said that "Albania must declare armed war on Serbia taking as example, according to him, the World War 2, when only an armed Balli Kombetar formation fought in Kosove in defence of ethnic Albania."
Balli Kombetar is the only local political party voicing this extreme alternative for the solution to the question of Kosove. All other Albanian political forces are for a peaceful solution or to impose this peaceful solution through a NATO military intervention.
Today, Albanian Parliament adopted unanimously (including the only deputy of BKP which in June 29, 1997 elections won 2.35 per cent of the votes) a resolution calling on the International Community to urgently intervene to halt the human tragedy taking place in Kosove. /y/pa/das/xh/
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 150 Part II, 6 August 1998HOLBROOKE BLASTS MILOSEVIC.
U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke said in Washington on 5 August that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has broken his recent pledge to stop the offensive by his army and paramilitary police in Kosova. Milosevic, Holbrooke continued, seems bent on obtaining a military victory. As a result, the conflict has entered an "extraordinarily dangerous new phase." The diplomat warned the Yugoslav leader not to underestimate, "as he has done before," the ability of democracies to respond effectively to a threat to international stability and order. Holbrooke added that U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill delivered a message "of a very forceful nature" to Milosevic from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright earlier on 5 August. Holbrooke said that a continuing problem preventing a negotiated settlement is the inability of the Kosovars to put together a delegation that represents all parts of their political spectrum. PM
ALBANIA CALLS FOR ACTION.
The Albanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Tirana on 5 August that the time has come "to use all measures to stop the repression against thousands of innocent people who are [living rough] in the mountains, hungry and defenseless." In Prishtina, shadow- state President Ibrahim Rugova noted that "Serbian forces attack and kill unprotected people, systematically destroy and burn property of Albanians, which has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of Albanians." In Washington, a State Department statement charged the Serbian police with looting and committing arson against Kosovar homes and property. In Geneva, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees put at more than 200,000 the number of displaced persons in Kosova since Milosevic launched his crackdown in February . In London, the "Financial Times" quoted Red Cross officials in Kosova as saying that the danger there of epidemics such as cholera is high. PM
SERBIAN POLICE DENY MASS GRAVE REPORT...
Colonel Bozidar Filic of the Serbian paramilitary police denied Austrian, German, and Swedish press reports that a mass grave of civilians exists in Rahovec (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 August 1998). Speaking in that town on 5 August, he called the accounts "a pure lie and disinformation." He added that "this is not a mass grave. These are the bodies of terrorists, properly buried in accordance with the law in a Muslim cemetery. These are terrorists, not civilians and not women and children." The semi-official Media Center in Prishtina took a group of journalists to visit graves in Rahovec. The reporters counted about 33 small, marked graves next to a rubbish dump. Nearby stood a small bulldozer that local people said had been used to dig and cover the graves.
EU observers led by Austria's Walter Ebenberger visited the same site and said that they could not confirm the reports of mass graves. PM...WHILE JOURNALISTS STICK TO STORY.
The Vienna daily "Die Presse," whose Erich Rathfelder was one of the journalists to break the story of the mass graves, wrote on 6 August that it is unclear whether the EU observers or the journalists taken to Rahovec by the Media Center saw the same site as Rathfelder and his Swedish colleague. The daily added that a number of local eyewitnesses gave Rathfelder similar accounts about the number of bodies that the Serbs had ordered them to bury in mass graves. The foreign editor of "Die Presse" told Austrian Radio that it is imperative that an independent team of international forensic experts receive unhindered access to the Rahovec area before the bodies further decompose. PM
MORE KOSOVA REFUGEES ARRIVING IN ALBANIA.
A UNHCR official said in Tirana on 5 August that about 60 Kosovar refugees crossed into Albania that day, bringing the number of arrivals in the past 10 days to 404. The increase follows a sharp drop in arrivals owing to the virtual closing of the border by Serbian forces last month. The refugees came through the Qafa e Prushit area, west of Gjakova. The total number of registered Kosova refugees in Albania is currently at 12,700. Meanwhile in Skopje, a spokesman for UN peacekeepers said the UN has requested an explanation from Belgrade of reports that Yugoslav forces have mined that country's border with Macedonia, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. FS/PM
VOJVODINA HUNGARIANS RESIST CALL-UP.
Serbian police in Vojvodina are trying to round up ethnic Hungarian reservists who recently refused to comply with orders to enlist for military service in Kosova, Hungarian media reported on 6 August. An Alliance spokesman condemned the round-up and called on authorities to stop what it called "an unlawful police operation." Following a wave of call-ups on 1-2 August, the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians urged ethnic Hungarian reservists to display civil disobedience and refuse to accept their induction notices (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 August 1998). MSZ
MONTENEGRO REJECTS WIDER BORDER SECURITY ZONE.
Montenegrin and Yugoslav federal authorities have agreed that Montenegro will not be affected by the federal government's recent decision to extend the security zone along the Albanian frontier from a few hundred yards to 3 miles (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July 1998), the Belgrade daily "Danas" wrote on 5 August. The Montenegrin authorities pledged that they will "tighten controls" in the border area. Montenegro's reform-minded government seeks to revive the economy, which is based primarily on shipping and tourism, and to promote good relations with all countries. The government includes representatives of the ethnic Albanian minority, which lives primarily in Ulcinj and in other communities near the Albanian border. PM
BONN DENIES WASHINGTON'S CHARGES ON BOSNIAN REFUGEE RETURN.
Dietmar Schlee, who is Germany's commissioner for Bosnian refugee affairs, said in Bonn on 5 August that there have been "no mass expulsions" of Bosnian refugees in the runup to the 27 September German elections. He added that of the 75,000 refugees who went back to Bosnia from Germany in 1998, only 1,200 were expelled. He told dpa that "the return of Bosnian war refugees is running according to plan and has in no way been speeded up." Schlee added that Germany is still home to 140,000 of the 350,000 Bosnians who arrived during the 1992-1995 war. An unnamed senior U.S. official told dpa the previous day that President Bill Clinton expressed concern at a cabinet-level meeting that Germany is expediting deportations for domestic political reasons and that the sudden influx of returnees threatens to undermine the delicate Bosnian peace process. PM
Albanian parliament passes a resolution on Kosova_______________________________________________________________________TIRANA, Aug 6 (ATA) - By Ylli Pata: The Albanian parliament approved on Thursday a resolution on the present events in Kosova calling on international community to energetically intervene to halt the tragedy caused by the genocide of Milosevic.
The resolution, proposed by the parliamentary commission on foreign policy, was unanimously voted by the deputies and was the fourth resolution passed by the parliament on events in Kosova.
"Now the war has engulfed the whole Kosova and Milosevic is using Serb military and civil forces against the Albanian civilians returning the conflict in Kosova in a mere ethnic war with worse consequences for the stability in the region," the resolution said.
"Serb provocations in the state border of the Republic of Albania, which claimed the lives of 10 people, and attacks on buildings are developing an open aggression and Serb military operations in Kosova and surrounding areas are putting under serious threat the peace in the Balkans and broader," it said.
The Albanian parliament praised the initiative of the international community for a quick and long-term solution to the Kosova issue and hoped that the US president Bill Clinton takes again into consideration his generous warning that he will not allow that Kosova be a second Bosnia.
The resolution called on the United Nations, Security Council, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Council of Europe, European Union, NATO and West European Union to intervene militarily and immediately in Kosova as the only way to halt the war and resume negotiations for a peaceful solution.
Through this resolution, the Albanian parliament called once again on all the political forces in Albania to draw up and apply a common stand for a more powerful support to Kosova.
It reiterated the need for a maximum engagement by the Albanian government to achieve necessary measures in order to secure the defence of Albania, treatment of refugees from Kosova and intensive continuation of the whole respective diplomatic activity of Albania. ake/pas/ak/
Berisha: Disagreements on Kosova must be solved_______________________________________________________________________TIRANA, August 5 - The leader of the DP Sali Berisha denounced Tuesday the massacres in Kosova against the Albanian population by the Serb police and army. Berisha called on the political forces in Kosova and the Liberation Army to find a joint language to solve the disagreements between them. Berisha said that such a situation must end as soon as possible because from the disagreements of the Albanian only Miloshevic had profit and no one else. Berisha called once more to NATO to intervene in Kosova in order to end the massacre against the civil Albanian population. The proposal of the general secretary of the Socialist party, Pandeli Majko for a meeting between Nano and Berisha, the democrat leader said that Majko is used to making proposals. On the problem of the disarmament of the population, Berisha said that DP has its versions on this problem.
Fighting continues on the Albanian border line
PRISHTINA, August 5 - /ENTER/ Albanian sources in Pristine report fierce fighting which took place Tuesday morning in Kosova on the border line with Albania in the outskirts of Gjakove. Serb Yugoslav army, police and paramilitary forces are shelling the villages of Reke e Keqe in a broad area from Nec up to the suburbs of Junik. KLA (Kosova Liberation Army) forces and Albanian population are defending themselves resolutely against Serb attacks. An Albanian from Babaj i Bokes, Ali Rustemi, who was wounded by the Serb army, died today in the hospital of Gjakove, where another wounded man has also been sent. Fierce gunfire has taken place last night also in the suburbs of Decan. After three hours of fighting, Serb forces were forced to withdraw, suffering great casualties. Out of revenge the Serb forces while they were withdrawing set on fire some houses in Carrabreg and in the city of Decan. Serb forces have also attacked the villages Isniq, Lluke e Eperme, Strellc and Prejlep. An Albanian, teacher Isuf Ymeral, 67, was killed by shells of Serb forces in Isniq.
OSCE: International involvement essential in Kosova
VIENNA - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued its findings from a July 14-22 technical assessment mission to the "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" ("FRY") July 23. The report, presented to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, concluded that in Kosova, "committed, high-level international involvement in the negotiation process" was essential. "The most pressing need, the report said, was for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The Mission also expressed concern about the humanitarian situation," according to an OSCE press release.
The report cited the "deteriorating situation in Kosova, together with the relative lack of progress on the issues identified by Mr. Gonzalez in his December 1996 report" as reasons for the need for OSCE involvement. The Mission also cited a continuing lack of confidence in non-official circles in the legal system, including the legislation relating to the election process. The report also said the Law on the University also "gave great cause for concern as it provided for Government control over the administration and teaching staff and limited the possibility of political expression by students."
The report also stressed the need to reestablish the OSCE Missions to Kosova, Sandjak and Vojvodina, as well as the mission of Felipe Gonzalez, the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office and the representative of the European Union. It also noted that the situation regarding the media, judiciary, legal, and electoral systems "did not appear to have improved significantly" (since 1996).German newspaper reports of mass graves in Kosova
BONN, August 4 - A German newspaper has reported that four mass graves have been found near the Kosova town of Orahovac where several hundred ethnic Albanian civilians killed by serbian forces about two weeks ago were buried. A report of the Wednesday-edition of the German tageszeitung newspaper made available ahead of publication quoted eyewitnesses as saying that more than 560 ethnic Albanians, among them about 430 children, were buried in the mass graves near Orahovac some 60 kilometers southwest of Prishtina. The civilians were said to have been killed by serbian forces at the end of their fighting with the rebel Kosova liberation army about two week ago. The newspaper report also said that bulldozers were seen covering two of the four mass graves with earth Tuesday.
Serbian forces put torch to Kosova villages
From Tom Walker, The TimesORAHOVAC, August 5 - Villages were burning across central Kosova yesterday, sending thousands more ethnic Albanians fleeing into the surrounding woods. Only last week President Milosevic of Yugoslavia claimed that the security operation in the area was over. As the United Nations, the Red Cross and other aid agencies began delivering food and medicine to prevent a catastrophe, the Serbian police were almost blasé about the humanitarian crisis as they continued their "ethnic-cleansing" operations. Some even waved to reporters as their colleagues wandered around deserted Albanian settlements, a Kalashnikov in one hand and a jerrycan of petrol in the other. German television filmed officers firing flares into maize fields. Along the main roads, which the Serbs are intent on keeping open, a scorched-earth policy was being implemented. Large numbers of Yugoslav army tanks were seen moving to the front line around the Drenica towns of Glogovac and Srbica. The main road from Pristina to the western town of Pec, used by aid workers on Saturday to get to Malisevo, was cut off again.
QILIMI: THE SERB WAR MACHINE CAN NOT STOP WITH TALKS_______________________________________________________________________TIRANE,6 AUGUST ENTER/- The deputy chairman of the parliamentary commission of Defence Arber Qilimi said Wednesday to Enter that the Serb war machine could not be stopped with talks. Qilimi said that in such situation NATO takes political decisions with the consensus of all the member countries to intervene because the escalation of the war in Kosova is reaching high levels and the civil population is suffering a lot. Qilimi said to Enter that he hailed as positive the decision of NATO to finalise a plan of military intervention in Kosova. Qilimi said that this is a right decision in actual situation.
Commenting the decision of the Albanian defence Ministry and of the National Security Council to respond to any provocation on the Albanian northern border, Qilimi said that it is very important that the Albanian state is ready to respond with all the possibilities he has, with diplomatic way, or military to such provocations .
The secretary of the foreign department of the Socialist Party Maqo Lakrori said to Enter that he hailed any action of NATO to intervene military in Kosova. Lakrori said that such an intervention had been asked in all resolutions of the Albanian government and parliament.SEVEN ALBANIANS KILLED IN COMMUNE OF GJAKOVA
PRISHTINE, 6 august/ENTER/ - Local albanian sources report that in Gjakova area the Serb forces have killed seven Albanian civilians four old men, 2 old women and a 50-year-old man. Five persons were also killed on Tuesday in Jabllanice village and one in Krelan. While another was found dead somewhere in the villages of Meje and Madanaj, sources of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) said.
Meanwhile the Serb forces continue to terrorize the civilian population and raid and torch houses of Albanians in the border line between Kosova and Albania. Fighting has continued on Wednesday in other areas of Gjakova. The Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) is doing the utmost to defend and help the civil population displaced from shelled and torched villages. Thirteen villages have been set ablaze and 17 others have been completely evacuated, is the balance sheet of the Serb offensive in the commune of Gjakove, which is in its 11th day today. As the Information Centre of Kosova reports, so far the villages Morine, Smolice, Nec, Berjah, Stubell, Nivokaz, Popoc, Cermjan, Jabllanice, Zhebel, Gergoc, Bardhaniq and Krelan, have become a "scorched land" while villages Koshare, Batushe, Molliq, Brovine, Ponoshec, Shishman, Duzhnje, Ramoc, Dobrosh, Sheremet, Rracaj, Pacaj, Zylfaj, Prush, Goden, Meje and Rakovine have been completely depopulated. The attacks by Serb forces have caused great material damages in the villages Herec and Dujake.
LDK sources in Gjakove report that intensive fighting is continuing in Gjakove and in the villages of Reka e Keqe and Dushkaje Serb forces used yesterday missile launchers. The number of the killed in these villages is thought to be high, but no accurate data are available because the city has been sealed off.
Seven Albanians killed in commune of Gjakova_______________________________________________________________________PRISHTINE, Aug 5 - ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reported that in Gjakova area the Serb forces have killed seven Albanian civilians four old men, 2 old women and a 50-year-old man.
Five persons were also killed on Tuesday in Jabllanice village and one in Krelan. While another was found dead somewhere in the villages of Meje and Madanaj, sources of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) said.
Meanwhile the Serb forces continue to terrorize the civilian population and raid and torch houses of Albanians in the border line between Kosova and Albania. Fighting has continued on Wednesday in other areas of Gjakova. The Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) is doing the utmost to defend and help the civil population displaced from shelled and torched villages. la/ak/Italian deputy foreign secretary arrives in Albania
TIRANA, Aug 6 (ATA) - By Irena Luto: Italian deputy Foreign Secretary Piero Fassino arrived early on Thursday for a one-day visit to Albania at the head of a delegation including diplomats, businessmen, representatives of Italian Telecom.
The Italian delegation has a busy agenda within the joint commission for Economic Cooperation and separate talks with Albanian senior government officials.
The visit of the delegation follows the approval of a project aid for Albania by the Italian parliament estimated at 60 billion lire.
It is expected that the Italian senior official for foreign policy to discuss the Kosova issue with the Albanian senior officials, a problem which thanks to the "dry" season of the international diplomacy seems to have been set aside. ypa/ak/
Junik, 5 August (ARTA) 1730CET--
Last night's clashes that took place in the region
of Junik, were the harshest ever since the beginning of the offensive.
During this attack, Serb forces used the infantry along with the motorized
and tank units. On this occasion, the Serb forces suffered large damages.
According to the Albanian sources from the ground, at least thirteen Serb
policemen and soldiers were killed and dozens of others were wounded during
last night's clashes alone.
On the other hand, 2 KLA soldiers were killed
and another was wounded.
In the other parts of the front line, harsh clashes
also took place in Prejlep, Rastavicë and Carrabreg i Poshtëm,
whereas those of lower intensity took place in Gramaçel and Baballoç.
No killed or wounded were reported from these clashes, however the material
damages seem to be high, particularly in Baballoç.
The looting and burning of the Albanian owned
houses is still going on. It is interesting to note that the local Romany
population mostly conducts the looting.
KOSOVA (shelling/burning – Drenica)
Drenica villages burnt one by one
Drenica, 5 August (ARTA) 1720CET--
The intensity of Serb offensive against the villages
of Drenica has showed no remission. The activists of the CDHRF in Skënderaj
assess that the shelling with heavy artillery from the police and military
basis against villages Rezallë, Makërmal, Polluzhë, Llaushë
and Rakinicë started at 0940CET. The attacks were being conducted
with surface to surface missiles. Military planes flew low over the region,
but it is not known whether they were taking part in the bombardment which
is destroying the villages. Izbicë is still under the siege. There
still is no precise information about the number of the killed and wounded.
Attacks that are more intensive are being conducted especially from the
military situated in the Ammunition Factory and in Klinë e Begut.
As a result of yesterday’s shelling, Açarevë is totally ruined.
It is suspected that Serb forces have managed
to enter in the upper part of Llaushë and have taken prisoners a large
number of people mainly women and children. Serb forces conducted an attack
today at around 1000CET against Likovc and the neighboring villages. They
are firing with surface to surface missiles from Marinë and the positions
near Llaushë.
The number of the dislocated is immensely big
and their conditions are very poor. No humanitarian organization has penetrated
except the Council for Emergency who is trying to help with food and medicines
the dislocated people. As CDHRF states, the Serb propaganda for the return
of the dislocated is false. Those who try to return get arrested and imprisoned
at once by the police.
The field reports indicate that Rezallë
village is being shelled and they are Albanian houses and harvest fields
being burnt.
LDK information sources inform that Llapushnik’s
neighborhoods Sopi and Gashi were totally burnt down, as the other neighborhoods
are also burning. Witnesses state that everything that was situated in
the area from the Komoran crossroad to the health unit has been burnt.
The same people testify they have seen wounded Serb policemen at the Komoran
Health station.
KOSOVA (clashes – Gjakovë)
Seven more killed in the villages of Gjakovë
Gjakovë, 5 August (ARTA) 1800CET--
An 80 years old Albanian, from the village Krelan,
was killed by the Serb forces, LDK information sources in Gjakovë
inform. It is also stated that yesterday in Jabllanicë, the Serb army
killed 5 Albanians, respectively 3 old men and 2 old women, as they still
remain unidentified. The corpse of a 50 years old man, killed by the police,
is lying on the part of the street between the villages Mejë and Madanaj,
ever since 2 August, the same sources inform. The locals have no ways to
take the body and bury it, since several Serb snipers are posted close
to it.
KOSOVA (shelling – Shtime)
Godanc i Epërm being shelled
Shtime, 5 August (ARTA) 1940CET--
The Serb forces deployed in Zborc village shelled
yesterday night the village Godanc i Epërm. As yet, there are no data
on the killed and the wounded, while the population of the village was
evacuated into some safer areas. LDK sources inform that during the recent
attacks in the villages of this municipality many houses were destroyed
.
More than 80% of the houses in Zborc village
are damaged, as well as 30% of the houses in Carralevë and Belincë.
Consequently, because of the attacks the entire
population of Carralevë, Belincë, Zborc, Pjetërshticë,
Dugë and Karaçicë has completely moved away while only
a part of the inhabitants of Raçak, Godanc i Epërm, Pestovë
and Mollopolc have escaped .
KOSOVA (serious situation – Malishevë)
Many unburied bodies in Malishevë
Malishevë, 5 August (ARTA) 2030CET--
Five days after the Serb forces' offensive, several
unidentified corpses still lie unburied. The list of the missing people
continues to expand including even the mentally ill such as is the case
of Ismet Krasniqi (32) from Drenoc.
The Serb looting and vandalism in Malishevë
are taking place just the same. The town is on fire. Among others the building
where the offices of the political, humanitarian and political subjects
were at, were burned.
Yesterday's convoy of humanitarian aid that came
to the region is expected to last not more than 10 days. On the other hand,
the other part of the municipality, where the largest part of IDPs are
sheltered, have still not received any assistance.
KOSOVA (humanitarian catastrophe – Mitrovicë)
No humanitarian organization offered any assistance
to Mitrovicë
Mitrovicë, 5 August (ARTA) 2000CET--
Mitrovicë continues to receive large numbers
of people fleeing the villages of Drenica that are being shelled and burned
by the Serb police\military forces. The town of Mitrovicë is overloaded
and the escapees are now being directed to the villages surrounding Mitrovicë.
The Local Emergency Council and the humanitarian organization "Mother Theresa"
stated that "…those that come here we are able to give some bread at least,
but to those that are sheltered, that exceed 30.000, we can't offer any
assistance not even bread". The inhabitants of Mitrovicë proper and
of the surrounding are giving great efforts to help these people.
Even today, at the seventh day of the flux of
the escapees from Drenica, no assistance arrived from any of the international
humanitarian organization. The town of the miners urgently needs assistance
in kitchen oil, medicine, hygienic and sanitary items.
KOSOVA (arrests – Skënderaj)
The Serb police and army entered Llaushë
dressed as KLA
Mitrovicë, 5 August (ARTA) 1600CET--
Yesterday, Serb military\police forces arrested
Imer Haxha (60), Ramadan Geci (49), Nysret Spahiu (40), Ismail Gjinovci
and Ramadan Geci from the village of Llaushë informed the CDHRF in
Mitrovicë. Upon arresting them, the police tied their hands with wire
and sent them to the village's neighborhood of Gecaj. There the arrested
were subjected to inhumane tortures from the Serb police. After 4 hours,
the police released Ramadan, Nysret and Ismail, whereas Imer Haxha is still
being kept under arrest. According to Ramadan's statement, "the Serb police
and army were dressed in uniforms with KLA emblems. We saw cars and jeeps
with KLA sign, filled with uniforms. One of the trucks even had a carpet
with a two headed eagle on it".
On the grounds of public prosecutor's proposal,
the Municipal Court in Mitrovicë has proceeded with the investigations
against the 11 following Albanians: Hashim Mecini, Avdullah Mecini, Haxhi
Mecini, Ferat Mecini, Selim Mecini, Shemsi Barani, Selim Barani from the
village of Klinë e Epër, municipality of Skënderaj, Naim
Zejnullahu, Beqir Zejnullahu and Abit Hasani from Llaushë, municipality
of Skënderaj. They are all accused of "terrorism", since they allegedly
attacked the Serb police convoy in the village of Klinë e Epër,
when over 20 policemen were wounded. Only Hashim Mecini is in prison, the
others are fugitive.
KOSOVA (power cuts – Obiliq)
Albanian villages without power for a month
Obiliq, Fushë Kosovë 5 August (ARTA)
1700CET--
The majority of the villages of Obiliq and Fushë
Kosovë have been under siege for a month now. Besides being completely
isolated in means of communication with the world, for some time now, the
residents of these regions cannot get hold of food or get any medical assistance.
On top of everything, Serb authorities have selectively cut off the electric
power in one part of this region. For a month now, the majority of the
Albanian villages of Obiliq and Fushë Kosovë were disconnected
from the electric power network.
The steering board of Elektrokosova has given
orders to cut the wires of the electric net in the parts where the Albanian
villages are provided with power.
On the other hand, the steering board has made
a call to the Albanian employees inviting them to come back to work. A
number of workers responded to this call, but immediately after starting
with the work, they were persecuted. There are a number of Albanian employees
that were taken by the Serb police and brutally beaten.
KOSOVA (roads blocked – Gjilan)
In Budrikë të Poshtme it is impossible
to pass through
Gjilan, 5 August (ARTA) 1500CET--
The village Budrikë e Poshtme inhabited
with Serb population has become an impassable zone for all passersby and
vehicles since two days ago. The Serb police is installed in all the roads
which lead towards this village. They check the identification and search
every traveler or vehicle passing by.
It is stated that two days ago, the corpse of
reserve police officer, Sasa Jankovic from Budrikë e Poshtme, was
brought to the village. Witnesses claim that Jankovic’s family, as well
as other peasants became angry and decided to prevent the Albanians to
pass through this village, which connects Gjilan with Lladovë, Zhegër
and some other villages of the Karadak gorge. Now, all have to take the
detour that passes through Velekincë. Some times ago, local Serbs
were distributed weapons.
KOSOVA (tense situation – Prizren/Rahovec)
War poison was dispersed over IDPs?
Prizren, 5 August (ARTA) 1715CET--
The municipality of Prizren is taken over by
a wave of tension. Numerous helicopters constantly flew over the town proper
in the direction of the Gjakovë-Prizren road.
A Serb paramilitary convoy made of 4 APCs and
3 terrain vehicles were seen coming down the Gjakovë-Prizren road,
last night at 2100CET. They "played" very loud Chetnik music and were provoking
the people in every village they were entering, by shooting with automatic
guns.
According to the eyewitness, Halit Shala, the
paramilitary convoy that past through Krushë e Madhe, yesterday at
0630CET, dispersed war poison, that is supposed to have been poison gas,
since a number of people that were found near, sought medical help immediately
after.
Another military convoy of 36 vehicles was seen
coming in the same Gjakovë-Prizren direction, today at 1300CET. It
was mostly composed of tanks full of soldiers and paramilitary, escorted
by armored vehicles and artillery. The third appearance was made at around
0230CET, when the Serb paramilitary cruised down the village Mushnikovë,
the only Albanian village in Sreckë. On this occasion, they provoked
the locals by firing in their direction thus inducing great panic among
them.
Four Albanian elderly from this village were
brutally mistreated, only because they had on the white traditional Albanian
hat.
KOSOVA (CDHRF statement)
Expansion of the border zone -- unlawful and
unsustainable
Prishtina, 5 August (ARTA) 1800CET--
"FRY's" decision to expand the border area from
100 meters to 5 km, heavily affects the population of this expanded part
of the border. In addition, such an expansion will make a negative impact
population situated inside the expanded border.
The expanded borderline area is resided by Albanians.
They will be deprived from their right to move freely. The possibilities
of the regular basic food provision are restricted. Based on these facts,
CDHRF states that, "FRY's" decision to expand the border area between Albania
and Kosova, is unlawful and unsustainable and its consequences will be
suffered long after.
KOSOVA (54 Albanians investigated – Prokuplje)
No grounds for arrest
Prishtina, 5 August (ARTA) 1820CET--
"Fifty three travelers of the bus "Fati tours"
and the taxi driver Besnik Kastrati, are being held under arrest without
any juridical and penal grounds" says Bajram Krasniqi, defending attorney
from Prishtina and adds "till now, nobody has had any kind of contact with
them".
All the arrested persons were legal workers in
the Republic of Slovenia, except Murat Sadimi who is a minor as well as
one of the travelers who has been in Ljubljana Health Center for a medical
check up, says attorney Krasniqi.
"They were stopped in Podujevë checkpoint
on 20 July and were sent to the District Jail in Prishtina. There, they
were subjected to moral, physical and political mistreatment. After 5 or
6 days, they were sent by to Prokuplje jail. They were beaten up all the
way to prison", explains Krasniqi.
"The police confiscated 352.018 DEM and 61.700
Slovenian Tolars from the arrested persons", says he.
After arriving to Prokuplje, they were interrogated
from 28 July up to 3 August, which according to Krasniqi "is a flagrant
violation of the existing dispositions".
All the arrested are from municipalities of Rahovec,
Suharekë, Klinë, Malishevë, Gllogoc and Prizren. Among the
travelers were also three Muslims and one Turkish. The request for the
initiation of the penal procedure and detention term rely on unsustainable
proof, says Krasniqi and ascertains that they are all suspected of "association
for hostile activities" in conjunction with "terrorism".
KOSOVA (Albanian Helsinki Committee – statement)
International community's passivity frees
the hands of Serbs
Tirana, 5 August (ARTA) 1900CET--
In a communiqué issued by the Albanian
Helsinki Committee (KSHH), it is evaluated that ethnic cleansing is taking
place in Kosova.
"Now all the facts prove a large scale genocidal
operation", it was stated in the communiqué. It was further said
that the Serb authorities have committed crimes against the people by violating
the rules of war. This tragedy that has stricken 2 million people, was
expected to have a large and at least more motivated reaction of the international
community, but strangely enough that did not happen. This tragedy cannot
be prolonged any more. It cannot be solved by general statements nor with
pathetic calls for dialogue between the two sides. In this regard, KSHH
makes an appeal to the sister organizations, wherever they are to mount
pressure over the decision-making bodies to undertake effective measures
and stop the uncontrolled Serb terror in Kosova.
On the other hand, KSHH refers to the current
decision reached by the UN to establish the International Criminal Court
of Law (as a permanent body), that would include in its jurisdiction all
the war crimes and those against humanity, independently from the national
belonging of the incriminated. The establishment of this Court of Law is
a basic innovation in the field of the international justice with an extraordinary
importance for the present circumstances. It marks a new step in the direction
of the institutionalization of the international justice. The International
Criminal Court of Law is a competent body in this sphere.
The juridical action for the incrimination of
Milosevic, demands a general engagement of different circles of the Albanian
society. There are already signs showing that a devoted support from the
foreign world is not going to lack. It is our conviction that this is another
task for the Albanian Government, which should have this on its agenda
for the contacts with the international political factors, besides other
issues.
KOSOVA (foreign media on Kosova)
"The Bosnian scenario repeated in Kosova"
The Hague, 5 August (ARTA) 1815CET--
"The Bosnian scenario is repeating in Kosova",
is the title of the front pages of the "Volks Korant" and "De Telegraf"
newspapers, that tell about the information that a mass grave was found
in Rahovec.
In their information about the current events
in Kosova, these newspapers also notify how the Serb forces have even started
burning the forests were the Albanian escapees are sheltered, in order
to "locate the terrorists". Even the Holland State TV station constantly
repeats the confirmations of the "Tageszeitung" Berlin daily, about the
discovery of the mass graves in Kosova.
In the meantime, the War Crime Hague Tribunal
in the former Yugoslavia did not wish to give statements concerning this
information.
Official Tribunal sources claimed that they are
presently gathering facts about the crimes in Kosova and this takes a lot
of time and effort.
"We want to gather as much strong facts as possible,
in order to be able to prove the cases on which we press charges", stated
the same sources.
Asked whether presently there is any Tribunal
investigator in Kosova, actually gathering the proofs, an official of the
Tribunal in Hague stated that "due to operative reasons I am not able to
give an answer to that".
REPORTAGES
KOSOVA (KD reportage - Rahovec)
"The army used to tanks to shoot on people
gathered around the town's mosque"
Rahovec, 5 August (ARTA) 1700CET--
"When the operation of Serb forces started, over
one thousand people, mainly women and children were gathered in the grounds
of the town's Muslim temple. Then we came out in the center of the town.
When we came close to the mosque, already hit by bullets, two tanks came
in front of us and started first shooting in the air", says Fatmir Shehu,
the killed Sheh's grandson. He says that the Sheh was killed with three
bullets he was shot in the back by the policemen.
"We had little children in our arms and the women
were with us. Children started shrieking, there was a lot of noise. We
started dispersing a bit... and then both tanks started shooting against
the mass. They killed my aunt's husband and a young man. My three cousins
were also wounded. We withdrew their bodies... I turned my head back and
looked at my aunt's husband... I saw many people laying on the ground ...
Dead. I saw many corpses. I don't know who they were, but there were many",
says the Sheh's grandson, who was claimed to be the person with the biggest
authority not only in Rahovec, but the whole of Kosova.
It seemed calm at the entrance of Rahovec...
although at the bus station, some people were waiting in vane for a transport
to Prizren.
One, two or even more gas stations, of one of
the richest towns of Kosova in the past, were demolished. The houses and
shops, in the street that leads to the center of the town seemed to have
stuck to one-another, they had been looted, destroyed and "forgotten".
In Rahovec, regardless of what some may say, a very few passersby and many
police patrol cars. The minaret of one of the mosques was smashed while
the other houses were burnt.
"It was 9 o'clock, Monday, some three weeks ago
when they started burning the houses. We walked up the streets and when
we reached the other houses, we saw the policemen breaking the windows,
they demanded money and told people to go out".
Fatmir claims that the police had black scarves
on them, and that they were "Arkan's guys". They had looted the jewelry
and were after the money". Some had given them money, just to save their
lives, some others didn't. Fatmir confirmed that "eight people were killed
in his house".
"First they executed them, then they massacred
them and finally they burnt the whole house. You can see it and you can
see the remains of the burned stuff still there", showing towards the houses
behind the temple. From the main street, the building seems fine. On the
backside, it is all destroyed.
Witnesses of the events in Rahovec claim that
many civilians were killed and that their number is hard to ascertain.
Fatmir claims that maybe some 200 were killed and adds that he knows that
there were many.
"We don’t know where they are. They could be
somewhere underneath the ruins, but there are also killed in their cellars.
There are many massacred and burned...".
The night before the visit of the diplomats was
organized, witnesses claim that the corpses of Albanians on the street
were carried out on different means of transport.
"I know there were many tractors and trucks full
of corpses. People that fled to Prizren have seen them all and they know
where the massive graves are. It is said that in Rahovec there are a couple
of massive graves, while others claim that near Prizren there are another
two or three massive graves", says Fatmir Shehu.
Rahovec remained clam, although several people
had gathered in front of the house of a person who was tortured to death
at the police station in Rahovec. In town, they claim that the police arrests
30-40 Albanians per day, and mistreats them at the police station.
At the Bellacerkë checkpoint, police claims
that people are coming back, even by organized bus trips. We see five or
six buses stopped by the side, waiting to be checked up. It is not important
what they are, some will say. The important thing is that they are coming
back.
And, the town remains silent and the silence
inside is disrupted only by the noise of the police patrol cars and five
or six Serbs, who sing their drunken song in the town's cafe...
KOSOVA (KD reportage – Drenica)
"Still living in terror"
Qirez, 4 August (ARTA)1550CET--
In the middle of the road, near the tractors
and carriages, next to the school and the mosque with no minaret, close
to the 26 graves of Likoshan, the cry of children does not stop.
From Vojnikë, Llaushë, Turiqevc and
Burojë, to Krushec, and Likovc through Marinë, Polac and Shtuticë,
as far as Qirez...
Hungry, sweaty, sleepless, with worn out clothes
sitting over some mattresses, hugged by their mothers...
"We are sleeping on the ground, my baby is really
suffering, and I don't have milk to feed him" tells Behide (22) mother
of four children. She comes from Vojnikë and "she does not have where
to go back anymore"
"We are escaping since four days through the
bullets, with our children" says she with an exhausted sight peering somewhere
in the horizon. "We hardly managed to put this mattress in the tractor,
we had no time to take anything else", says she while her husband Agim
tries to calm her. They... remain recumbent in the wet floor of the school
in Qirez. In the courtyard, dozens of others... sitting near the boxes
with tomatoes and bread, which they claim has been brought from Vushtrri.
"We came yesterday. First we went to Rakinicë,
but they shot after us. Then we went in Likovc, and there they started
shelling and wounded my cousin, who was escaping with us", tells Fatime
from Llaushë.
"We came here barefoot, with no genuine clothes...don't
have any roof over our heads...God have mercy on us" added she.
The Serb paramilitaries have torched her house
and burnt her livestock alive. "They destroyed everything, we do not have
where to go back anymore", says Fatime in tears.
The largest part of the road she had to walk
, since she had no tractor. Being a target of bullets and grenades with
her children, she hiked until the school of Qirez. They sleep inside the
school. "They say that even here we are not safe", says she and tells her
story. She ate nothing for three days. Another woman Sevdije one of the
17.000 dislocated people who passed through Qirez speaks about the horror
of Krushec. She says that she heard the first shots early in the morning,
she ran to take her children. She ran also to wake up her neighbors. "Wake
up, they are shelling", she shouted. Afterwards, they dashed uphill. When
she reached the water stream, one of her cousins managed to start the tractor,
with bullets shot after him. He hardly reached the 30 members of his family
who were escaping. In the aftermath, when they thought they are safe, the
shelling started. Her tragedy does not end here. While her son was holding
the baby of their neighbor, a grenade fell. The baby fell on the ground
under the carriage. Her hand now is banded, though neither Sevdije nor
the child knows what kind of injury he received because there is no doctor
to examine the child. "After we passed the Shtuticë school another
shell blasted -- killing 6 persons" tells she. Now since three days, she
is in Qirez. She ate some bread "with some cheese the peasants brought".
"We do not have any blanket to cover with, just the mattresses which are
put on the tractors, as for five months that we are besieged we did not
sleep on the village"
Among the escapees, the dislocated or refugees
or depends how the international community will label these people, was
the exhausted doctor of Qirez, Osman Veliqi. After examining 90 patients
only within one three hours, he tells that none of the numerous international
organizations have come to provide neither help nor medicines. The same
thing says Selim Mehani, the chairman of local Emergency Council. He says
that except 14 tons of flour, nothing else was brought here. Yesterday
the ICRC brought some diapers.
"But neither the flour is very useful" complains
Selim. Some of its quantity is sufficient only for two days. People need
bread, because in the local school there are 420 sheltered, while in the
mosque, there are 146 people". None of them can bake bread.
Dr. Osman says that the children are under continuous
stress.
"We have a seven month baby who grew unconscious
in the way to here, when the grenade exploded not far from him. Now he
has severe stomach ache.", says the doctor.
He also adds that the huge contrasts of temperature
has caused significant health disorders to the escapees. The doctor must
not be asked for what will happen in winter. We pray to God not to rain
these days. They won't know what to do. They will nod like Selim when the
flour is all spent.
KOSOVA (KD reportage – Klinë)
Shelter in "the tunnels of horror"
Klinë, 5 August (ARTA) 2020CET--
Three months passed since the villages of Klinë
municipality started to be torched from the Serb police and military. The
number of the burnt villages has reached 23.
So far, Serb forces have burnt 560 houses. Many
of them were plundered while even the stables and hen cottages are shelled.
Even the school and religious buildings were not spared the shelling and
flames. Two school buildings in Gllarevë are burnt with their compounds,
the library and the official documents. Furthermore, five other schools
are shelled as well as the Catholic Church in Dobërdol and the Mosque
in Jashanicë.
Such a barbarian conduct of Serbs resulted with
the forced movement of 36.000 people from their homes. 28.000 of them stay
on the open field and 18.000 with nowhere to go back to, because their
properties are totally destroyed.
There were 47 Albanians killed during this period.
Among the killed, there are elderly, pregnant women, children and mentally
retarded persons. However, this number must be much bigger because there
have been many people who have remained in the houses which are now burnt
and there is no information about their fate.
The number of the killed, the wounded, the abducted
and the missing persons increases proportionally with the increased intensity
of shelling.
The population is endangered also with hunger
and various diseases.
The little remaining assistance stock of the
Emergency Council was burnt, while the members of this Council hardly managed
to save 350 kg of flour which were distributed to 180 families. The health
units either have disappeared or are not available. There is no sanitary
materials or medicines. The number of the ill is very big and there are
many women who have given birth on the field, and many of them who are
about to. Their health state is very bad. There is not food to feed the
babies. Their fathers milk the runaway sheep just to keep them alive, because
their mothers have not eaten anything in the past days.
Lots of the dislocated sleep on the ground. Drinking
water is very hard to find. The source is very far and there are the long
queues to take it. The screaming of children who demand bread and water
is terrible. The space of this population is getting narrower due to the
intensity of shelling of the neighboring villages.
A less than one-year-old child was found on the
road to Burojë, and there is no information about her mother. Some
KLA members are taking care of the baby.
In the early morning, one can see children with
mattresses or blankets running about the tunnel to reserve the space when
shelling starts. These people are a target even in the tunnel in which
they seek protection. It is more than difficult to pass through them, as
they stare at you, asking for help. Many of them say "tell the world about
our fate", "do we have any salvation", "they will catch us alive", while
some of the children approach to see our journalist bags and then immediately
go back in disappointment saying "We thought you brought some bread…"
SOURCE: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Helsinki Commission Calls for 'Immediate and Decisive Action' in Kosovo By Clinton
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe today delivered a letter to President Clinton signed by Chairman Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) and Co-Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) that calls for ''immediate and decisive action to stop the conflict in Kosovo before the ethnic cleansers win.'' The letter cites the escalating violence, increasing numbers of refugees and possible resurgent ethnic cleansing efforts of the Yugoslav/Serbian forces in calling for President Clinton to ''seek an agreement within NATO to act directly against those within Kosovo who are attacking civilian populations.''
Full text of the letter follows:
We urge you to take immediate and decisive action to stop the conflict in Kosovo before the ethnic cleansers win.
Yugoslav/Serbian forces using tanks and other heavy weapons are attacking Albanian-inhabited towns and villages in several regions of Kosovo. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is engaged in a major escalation of the conflict, despite his personal assurances to the contrary to U.S. officials just last week. The dead numbers at least in the hundreds, though the actual number may be much higher. The displaced population has climbed rapidly to 200,000, and humanitarian organizations face mounting difficulties obtaining access to them as winter approaches, threatening the largest humanitarian catastrophe to date in the Balkan wars.
We believe that strong action to stop the fighting is urgently needed. We need a forceful response to these Yugoslav/Serbian attacks, or a new crisis in the Balkans will result. This crisis cannot be avoided by additional aid, but only by stopping its cause, Milosevic's use of armed force to pursue his political ambitions. Moreover, we know Milosevic's record not only in Bosnia- Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 but now in Kosovo as well. Milosevic will only cooperate with our diplomatic efforts when he can no longer freely use force to attain his goals.
Therefore, Mr. President, we urge you to seek an agreement within NATO to act directly against those within Kosovo who are attacking civilian populations. We understand that the Alliance is planning for action in Kosovo. Furthermore, unless attacks against innocent civilians are halted, the continued slaughtering and displacement of innocent people will preclude a viable negotiated agreement on Kosovo's future. The Serbian ethnic cleansers will have prevailed.
Dozens of Senators and Members of Congress have already written to you urging a variety of responses to Kosovo. We support these efforts. An active and direct response, however, is what is needed most right now. It is strongly in our interest to prevent this conflict from escalating further rather than to wait until massive atrocities, or the flow of fighting and refugees across international borders brings other parties into the conflict, and compel our involvement under even more difficult conditions. As with Bosnia-Herzegovina, delay will prove costly and reduce the chance for success.
Mr. President, the Balkan wars have presented the greatest challenge to internationally protected human rights in Europe since the end of World War II. If the ethnic cleansers win, even while the spotlight of international attention is turned on them, hope for a peaceful future for all of mankind where each individual's rights are respected under the rule of law will be diminished for the foreseeable future. The promise of Nuremburg will have been repudiated by Milosevic's successful aggression. The time for action is now.
SOURCE: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
LINK to further press news_______________________________________________________________________
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