Tagesnachrichten 2. November 1998
     von dpa, from ALBANEWS and others
     News of the day - November 2, 1998
     Kosova Information Center : Daily Report No 1601

         Die Bibel sagt  -  The Bible says
 

If available you find on this page  -  Soweit verfügbar finden Sie auf dieser Seite     1. Meldungen von dpa    2. Remarks - Hints - Special informations    3. Reports about deportation and persons repatriated to Kosova  in deutsch und englisch     4. Daily Report from KIC  (Kosova Information Center)    5. news from ARTA  (Koha ditore)    6. news from RFE/RL NEWSLINE    7. news from Fr. Sava  (Decani Monastery)    8. Reports from Human Rights Organisations        especially CDHRF  (Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Prishtina)    9. news from ATA /ENTER  and so on  10. eventual additional press news  Link to Background-information  Link to earlier news - so far as room is given by my provider on the server  The Bible says  -  Die Bibel sagt

 

1. Meldungen von dpa

 

Franzoesischer Offizier verriet Nato-Ziele im Kosovo an Serben
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DF7EA.NL1/

Franzoesischer Offizier verriet Nato-Ziele im Kosovo an Serben
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DFA3E.NL1/

Waffen fuer Kosovo-Armee UCK in Hilfslieferung aus der Schweiz
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DE5ED.NL1/

"Wir sind bereit": Blair und Schroeder fuer gemeinsame Akzente
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DD8DA.NL1/

Scharpings erste Auslandsreise fuehrt nach Wien
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DC2A9.NL1/

Blair und Schroeder wollen gemeinsam "Politik der Mitte" vorantreiben
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DC49B.NL1/

Mazedonien vor der politischen Wende von Links zu Mitte-Rechts
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D9E09.NL1/

Gespraeche zwischen Schroeder und Blair in London begonnen
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363DA1A0.NL1/

Schroeder und Fischer in London
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D910F.NL1/

UCK haelt zwei Albanerpolitker im Kosovo fest
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D9B46.NL1/

Vor dem Jubilaeum beschwoeren Kritiker einen Niedergang der Nato herauf
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D1244.NL1/

Mutmasslicher Schleuser und elf Kosovo-Albaner festgenommen
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D139C.NL1/

Schroeder und Fischer nach London geflogen - Treffen mit Blair
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D7A5D.NL1/

Erste amerikanische Kosovo-Beobachter in Belgrad eingetroffen
   http://seite1.web.de/show/363D8532.NL1/

ONE has to begin    to STOP  oecumenic Decade for Peace  from November 8 until 18, 1998  30 minutes prayer for PEACE  30 Minuten Gebet für den Frieden  am  9./ 10./ 11./ 12./ 13./ 14./ 16./ 17. November  jeweils um 19.45 Uhr  in der Bethlehemkirche Wertingen  Jeder, der kommen moechte  - unabhaengig von Konfession oder Religion,  ist herzlich eingeladen !

LINK zu:  Vorschlag für den Ablauf den Friedensgebetes
                  - auch als WinWord97-Datei erhaeltlich !

APPEAL FOR THE RELEASE OF THE PRIZREN 8

The US government has committed itself to peace in Kosovo and even threatened NATO bombing. Why, then, can it not find its voice on behalf of jailed students?

From 1997 until March, 1998, the U.S. State Department, the House Foreign Affairs staff, the New York Times and other international organizations showed strong support for the students of the Independent Students Union in Kosova (UPSUP) and their non-violent protests, which were aimed at regaining their school buildings. Indeed, Ambassador Robert Gelbard met with student leaders both in the U.S. and in Prishtina and helped to negotiate a new education accord that would allow the students use of their campus buildings. Although the accord was signed in March, 1998, the terms of the agreement were never honored.

Organizations throughout Europe and the U.S. had praised the discipline and bravery of the UPSUP leadership throughout the year. Then, on May 23, 1998, eight student leaders--all UPSUP members--in Prizren at the Doda Teacher Training School were arrested and charged with membership in the KLA and acts of terrorism against the state of Yugoslavia. The New York Times, Ambassador Gelbard, Amnesty International remained, by and large, silent.

The students, ranging in age from twenty to twenty three, were convicted in August of "enemy activities against the state of Yugoslavia" for organizing a first aid class for displaced people. At their trial, the only evidence against them were their confessions, made, said their lawyer, under psychological and physical duress. The two older students were beaten. Four of the students were charged with KLA contact and admitted to it.

In a trial that by several reports lasted only four and a half hours the students were sentenced to terms from seven and a half years to one year. The students are allowed one visitor every two weeks. One mother said, "My daughter is in jail and no one knows it. No one cares." Their lawyer stated to "Bota Re"--"There is no reason for their imprisonment. There is no evidence. But I cannot free them alone. I need help."  Their sentences are as follows:

Nijazi Kryeziu (aged twenty-one; sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment)
Aqif Iljazi (aged twenty-one; sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment)
Bylbyl Duraku (aged twenty-two; sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment)
Sejdi Bellanica (aged twenty-three; sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment)
Defrim Rifaj (aged twenty-two; sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment)
Behare Tafallari (aged twenty-two; sentenced to two years imprisonment)
Jehona Krasniqi (aged twenty-two; sentenced to two years imprisonment)
Leonora Morina (aged twenty-one; sentenced to two years imprisonment)
Sherif Iljazi (aged twenty; sentenced to one year imprisonment)

Arbitrary detentions and arrests of ethnic Albanians have escalated rapidly throughout 1998. Until late September, the precise number of individuals in custody at any given time had been impossible to determine since the Yugoslav authorities refused to provide detailed information, despite specific inquiries from Human Rights Watch.   On September 23, Serbian Minister of Justice Drogulub Jankovic stated that criminal investigations had been opened against 927 individuals in five local courts of Kosovo and one court in Prokuple-all of them on charges of terrorism or enemy activities against the state. According to the minister, 538 of these people are currently in detention.  It was later reported that as many as 325 ethnic Albanians had been arrested between September 22 and 26, although it was unclear how many of these individuals remained in custody as of this writing.

In July and August, detained individuals increasingly included human rights activists, humanitarian aid workers, political party members, doctors, and lawyers, many of whom were physically abused in custody. Human Rights Watch has substantial credible evidence from lawyers and family members of detainees that detainees are routinely tortured and ill-treated. From March to August 1998, five people are known to have died while in police custody; hundreds of others have been beaten. Human rights and humanitarian agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, report restricted access to detainees.

Police abuse, arbitrary arrests, and violations of due process constituted violations of, among other instruments, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Yugoslav government has pledged to respect.

There is no reason for these students to remain in jail. UPSUP had much open support from the U.S. government and other international bodies until the time when intervention was truly needed. Then their case was totally abandoned.

Their case and others like them are an example of the human rights abuses perpetrated against Albanians by the Serbian regime.  Actions we take to bring about their release shows our commitment to protecting peoples rights regardless of the who they are or where they are.

I urge you to procure an appeal of their case. Contact and petition your congress people, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Congressman Eliot Engel head of the Albanian Caucus in Congress, The National Albanian American Council,

For More information Please Contact
Teresa Crawford, Kosova Action Network, (315) 471-7790, teresa@advocacynet.org

Unfortunately the case of the Prizren 8 is not an isolated one .  There has been an increase in the numbers of Albanians arrested for unspecified terrorist attacks and sentenced to prison terms.  There has also been an increase in the numbers of Albanians disappeared while in the custody of the police.  We urge you to demand that the following actions occur in Kosovo:

Treatment of and Access to Detainees
- fully disclose the names of those currently detained in the course of the conflict, their ages, where they were captured, where they are being detained, and other relevant details;
- allow the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) unhindered and ongoing access to all detainees, including those who are currently being investigated but have not been charged with a crime;
- guarantee that detainees have regular access to their lawyers and family members, that they are able to meet with their lawyers in private, and have adequate resources and time to prepare their defense;
- conduct an investigation into the allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment in detention, including in particular allegations of the deaths of at least five persons as a result of torture by police.
Those found responsible for such abuse should be held accountable before the law.

Kennen Sie Fälle von Abschiebungen nach Kosova ? - Bitte senden Sie mir Ihren Bericht !
Do you know cases of deportations to Kosova ? - Please send me your report !

* Nichtamtliche Übersetzung
   UNHCR-Positionspapier über die Behandlung von Asylsuchenden aus
   dem Kosovo in Asylländern: Maßgebliche Überlegungen
   25.8.1998 mit Anhang Stand: 13.8.1998
                    http://www.unhcr.de/news/statemen/misc/kosbob.htm

* UNHCR-Eckpunkte zu Problemen des Flüchtlingsschutzes in Deutschland
   Oktober 1998
                    http://www.unhcr.de/news/statemen/misc/eckpkte.htm

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1601
Prishtina, 2 November 1998

Serb Forces Repositioning, Harassing Albanian Returnees

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - Sources in many Kosova municipalities said Serb forces have been repositioning and regrouping, but not leaving the area. Moreover, in some areas the Serb presence is almost the same as one month ago. Serb forces take pains, though, to avoid being seen by foreign observers.
Malisheva: The local LDK Information Commission reported increased Serb troop movements in the town of Malisheva and the surrounding villages.
Heavy Serb forces backed with artillery and armored vehicles, positioned at a location called "Pishat e Llazicës" (Lazica pinewood), have been intimidating the local population and preventing the uprooted Albanians from returning to their villages.
Lipjan: Fresh Serb troops backed up by heavy armament have been deployed over the past few days at Lipovica holiday resort. A resident of Vërshec village told the KIC that Serb police patrols moving continuously on the 12 kilometer Magura-Shala roadway have been harassing the local population and the returning refuges. The Vërshec village was almost completely razed, with only a couple of houses having survived the shelling in late summer.
Klina: Serb forces have been further digging in and camouflaging around Albanian communities in Klina municipality, local sources said.
A local LDK activist in Sferka village told the KIC today that additional Serb troops backed up by heavy armament were deployed around the Volljaka bauxite mines. From 19:00 through 21:00 last night, Serb forces manning a couple of posts there sprayed the outlying villages with machine-gun fire, he said.
He noted that last Friday four villagers of Sferka - Bislim Kolludra, Isa Kolludra, Fatmir Kolludra and Agron Kolludra - were prevented from entering into their village. Serb forces opened fire in their direction when they tried to go back to their homes.
Istog: Serb policemen manning several checkpoints and patrols in the area have been harassing and intimidating the local Albanian population, the LDK chapter in Istog.
A large number of Serb troops who retreated from the Dubrava penitentiary have been garrisoned in the buildings of an old police station at Rakosh.
At least 30 Serb policemen have been garrisoned in the schoolhouse in Lubozhda village. The Serb policemen, during the evening hours in particular, have been brutalizing the local Albanian population.
Ukë Balaj and Bajram Bajramaj, from Lluga village, and Nimon Gashi from Prigoda, were brutally beaten by the Serb police when passed along the school.
Around 150 Serb policemen and members of paramilitary gangs have been garrisoned in the premises of the "Buducnost" agricultural cooperative in Gjurakovc, the LDK chapter said.

Malisheva LDK Leaders Still in UÇK Custody

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - Jakup Kastrati, chairman, and Cen Desku, member of the LDK chapter presidency in Malisheva are being held under UÇK arrest.
The local LDK leaders were arrested on 30 October, but there has been no explanation yet on the motive for their arrest and why they continue being in UÇK custody.
The local Albanian population in the municipality of Malisheva is outraged by this move on the behalf of the UÇK, the local LDK sources said.
The families of Mr Kastrati and Mr. Desku are fearful about their fate, they added.

LDK Condemns Arrest, Calls for Immediate Release of Kastrati and Desku

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - The Presidency of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), President Ibrahim Rugova's party, received with indignation the news on the arrest by an UÇK (Kosova Liberation Army) group of two local LDK leaders in Malisheva, Jakup Kastrati and Cen Desku, who were engaged in their political activities when this happened, the LDK said in a statement today.
The two local LDK officials were arrested in Malisheva on 30 October.
"Such a move, which is now becoming a common occurrence, is unacceptable, absurd, and damaging", the Presidency of the LDK said.
It is unacceptable now that a genuine unity of purpose is needed to arrest people and obstruct the political activities of local leaders of such an political forces in the national movement, such as the LDK, the party leadership said. "It only fosters disunity" amongst the Albanians, it added.
Nobody has the right to obstruct the organized political activities channelled on "the sacred national cause", the LDK said.
"The LDK Presidency calls for an immediate release of Jakup Kastrati and Cenë Desku, as well as for them to be allowed to freely go on with their political and national activity", the statement of the LDK concluded.

Albanian Reveals Serb Police Pattern of Torture
"The police put a stone in my mouth, then started to hit me in the face," told Ali Kabashi, 70, the Associated Press. "They poured petrol on me and threatened to set me on fire," he said.

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - An old man in a black coat ambled by, clutching a bag of grapes in his right hand. He (the Albanian) had been captured by police and held for weeks, and was only recently released, the Associated Press (AP) wrote from Opterusha village of Rahovec, Kosova, describing the fate of residents returning to their devastated village.
This is how AP went on to convey the old man's plight and the pattern of Serbian forces' torture:
"His (the Albanian's) forehead wrinkled as he stared ahead while answering questions. A small crowd of neighbors, most of them teen-age boys, gathered around to listen.
"The police put a stone in my mouth, then started to hit me in the face," began Ali Kabashi, 70. "The stone was so I couldn't shout when they burned my leg with wood."
He raised his right pants leg to show red marks on the calf, then unbuckled his belt to drop his pants and show more wounds on his thigh.
"They poured petrol on me and threatened to set me on fire," he said.
"I tried to escape so they would kill me immediately. One hit me and I lost consciousness."
The police wanted to know about ethnic Albanian guerrillas, Kabashi said. As they tortured him, he said, they kept repeating that he knew who the guerrillas were, and that his son was one."

Serb Military and Police Shell Jabllanicë Village of Gjakova

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - The village of Jabllanicë, municipality of Gjakova, has been shelled sporadically in the past three days by Serb military and police troops.
The Serbs shelled the village from 22:00 on Sunday through the morning hours on Monday, local sources said. They were firing from their positions in Gllogjan village of Peja, the Naznik village of Deçan, as well as Volljakë village of Klina.
Meanwhile, sources said Serb military forces have not withdrawn from the village of Demjan in the Hasi region of Gjakova.
Serb military forces backed up with combat arsenal were stationed in the local elementary schoolyard on 22 June. The 300 Albanian schoolchildren have not started school there yet.
Serb soldiers have been occupying the houses of Bali Brati and Isa Pnishi. The Albanian families were forced to evacuate their homes.

Serb Regime Court Sentences Four Albanians Sentenced to 5 1/2 Years Imprisonment

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - Four Albanians were sentenced today to 5 1/5 years in prison on Serb regime trumped up charges of terrorist activities, the LDK Information Commission in Peja said.
Haki I. Begolli (1975) and Arsim A. Kurteshi (1977) were sentenced to 2 years in prison each, Blerim A. Kullashi (1977) to one year, and Dardan Sh. Murati (1978) to six months in prison.
Albanians prosecuted for their political beliefs are routinely branded terrorists by the Serb occupying authorities.

Albanian Killed in Unsolved Circumstances in Podujeva Area

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - On Saturday evening, Ragip Ibrahimi (39), resident of Halabak village of Podujeva was killed near the village of Repë, around 25 km away from home.
The circumstances of the death of Ibrahimi, a cattle trader, have not been made known yet.

Police Brutalizes Two Albanians in Mitrovica

PRISHTINA, Nov 2 (KIC) - On Sunday evening, some fifteen Serb policemen brutalized two Albanians, Sami S. Neziri (24) from Kaçanoll village, and Nazmi Ferizi (25) from Mitrovica, near a gas station in Shupkovc village, local LDK sources said.
The Serb policemen had camouflaged faces, and were equipped with an APC and machine-guns there.
The two young Albanians were brutally beaten for an hour before being let free.

Kosova Information Center
Last page!

ABC NEWS: Is the West Biased? - The Serbian Point of View

Proposals of the Democratic Party of Serbia for Kosovo

The Abbot of Decani Monastery Visited Devic Nuns (DECANI REPORT)

BLIC: After Police And Army Retreats Extremists Attack Again

AFP: Two Serb reporters sentenced by KLA to 60 days in prison

UPI: Jailed journalists fuel Serb fears

B92 No Comment: Serbia's New Law on Media

B92 NEWS November, 2

BOSTON GLOBE: In Kosovo, Ethnic Hate Colors the Countryside

The Washington Times: Serbian peasants fear retaliation in Kosovo

NYT: Milosevic Moves to Stifle Dissent in Academia

Reuters: Monk Fights Modern Battle In Medieval Kosovo Setting

Is the West Biased?
ABCNEWS.com Asks Serbians
The Serbian Point of View

By Terence Nelan
ABCNEWS.com
As war has torn through the Balkans, the West has laid the blame for most of the horror with the Serbians.
They often are seen as the aggressors-and reports like the recent one of massacres of defenseless civilians in Kosovo haven't helped their case. But every ethnic group in the Balkans can level accusations of brutality and murder at another, and many Serbs say they take more than their share of condemnation.

A Complex Story, Imperfectly Told

Some Serbians don't support their leader, President Slobodan Milosevic, and don't approve of their army's actions. Even those that do feel as if their side of the story is not being told with Western journalists focused so intently on first Bosnian, and now Kosovar, refugees. These four ABCNEWS.com interviews reveal that Serbs consider the situation more complex than the simpler versions that often hit the papers or the evening newscast. Click on the media player to hear their views.

Here are some excerpts:

Milosh D. Milenkovich, Lawyer and President of the  Serbian Unity Congress, A Serbian advocacy group in the  United States:
"The misrepresentation of the Serbian issue has been steadily done ever since the former Yugoslavia was dismembered, starting with Slovenia and Croatia," says Milenkovich. "The reason for that is obvious. ...Behind the Muslims were the mujahadeen-the fundamentalists of the Islamic cause. Obviously they have no lack of money. This was shown in the propaganda which was well established during Bosnia.The Serbs have always been portrayed as  the bad guys. Serbs were left on their own. They have always lacked the funds and the means to come back and explain their point of view."

Miljana Bobic Freelance journalist in Belgrade, Yugoslavia:
"Things are not as simple as they were represented in the Western media," says Bobic. "Serbs are always  represented as bad guys. It is so easy to be politically correct now. You have just to accuse Serbs and everything is OK. I am very angry because of that." "Serbs as much as the other nations are capable of  committing terrible crimes. But it doesn't mean that every  crime which was committed during these wars in the former Yugoslavia is committed by Serbs. How come nobody had a reaction when the Serbian victims were found in some crematorium [in Kosovo]. There was no reaction to that terrible crime."

Milan Protic, Historian at Belgrade's Institute of Serbian Studies:
"It is pretty obvious, after 10 years of Milosevic's rule over Serbia that he has been most responsible for everything bad that has happened to this region," says Protic. "The dismemberment of former Yugoslavia, then war in Croatia, Bosnia, and now in the Kosovo region." "Nevertheless, the international community has accepted the realities of Milosevic being in power and even though it blames him for everything that happened, they always-and this is the third time they've done the same thing-accept Milosevic as the main and the only partner to negotiate some kind of solution. I don't really understand how can you find a solution-reach an acceptable compromise-with someone you consider most responsible for the crisis."

Dejan Anastasijevic, journalist for the independent newsmagazine Vreme:
"The bad rap that the Serbs got are a result mostly of Serbian government policies, in the past 10 years since Milosevic came to power," says Anastasijevic. "Also people coming from, for example, the States to cover Kosovo or the Balkans sometimes do not do their homework. They ... are totally unaware of the background and all sorts of stuff that they should know. And they oversimplify things sometimes. Of course in real life you very rarely have black hats versus white hats. And that's how a lot of people in the West, especially television journalists, tend to portray things."

-END-
--
Decani Monastery               tel +381 390 61543
38322 Decani, Serbia           fax +381 390 61567
http://www.decani.yunet.com    e-mail: decani@EUnet.yu

Belgrade, November 2, 1998

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF SERBIA'S POSITION ON MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN TIES BETWEEN KOSOVO AND OTHER PARTS OF SERBIA

        The Democratic Party of Serbia underlines that straightforward and incontestable  consequences of the Milosevic-Holbrooke agreement are:
        -the fundamental restriction of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's sovereignty and placement not only of Kosovo, but also the entire state under the regime of international community's protectorate,
        -the detaching of Kosovo from the legal system of Serbia and FRY, that is granting Kosovo the status of a state within state.
        Agreements signed with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and NATO have seriously limited the sovereignty of Serbia and FRY since Kosovo's airspace is practically given up to the North Atlantic alliance, a system of direct control and supervision over the army and police established and direct presence of the so-called verifiers ensured in their regular activities. A mission run by the OSCE and NATO de facto suspends FRY's right to self-defense, guaranteed to every state by the UN Charter.
        Having accepted a Contact Group's plan as a basis for a political solution to Kosovo's transitional status, Serbia and FRY have renounced practically all rights of a republic and a federal state in Kosovo. After the announced elections, Albanians will have full legislative, executive and judicial power, as well as their own police, while the federal and republican organs will be denied a right to supervision or interference. In that way, Kosovo will be granted the status of a territorial unit with full internal independence.
        The Democratic Party of Serbia recalls that Kosovo Albanian political representatives have not abandoned their demand for Kosovo's independence, and that they have neither condemned nor distanced themselves from the activity of Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which is nothing short of a terrorist organisation.
        The Democratic Party of Serbia stresses the fact that although the international community, the United States in particular, displayed a formal commitment to preserve FRY's integrity, the consequences of their policy lead to further disintegration of Yugoslavia. The fact that the international community demands the elections to be held solely in Kosovo serves as a tangible proof of the above said. This would support the Albanians' staying out of the country's political life and, in fact, legalise their non-recognition of Serbia and Yugoslavia.
        The Democratic Party of Serbia cautions that, in such circumstances, integrity of the state and the fate of Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija have been seriously questioned.
        The aforementioned conclusions imply a necessity that certain steps are to be taken to strengthen ties between Kosovo and other parts of Serbia and secure viable conditions for the life of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. The Democratic Party of Serbia is convinced that those are the following  political, organisational and economic measures:

        1. The scheduling and simultaneous holding of elections at all levels and on the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia and FRY.
        In order for the elections to be regular and their results credible in the region of Kosovo, it is necessary to, inter allia, do the following:
        -carry out a census in Kosovo;
        -establish the citizenship of all persons with permanent residence in Kosovo;
        -restore the voting right to all the Serbs, who were denied that right too by the following acts: the 1945 Law on Revision of Allocation of Land to Colonists in Macedonia and Kosovo-Metohija Region , the 1945 Decision on Temporary Ban on Return of Colonists to Their Former Places of Living and the 1947 Law on Management of Abandoned Land of Colonists in Autonomous Kosovo-Metohija Region;
        -give the right to vote to all the Serbs evicted from Kosovo during the 1968-1989 massive ethnic cleansing carried out by the Albanian separatists;
        The census and the establishing of citizenship should be carried out by mixed commissions, where the decision-making  process is based on consensus, with appropriate participation of international organisations.
        The voting right of those who were banned from returning after 1945, or who left Kosovo and Metohija solely under pressure after 1968, can be restored on the basis of appropriate documentation and decisions made by electoral commissions.
        2.To change the borders of cadastral municipalities in order to form a larger number of the Serbian-majority ones and facilitate their linking. These changes should be effected through appropriate amending of the Law on Territorial Organisation of the Republic of Serbia and Local Self-Governing.
        3.To carry out the process of privatisation on the entire territory of Serbia, including the privatization of companies headquartered in Kosovo that are encompassed by a special government programme.
        4.To enact the Law on Denationalisation the implementation of which would secure the restoration of arable land, woods and other property to real owner, the Serbian Orthodox Church in the first place.

The listed political, organisational and economic measures do not require any change in the Republic of Serbia's Constitution, while a change of Kosovo's status, provided by a document adopted by the Contact Group on October 2, 1998, does. Any amendment to the Serbian Constitution can only  be effected in strict accordance with a relevant procedure specified in the Constitution that also includes the holding of a referendum. Any change of Kosovo's status without a corresponding change in the Serbian Constitution would represent an unconstitutional act considered null and void in any law-abiding state.
        The Democratic Party of Serbia appeals to the Serbs not to yield to unprecedented internal and external pressures, and not to leave Kosovo. The listed measures are indeed necessary for the Serbs to survive in Kosovo, but they can only be effected if the Serbs stay in Kosovo.
        The Democratic Party of Serbia believes that the authorities of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, having missed a chance of resolving the Kosovo crisis in a more favourable manner, are obliged today to effect the aforesaid measures urgently to secure the very survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. The listed measures are in full compliance with the rules of internal legal system and the international-law rules and principles in force.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: info@dssrbije.org.yu
http://www.dssrbije.org.yu
Democratic Party of Serbia
Demokratska stranka Srbije, Brace Jugovica 2a, 11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia

Tel: (381 11) 182 535; 183 525; 638 013; 328 2886
Fax: (381 11) 328 1793

TRAVELING TO DEVIC MONASTERY
(A report from Decani Monastery)

Decani, November 2, 1998

This morning the abbot of Decani Monastery, Fr. Theodosius went to visit the nuns in Devic monastery. For several days we have been receiving the news that the situation for the remaining Serb population in Drenica area is getting more and more difficult especially for the nuns in Devic. The leading Serb media published yesterday the alarming news that the monastery was under siege.
     This monastery is now on the territory which is completely under control of the KLA. Traveling from Decani to Pristina and from Pristina to Mitrovica was quite normal and nothing unusual could have been seen on the road. The police check points have been dismantled and the KLA is not appearing at least on this main Kosovo thoroughfare. The road from Mitrovica to Srbica is virtually the main entrance road to the heart of Drenica area where the first serious incidents between the police and the KLA occurred earlier this year.
     The road to Srbica was almost empty. It could be seen that there were no police check points. Only a few weeks ago the Serbian police had several check points on this strategic road. Driving from Mitrovica to the monastery Father Abbot could see only two civilian cars but near Srbica there were a lot of tractors and carts with people moving around their mostly destroyed homes. Now only several policemen are situated in the police station in Srbica.
     At the moment only 4 Serbs live in this town. Other Serbs do not seem willing to go back to their homes because they do not feel safe enough after the withdrawal of the police forces.
     Lausa village, near Srbica used to be one of the best known KLA strongholds. In the summer offensive the Government forces razed this village to the ground. The houses in this Albanian village were severely destroyed and burned. Several days ago when the Abbess of Devic, sister Anastasia was driving through the village a few armed civilians shot from their machine guns around their car. Now when Fr. Theodosius was passing through Lausa village, everything seemed to be quiet and there were no provocations. He expected that a KLA patrol might stop the car and make a routine ID card check but there were no KLA check points on the road this time. Thus the Abbot came to Devic monastery without any problems and difficulties.
     The sisters in the monastery had closed all gates and put big trunks behind the gates to prevent intruders from entering by force the monastery compound. Fr. Theodosius had to wait several minutes in his car before the frightened nuns realized that it was the Abbot. It took them several minutes more to free the main gate and let the car inside the yard.
     The sisters complained that they felt great fear. So far no one has attacked them but nevertheless living without electric power and telephone, miles far from the nearest police station in the heart of rebellious Drenica was a real trial for these brave women. No Serbs dare to visit the monastery and the workers do not want to risk their life to fix their power supply and the telephone line. The nuns said that they felt completely abandoned and gave themselves completely in the hands of God and His providence.
     On his way back to Mitrovica Fr. Theodosius saw only two Armed Albanian civilians slowly walking down the road with their rifles. They did not seem to be embarrassed with the passing car. Further down the road a few Albanian kids made a victory sign with their fingers and the Abbot waved back to them with a smile.
     Yesterday, the members of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM) visited Devic Monastery. They promised  to talk to the local KLA officers not to violate the safety of the nuns.
     Mr. Adem Demaci, the political representative of the KLA, in his recent visit to Decani monastery also promised that the KLA would not attack monasteries and churches of the Orthodox Church and would let priests and monks in Kosovo a free access to their shrines and their parishes.
     There is a rumor in Kosovo that a secret and unofficial agreement has been achieved between the police and the KLA. According to this agreement the KLA is allowed to keep its positions in Albanian ethnic areas while in the ethnically mixed areas the regular police stations would remain. It seems that both sides are ready to observe cease fire while the verifiers will monitor and secure the fragile peace. Yet the fear on both sides remains as well as the deep mistrust. The results of the war are evident all around Central and Western Kosovo. Many villages are still empty and the general situation is far from normal. While the international community is insisting on coming back of the Albanian IDP's on the other hand the Serb IDP's and refugees seem to be forgotten and largely remain in their refugee camps or with their relatives.
     The people in Kosovo are asking themselves how long this peace would last and whether there would finally be achieved a more lasting peace agreement. Some are skeptical, some seem to be more optimistic but all agree that it is a good thing that the fighting is over.

Fr. Sava

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October 31, 1998
AFTER POLICE AND ARMY RETREATS EXTREMISTS ATTACK AGAIN

Blitz, October 30th 1998
Orahovac, Djakovica, Decani - after the retreating of most of police and Yugoslav Army units from Kosovo, the situation is apparently calming down. However, Serbian uneasiness is growing, because the positions that policemen were holding, right after their departure are overtaken by members of "KLA".
     Yesterday, the armed Albanians have fired two grenades from the mine-thrower on the workers of "Orvin" from Orahovac that were picking grapes on the plantations. Fortunately, one of the grenades hit the tree and the other one was thrown over the pickers. As the manager of "Orvin" Vukasin Djinovic stated, the workers, escorted by three policemen and managers, went to the plantations where 30 wagons of unpicked wine grapes were left. As soon as they arrived, the terrorists opened fire. Mine fragment hit the police vehicle, but nobody was hurt.
     The night before yesterday in village Firza near Djakovica, in his house yard, Zef Dreni (66) was killed. Members of his family said to investigation police team that he was killed by four Albanian extremists from their village in masking uniforms with "KLA" marks. The attackers have beaten Zef's son Muja who ran out of the house to help his father, and hurt him badly. Muja Dreni was yesterday moved to hospital.
     Nazmi Oluri (25) was killed yesterday around 15:30 near Stimlje. Municipality authorities suspect that the killing was committed by Albanian extremists, because Oluri, as they say, was loyal to the Serbian state. Yesterday the members of "KLA" attacked the police patrol car near village Grastica, on the road from Pristina to Leskovac.
     According to the Pristina's Media center reports, nobody was injured among the policemen. The car was sieved by bullets fired by extremists from the 'Mercedes".
     On the same day, around 15:00, in Lipovica near Lipljane, the members of "KLA” attacked the police ambulance car. The attackers fired several hits on the vehicle, but nobody was hurt. Municipality authorities in Lipljane claim that there are members of "KLA" in Lipovica woods that have attacked the police and civilians even before.
     The day before yesterday Serbs and Montenegrins from Decane protested because the police has left this town. As they said during protest, the retreat was a very hard experience and they warned that their safety was now imperiled. Municipality leadership tried to calm them down, but the anxiety among the citizens of Decani is large.
     Serbs in Orahovac have avoided for three days now to leave their houses at night. As "KLA" reported to them, whose members came after police retreat, the curfew begins at 19:00 and ends at 6 in the morning. The most of the Albanian extremists, that are no more hiding, is at the periphery of this town in Bela Crkva colony.
     The situation is culminating in other parts, too. Momcilo Stanojevic, the president of Contemporary Council of Djakovica municipality, has stated for "Blitz" in yesterday's telephone conversation: "The few Serbs that remained in this municipality are overcome with fear, because the situation is very complicated."
     The destiny of kidnapped journalists is still under question. It is presumed that Tanjug's reporters are kept in the “KLA” fortification Nekovac, near Pristina - Klina road, not far away from crossroads near Komoran. According to Milivoje Mihajlovic's, the chief editor of Radio Pristina, yestarday's statement, the members of "KLA" have also denied access to this base to foreign reporters, so there are suspicions about Nina Norberg's statement, the representative of International Red Cross Committee, that Tanjug reporters received help.

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Copyright 1998 Agence France Presse
Agence France Presse

November 01, 1998 Kosovo-journalists lead 15:14 GMT

SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 909 words
HEADLINE: Two Serb reporters sentenced to 60 days in prison: rebels
DATELINE: (ADDS details, background)
BODY:

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov 1 (AFP) - Two Serb journalists, reported missing since October 18, were sentenced to 60 days imprisonment by a "military court" of the ethnic Albanian rebels of the Kosovo Liberation army (KLA), KLA statement said Sunday. The statement appeared to confirm that the two, Nebojsa Radosevic and Vladimir Dobricic, both working for the Yugoslav state agency Tanjug, were alive.
     On Friday, the court, saying it was acting on charges of non-compliance with the KLA's internal military-civilian order established by the KLA, sentenced the two to 60 days imprisonmet, the statement, delivered to the Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore Sunday, said.
     The court, which is "under the direction of the KLA general staff" said that the two reporters, were transferred to the "prison number 7," and "have the right to appeal in seven days," the statement said. This was the first time the KLA acknowledged the existance of its "military court" and prisons, as well as the KLA-proclaimed "military-civilian order." The statement did not stipulate how long the KLA had held the two reporters, or when the 60-day sentence had begun.
     Radosevic and Dobricic vanished in Magura, 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of Kosovo's capital Pristina, where two Serb policemen had been wounded in an attack by KLA rebels.
     Four days after their dissapearance, the KLA said the two were alive and in their hands, and were "under investigation."
     The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) said it was in contact with the rebels but was unable to see the two journalists and could not confirm they were alive and well.
     Serb journalists normally avoid going to areas where they might fall into the hands of the KLA, which still holds some areas of Kosovo.
     At the end of August a Serb reporter for Radio Pristina, Djuro Slavuj, and his driver, Slavko Perenic, disappeared in southwestern Kosovo and are still missing.

str-an/aln
LOAD-DATE: November 01, 1998
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PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Serb civilian fears of retaliation by ethnic Albanian forces gained new impetus as a Kosovo Liberation Army statement on the fate of two Serb journalists was made public.
        "Marina," a 19-year-old Serb who wouldn't give her real name, said:  "No one is safe and we are scared. People disappear and there is no real explanation."
        The statement, dated Oct. 30, was received today by Koha Ditore, a  local pro-KLA Albanian-language newspaper. It said 32-year-old Nebojsa Radosevic and 50-year-old Vladimir Dobricic were convicted by a military court of violating the KLA codes of military and civilian conduct.
        Radosevic and Dobricic, employees of the official Yugoslav news agency Tanjung, disappeared two weeks ago near Magura, where two Serb policemen died the night before.
        The statement said the two will be imprisoned for 60 days, but it gave no further details on the circumstances of their conviction were given.
        Hostilities between the KLA, an armed separatist group, and Yugoslav forces have killed hundreds -- mostly ethnic Albanian civilians -- since February. A recent cease-fire brokered by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke has brought a relative calm to the southern Serb province, but a climate of fear remains.
        Serb civilians, who make up less than 10 percent of the province's population, are expecting widespread retaliation from KLA forces emboldened by a recent pullout of army and police.
        "How can we defend ourselves against something we can't understand,"  asked Marina, "something we can't even see."
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No Comment: Serbia's New Law on Media

At the request of various Serbian journalists and media establishments, the IREX Professional Media Program has conducted a legal analysis of the draft of Serbia's new Public Information Law. The analysis was conducted in September of last year by the law firm of Covington & Burling. Following its analysis, Covington & Burling released the following statement about the draft law:
     The FRY Constitution and Serbian Constitution make a strong commitment to freedom of expression, freedom of information, and freedom of the press. The Law's pledge to adhere to the European Convention on Human Rights also shows the Republic of Serbia's commitment to these freedoms. Some of the Law's other provisions, however, do not. The Republic of Serbia's obligations under domestic and international law would be better met by narrowing restrictions on media content, clarifying the liability for false statements, reducing the enrolment restrictions on the media, narrowing the grounds for a right of reply, outlining a structure of the administrative organ responsible for licensing of the media and providing for the confidentiality of journalists' sources.
     Following the release of their analysis, IREX, accompanied by a lawyer from Covington & Burling, discussed the findings with Serbia's Minister for Information, Radmila Milentijevic. The following passage is an excerpt from IREX's press statement following that meeting, dated January 13, 1998.
     IREX, with an attorney from Covington & Burling, met with the Serbian Minister for Information, Radmila Milentijevic, at her request on December 30, 1997, to discuss the analysis. Ms Milentijevic expressed concern that the draft used for the analysis was poorly translated and that this accounted for the concerns expressed in the analysis. At the meeting, the Minister provided official copies of the translation of the draft law. Upon comparison of the two translations after the meeting, however, no substantive differences affecting the analysis were found. The concerns expressed in the Covington & Burling analysis, therefore, remain. The Professional Media Program hopes that this analysis and its suggested refinements to the draft will assist the Republic of Serbia to draft and adopt a Public Information Law which meets generally accepted international standards and thereby fully protects the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of information and freedom of the press.
     The following passage is taken from Covington & Burling's analysis of the new law regarding the registration of media in Serbia:
     Articles 8 through 17 cover registration requirements for the media. Although the Law does not expressly relate the content of a publication or program to its regulatory treatment, several of the registration provisions could be used to censor media content.
     For example, Article 15 requires a publisher (apparently only of newspapers and magazines) "to forward a copy of his publication, immediately upon the publication, to the public prosecutor's office, the administrative body in charge of public information, and the National Library." This requirement is unclear, potentially burdensome, and susceptible to abuse. It is unclear whether the requirement applies to the first publication or to every publication. If the latter, the requirement is onerous and could either deter expression or force infractions of the rule. Given the political context, a requirement that publications/broadcasts be forwarded to the public prosecutor is intimidating and raises the possibility that media registration will be granted, renewed, and revoked on the basis of the views expressed in publications or programming, particularly political viewpoints. Any efforts to reduce the number of media outlets expressing views at odds with the government would be clearly contrary to the government's obligations under Article 10 of the ECHR and the Law on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. See, e.g., Lingens and Leitgens v. Austria, App. No. 8803/79, 4 Eur. H.R. Rep.373 10c (1982) (Commission Report) (it is the very function of the press in a democratic society to participate in the political process by checking on the development of the debate carried on by political office-holders). The Law could be improved by eliminating Article 15.
     Another example of a seemingly innocuous provision that could be used to censor the media is the requirement that the media disclose all foreign sources of funding (Arts. 14, 16, 17). A number of governments have used a media organisation's receipt of foreign support as an excuse to silence or harass the organisation. The best safeguard against this danger would be to eliminate the disclosure requirement. Short of this, the Law should state that the identity of funding sources will in no way affect the registration or regulatory status of a media organization.
     Two additional improvements could be made to ensure that the registration requirements are not used to censor the media and to reduce the burden on journalists. First, the obligation to register could be limited to media organizations of a particular size. As it now stands, the Law would oblige publishers of maps, posters and flyers to register. A narrow requirement would permit these publications and small newsletters and newspapers to flourish without unnecessary governmental intrusion. Second, there should be an express disclaimer that no media entity may be denied registration or otherwise prejudiced on the basis of its content.
     All information was provided by IREX, which is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. The Professional Media Program of IREX, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), provides training and technical assistance to independent media in Central and Eastern Europe. As private organisations, the opinions expressed by IREX and Covington & Burling are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the US Government. Visit the IREX website at http://www.irex/org .

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B92 INDEPENDENT RADIO DAILY NEWS

Policeman shot

GLODJANE, KOSOVO. A Serbian policeman was wounded yesterday afternoon in the Glodjane village in Kosovo. The Pristina Media Centre reports that Drasko Stosic, who comes from Pec, was shot after four members of the Kosovo Liberation Army attacked a police patrol near this village. Police returned fire but it appears that Stosic was the only one wounded.

No comment on journalists' fate

PRISTINA, KOSOVO. State agencies, including Prime Minister Tomislav Nikolic, Zoran Andjelkovic, the president of the temporary executive council for Kosovo, and Veljko Odalovic, who heads the district of Kosovo, have refused to comment on yesterday's announcement that the two kidnapped Tanjug journalist would be imprisoned by the UCK. Tanjug editors and journalists have also kept silent about the two months' prison term that Nebojsa Radosevic and Vladimir Dobricic were sentenced to.
However, Adem Demaqi, the political representative of the UCK, has told Radio B92 that he would personally intervene on behalf of the journalists. Demaqi also reported that the UCK High Command had refused the International Red Cross visiting rights saying that there was no condition for this. He finished by saying that he had not see the two reporters and had no right to.
Meanwhile, Kosovo's secretary for humanitarian issues, Zeinel Labedin Kureishi demanded yesterday that the Serbian Red Cross of the IRC be permitted to visit since no one has seen the pair since they were abducted on October 18.

Hill: Time for announcement

PRISTINA, KOSOVO. Christopher Hill, the US ambassador to Macedonia, has said that it's high time for Belgrade to make some kind of announcement about the starting point for negotiations with Kosovo Albanians. He did, however, go on to say, that it was still not time for the negotiations themselves. In an interview with the BBC, Hill said that the coordination of both side's positions on the situation was still in progress. He went on to say that the US proposal for Kosovo contained an agreement on renewing the province's economy, self-management, and the establishment of democratic institutions. The proposal did not deal with the issue that most Albanians were concerned with, Hill said, a new status for Kosovo outside of Serbia.
Commenting on the proposal for Kosovo, Deputy Serbian Prime Minster Tomislav Nikolic said on Saturday that the agreement would include a level of autonomy that is without precedent in the world. In an interview with Palma Plus Television, Nikolic said that the agreement will please both Serbia and Kosovo Albanians. He went on to call on the international community to fulfill its promises and maintain peace in the province.

Observers arrive

BELGRADE, SERBIA. Seventy Americans, who will take part in the OSCE verification mission, arrived in Belgrade yesterday. Richard Huckby, a representative of the US part of the mission, announced that the seventy verifiers would be in Pristina sometime this week.

Taft in Montenegro

PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO. Julia Taft, the humanitarian issues assistant for the US secretary of state, arrived in Podgorica for a one-day visit. She is due to meet with Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dragisa Burzan as well as with Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic or Filip Vujanovic, the republic's prime minister.

Faculty to strike

BELGRADE, SERBIA. The union of employees in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering will begin a warning strike tomorrow. Professors and assistants will stop their lectures everyday between 11.00 CET and noon. The union is demanding a return to normal teaching conditions until a legal interpretation of the employment status was received and all people claiming to be security officers are removed from the building. If the demands are not met by November 10, the staff will go on a general strike.

Editorial announcement

RADIO B92 ENGLISH DESK. Starting today, From November 2, this bulletin will be published twice each weekday, at approximately 14.30 CET and 18.30 CET. On Saturdays and Sundays there will be a single bulletin at approximately 18.30 CET.
For those of our readers who also listen to our live radio bulletins in Belgrade, these will now be heard at 2.05 pm and 6.05 pm Monday to Friday and at 6.05 pm on weekends. The editors of this service hope that this new schedule will provide a better service to our readers and listeners.

Translated by: Oto Oltvanji
Edited by: Will Petersen
Editorial Board: b92eng@opennet.org

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In Kosovo, ethnic hate colors the countryside

 By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff, 11/01/98

 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia - As she drove along the winding roads of this old city, the Serbian woman, a college-educated professional, sneered when asked what she thought of Albanians.
      "Look at this garbage," she said, pointing to trash strewn along the roadside. "They live in garbage."
      Twenty-five miles west of Pristina, Zekeria Cana, a university-educated Albanian patriarch, scoffed at the suggestion that Serbian civilians have legitimate fears about being attacked by Albanian extremists.
      "The Serbs are the aggressors!" he bellowed. "It is a characteristic of the  Serb nation that they are barbarians."
      Welcome to Kosovo, where the Serbs hate the Albanians, the Albanians hate the Serbs, and everyone hates the Gypsies.
      Trying to fathom the fear and loathing that fans the conflict that is the latest  episode of instability in the perpetually unstable Balkans is no simple task. While it is common to portray the Serbs as blood-thirsty ogres beating up on the poor, oppressed Albanians, the picture that emerges after a tour of the province and talking to both sides is more complicated.
      Kosovo is beautiful, framed by mountains, with rolling hills, pristine brooks, and fertile farmland. At this time of year, with its hills colored by foliage, it conjures images of southern Vermont or northern Italy.
      Standing in the rural hush of central Kosovo, beneath Cicavica, a mountain that looks hauntingly like Ben Bulben, the mountain in the west of Ireland in whose shadow the poet William Butler Yeats is buried, Linda Shiapi got emotional when describing the countryside.
      "It is so beautiful," the 23-year-old Albanian said wistfully. "Can't you see why people would fight over it?"
      If Albanians think the Serbian-held province of Kosovo should be ceded to them because they make up about 90 percent of the 2 million population, Serbs consider it their spiritual and national birthplace, the site of a sacred Orthodox monastery and a 14th-century battle that they famously lost to the Ottomans.
      On one horizon, meanwhile, rises the smokestack of the biggest electricity plant in Yugoslavia, which in part provides a more practical explanation of why both sides want Kosovo.
      Ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo hate and do not recognize the Belgrade regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Most Albanians want independence. It is not known how many would settle for autonomous republic status within the Federation of Yugoslavia, which is made up of Serbia and Montenegro.
      Last February, the Albanian separatists of the Kosovo Liberation Army launched a guerrilla war against the Serbs. Milosevic responded by unleashing a brutal offensive against the KLA, killing scores of civilians in the process. The Yugoslav government says more than 150 Serb police and soldiers and another 150 civilians were killed. International observers say that about 700 Albanian civilians were killed by Serb forces. Some died as collateral damage, others in more premeditated circumstances that have been referred to the war crimes tribunal at The Hague.
      The Serb scorched-earth policy in Kosovo was similar to the American debacle in Vietnam. Wanting to limit casualties, and wary of fighting a guerrilla army on its home turf, the Serbs simply bombed and burned villages where the KLA had a presence - just as the American government did to villages where the Viet Cong thrived - either not caring whether civilians got killed or hoping those deaths would convince the rebels it wasn't worth the price of revolution. But as American forces found out the hard way, such brutality only strengthened the resolve of the local population.
      Just as many Americans were opposed to the Vietnam War, many Serbs, especially in Belgrade, are appalled at what their government did to civilians. But in Kosovo, it is hard to find a Serb opposed to what happened. They feel isolated and vulnerable, outnumbered and under constant siege, and most of them seem to think the treacherous Albanians who harbored terrorists got what was coming to them.
      It was the photographs of massacred Albanian women, their babies dead beside them, that stirred the United Nations to authorize the use of force to stop the Serb attacks and that has brought NATO for the first time in its 50-year history within a whisker of bombing a nation for crushing a rebellion within its own borders.
      In persuading Milosevic to pare back his troops to the levels they were before the fighting began last February, US special envoy Richard C. Holbrooke has provided the international community with a window of opportunity to fashion a diplomatic solution.
      But so deep is the separation and mistrust between Albanians and Serbs that few here believe last week's relative calm will last beyond next spring. Seasonal cease-fires are common in the Balkans, where winters are harsh and neither side feels like fighting the elements and their enemies at the same time.
      The KLA, battered but unbowed, is regrouping. Notoriously split by factions and personalities, the insurgents have reorganized into four regional units, according to KLA officials. Standing in a field about 20 miles southwest of Pristina, an armed KLA man insisted his group would honor the cease-fire it called last month. But he was adamant when asked if he would put down his gun for good.
      "I will put down my arms when we achieve freedom," he said.
      The bitterness in the countryside, where some 200,000 Albanians lived for months in makeshift refugee camps, and where fireside tales of Serb atrocities were told and sometimes embellished, is such that most Albanians do not want the KLA to put down its guns. But if the KLA resumes its attacks in the spring, as most everyone here believes will happen, it is hard to imagine Milosevic standing idly by.
      Here in Pristina, the provincial capital, most of the beggars are Gypsies, about 40,000 of whom live in Kosovo. But young Albanian children also sprint to cars stopped at traffic lights to wash windshields with filthy sponges.
      "Dinar! Dinar!" they plead, repeating the word for money.
      The children are sometimes no more than 5 years old. At night, prepubescent Albanian children sell cigarettes at intersections until allhours. Serbs speak derisively about this, saying it shows how irresponsible Albanians are for having such large families that their children are forced to beg or work like adults even before entering adolescence. Albanians have the highest birth rate in Europe, Serbs the lowest.
      But Serbs are less likely to point out that since 1989, when Milosevic unilaterally ended Kosovo's autonomy in one of his recurring fits of extreme nationalism, thousands of Albanians have been summarily fired from their jobs. The chef here at the Hotel Grand, which is state-owned, was fired simply because he is Albanian. He now runs a kebab shop a few blocks away.
      Serb economic policy is sometimes nihilistic. Some factories sit idle, as there are not enough Serbs to run them. Albanians who want to open businesses here, meanwhile, have to pay the government much more than Serbs do for the same privilege.
      Albanians refuse to recognize the Yugoslav state, giving their allegiance instead to an Albanian government in exile. They say they want democracy, but only on their terms. They will not take part in an election or census, the latter meaning there is no real, accurate measure of how much of the population they constitute, the former meaning they disenfranchise themselves from the regional government that controls jobs and services. In this former communist state where government jobs are often the most stable and well-paying, Serbs keep them for themselves.
      There is a de facto apartheid here, as Serbs frequent Serb-owned businesses and Albanians patronize their own kind. Over a cup of coffee, both sides are capable of saying the most vile things about each other.
      About 70 percent of Albanians in Kosovo are under the age of 30. They seem as confident as Serbs do anxious.
      "We will have our own country one day," said Shiapi, the young, idealistic Albanian. "One day soon."
      Standing next to her well in Kijevo, a Serbian village in central Kosovo, Radmila Ristic longs to join her brother in Chicago. She looks much older than her 57 years. She rubs her big, beefy hands together, wiping dirt from them as she stares out over the land her family has farmed for generations.
      "There is no future here," she said ruefully. "Not for Serbs, at least."

 This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 11/01/98.
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The Washington Times
Monday, November 2, 1998

Serbian peasants fear retaliation in Kosovo
They decry 'sellout,' ask police to stay
by Philip Smucker

DECANI, Yugoslavia -- Ethnic Albanians living in fear in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo may want Serbian security forces out, but Serbian peasants want them to stay.
     Little noticed amid the NATO bombing threat and the retreating Serbian tanks last week, dozens of angry Serbian peasant demonstrated at a police kiosk against what they call the Yugoslav government's "policy of surrender."
     "We are afraid, and we want the police to stay," said Dejan Krstic, 21, a Serbian resident who gathered with his countrymen to vent anger at the government's "sellout" to NATO. "You see what we have bene left with."
     Mr. Krstic wondered aloud about his own security as he stood behind an ancient Muslim Albanian mosque that had been shelled, doused with gasoline and burned to a hollow shell by the Serbian rulers of Decani.
     "You see what the Serbs have done," countered Sofia Gykokei, 60, one of the few ethnic Albanian residents of the town who have dared to return. "Do you think we can ever live together again? We don't even want one of those Serbian policemen around."
     From the looks of Decani's rubble-strewn streets, already abandoned by all but a few hundred residents, there appears to be more than enough Serbian police to keep the peace.
     Even with the pullback of thousands of Serbian police units in compliance with a NATO threat of air strikes, several hundred special Serbian paramilitary policemen -- armed with artillery and heavy machine guns -- remain near the town, whose 12th century monastery became a refuge for Serbian peasants fleeing Kosovo's guerrilla conflict this year.
     Still, the Rev. Sava Janjic, who leads a Baltimore-based Orthodox charity's efforts to rebuild the shattered town, says there are genuine fears among the Serbs throughout Kosovo.
     "There is a great fear among the Serbian population, especially in this area of Decani where the Serbs are a little minority and have fears that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) will attack again," said Mr. Janjic, a bearded and bespectacled leader who spends most of his time within the rustic confines of the monastery.
     The ethnic Albanian KLA, fielding an estimated 10,000 men and women in arms, is fighting for independence from Serbian rule. Some of its leaders have admitted to a policy of kidnapping Serbian police and civilian "spies."
     At least 20,000 Serbs, including some refugees from small, predominantly ethnic Albanian towns, have left the region, where they represent a 7 percent minority. Some of them are living in large cities awaiting word about the 112 Serbs who have disappeared or been kidnapped during the eight month guerrilla conflict in Kosovo.
     Radomir Milkovic, 17, and his three sisters lost their parents during a summer battle in the village of Pantina.
     Last week, as Serbian paramilitary police and army units pulled back into barracks across Kosovo and into Serbia, KLA guerrilla fighters crept down from the hills to fill the vaccum, often brandishing full battle gear, flak jackets and U.S.-made Barratt sniper rifles.
     In some cases, as in Decani on the southern Yugoslav-Albanian border, the KLA now encircles the area. Shotting between Serbs and Albanians have resumed even as Western diplomats say that a tentative U.N.-demanded cease-fire is in place.
     The promised influx of 2,000 unarmed U.S. and European diplomats -- to be known as "verifiers" -- has one little to ally Serbian fears of KLA revenge. The verifiers' task is to deter violence, reasure returning refugees and discover "who did wha to whom and how" in the Kosovo conflict.
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NEW YORK TIMES

Milosevic Moves to Stifle Dissent in Academia
By JANE PERLEZ

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Vladimir Vodinelic has been teaching law at Belgrade University for 27 years, and his own experience, reinforced by reading the history books, tells him that times have never been so bad in Yugoslav academia.
       Four months ago, Vodinelic, a specialist in civil law and the author of many texts and articles, was dismissed. In an official document, new officials of the law school said they would not "dare" to reappoint Vodinelic in the annual and, until recently, largely pro forma procedure.
       Vodinelic, 50, who calls himself "opposition minded," is more blunt. "The real reason is the revival of the old Communist category of the politically correct person," he said.
       In recent months, as President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia was allowing his troops to storm through the towns and villages of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, he was also conducting a quieter operation at Serbia's universities to still the voices of teachers he considered troublesome.
       At Belgrade University, Milosevic used his coalition partner, the far-right Vojislav Seselj of the Radical Party, and officials of his wife's far-left political party, known as the Yugoslav Left, to clean out those deemed unfaithful to the government. This left-to-right coalition -- what critics call Serbia's "pluralistic totalitarianism" -- has not been created for ideological reasons but more on the basis of personal loyalties.
       And loyalty to that triumvirate of political parties is now the ticket to academic promotion, say professors at Belgrade University who are sympathetic to the opposition.
       Four law school professors were dismissed, 25 professors in the philology department were forbidden to teach and two professors in the mathematics department were banned from the classroom. The purges, and reorganizations of most departments according to political loyalties, were carried out by new deans and rectors appointed by the government.
       Under a new law on universities, one of the most cherished notions of academic freedom was abolished: Professors no longer have any say in the choice of their deans. Instead, deans are chosen by the government.
       The new dean of the philology department, for example, is Radmilo Marojevic, a professor of Russian morphology and a member of the Radical Party. One of Marojevic's first decisions in his new post was to make Russian a compulsory subject for all postgraduate philology students, no matter what their specialty.
       And in one of the boldest moves against the university, which since before World War I has more or less held its own against government intrusiveness, Seselj was made a member of the executive board of the law school. The executive board holds critical powers on how money is spent within the school.
       As well as leading the clampdown on the university, Seselj was the main force in closing down independent newspapers and radio stations. On Oct. 21, the government said that the closed newspapers could reopen but that they were subject to a new media law that gives broad powers to the government to shut them down again.
       The new law bans broadcasts of Serbian language programs by foreign media, including the Voice of America, the BBC and Radio Free Europe.
       Milosevic's campaign at Belgrade University -- people here refer to it as "pacification" -- is part of a concerted effort to snuff out one of the last cells of criticism of the government.
       The university has been as important as the independent media, perhaps more so, in showing resistance to Milosevic. The campus was the incubator of the 88-day street demonstrations against Milosevic two years ago.
       The academics say they are particularly despondent because Milosevic seems to believe that after giving concessions to Washington on military and political matters in the Serbian province of Kosovo, he has a free hand to do what he wants elsewhere. Thus, the academics say, Milosevic is extinguishing the last possibilities for his opponents to hang on to any democratic institutions.
       "The international community can press Milosevic to do some things in Kosovo and sooner or later he will do them," said Milo Arsenijevic, a professor in the philosophy department. "But without pressing him to democratize -- this is a mistake. It encourages him to feel that he's a good boy, and he interprets it to mean that he can do what he likes in Serbia with no consequences to himself."
       Vodinelic said he learned of the real reasons for his dismissal from the law school from an interview that the new dean, Oliver Antic, recently gave to a Serbian newspaper. "He said, 'I will bring order to the law faculty, which is a breeding ground of the Civic Alliance,"' Vodinelic recalled.
       The Civic Alliance is one of three opposition parties that led the street demonstrations. Vodinelic said he is not a member of the Alliance.
       The dean told other law school professors, Vodinelic said, that there was a "very thick file in the secret service on me." Vodinelic, who is a Croat, said he also suspected that he was dismissed because of his nationality. "Without being asked about my nationality, the dean said, 'I did not sack him because he is a Croat."'
       Vodinelic said he was suing the university for illegal dismissal. He is arguing in court, he said, that he meets all the academic requirements for reappointment and that his dismissal was a discriminatory act that violated his constitutional rights.
       In many campuses around the world, students would quickly organize protests against the stifling of academic freedom. But in Serbia there are two reasons why they have remained silent.
       In an effort to blunt demonstrations, an extra round of exams was introduced at the time that the purges were taking place. And Seselj announced that students who did not attend class would be expelled from the university.
       As for support from international colleagues, Vodinelic said several American professors had spoken out. German and French university authorities have also expressed solidarity.
       But so far, he said, the support from abroad has brought no practical results. Vodinelic is now without his monthly $600 salary. Even so, he said, the "moral value" has been vital.
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Decani Monastery               tel +381 390 61543
38322 Decani, Serbia           fax +381 390 61567
http://www.decani.yunet.com    e-mail: decani@EUnet.yu

Monk fights modern battle in medieval Kosovo setting
05:32 a.m. Nov 01, 1998 Eastern

By Kurt Schork

DECANI, Serbia, Nov 1 (Reuters) - When Father Sava Janjic arrived in the badly damaged ethnic Albanian village of Crnobreg in Kosovo this week to deliver aid packages he saw that the sign of the cross had been painted on walls and gates everywhere.
     The 33-year old monk was appalled, even though the crosses were undoubtedly the work of Serbian security forces who often invoke the Serbian Orthodox church as their sword and shield in the fight against ethnic Albanian separatists here.
     The ethnic Albanians who make up about 90 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million population are mainly Moslem.
     "It was an abuse because the cross was inscribed as a symbol of hate," said the the Serbian Orthodox monk.
     "The cross is a symbol of love and of tolerance, of spiritual and human values. It is unacceptable that the cross be used to humiliate anyone.
     "Religion in our time is often used for political and ideological purposes. Because of its great emotional impact religion can help mobilise people, for good or bad."
     Voices of moderation like Father Sava's have been all but drowned out in Kosovo this year by fighting between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and government security forces.
     Operating from behind the walls of a 14th century monastery in Decani, this 33-year-old guardian of the Serbian Orthodox faith is decidely modern in his approach to conflict resolution.
     Rising at 1 a.m., he prays and then spends several hours surfing the Internet, gathering news about the conflict in Kosovo and exchanging e-mails with more than 300 reporters, diplomats and friends around the world.
     "The Internet enables me to speak from the pulpit of my keyboard. This is not a normal routine. I'm on a war footing. My day is adapted to the quality of the telephone lines," said the monk with the black cassock, blond beard and thick spectacles.
     "I usually get 50 or 60 e-mail messages a day, but when there was a threat of NATO air strikes the number shot up to about 200 a day. People were concerned about us."
     Father Sava's formal morning prayers at the monastery run from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., followed by breakfast, a brief rest and a day full of meetings and visits spent promoting tolerance.
     Decani's main street of burned-out, looted shops is an unlikely approach to one of Europe's architectural treasures.
     The monastery at Decani, with its magnificent church and 23 monks, is the largest in Yugoslavia – an island of spirituality in the sea of war and hate that is Kosovo.
     In late May and early June the monks holed up behind the monastery's ancient stone walls for days as fighting swirled alarmingly close.
     "We could hear the shooting and explosions and the sky in the near distance was aglow with the fire from burning villages," Father Sava recounted.
     "We could not imagine what had happened until we went and saw for ourselves. The destruction was terrible."
     Kosovo's ethnic Albanians have been ruled with an iron hand by Belgrade since provincial autonomy was revoked in 1989.
     A decade of peaceful protest by ethnic Albanians against human rights abuses and job and educational discrimination finally gave way to armed struggle this year as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began fighting for independence.
     But this southern Serbian province remains firmly in the grip of police and army troops after a summer-long reign of terror where government forces failed to discriminate between military and civilian targets.
     Eight months into the conflict at least 1,000 people are dead, quarter of a million have been driven from their homes and scores of villages are destroyed.
     Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians alike tremble for their future.
     Father Sava decried 'defamations' by both sides in Kosovo, explaining that while "it's nice to live in a medieval setting as we (monks) do, that does not mean we are prepared to accept a medieval mentality."
     Standing before the sombre splendour of the iconostasis of the church at Decani, the monk took pride in the role Orthodoxy played in preserving the identity of Serbia through half a millennium of rule by Moslem Ottoman Turks.
     But he stopped far short of the hate-filled nationalism to which Yugoslavia succumbed after the death of Tito, its post-World War Two communist dictator, and from which Kosovo has not yet managed to escape:
     "After the fall of the medieval Serbian empire it was the Orthodox church that preserved our language, our national consciousness, the memory of our state and our freedom."
     "The church is and has been a guardian of the Serbian nation but not in the narrow sense of 19th century nationalism...The spiritual side of Orthodoxy is not so well known among the Serb people now after 50 years of communism."
     "You might be surprised to know that at our Sunday service of worship we have only about 10 people from Decani in attendance. So for the Serb, tradition is important, but there has been a kind of secularisation of tradition here, and all across Europe, and that has taken man further from God."
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Decani Monastery               tel +381 390 61543
38322 Decani, Serbia           fax +381 390 61567
http://www.decani.yunet.com    e-mail: decani@EUnet.yu

             KËSHILLI PËR MBROJTJEN E TË DREJTAVE DHE TË LIRIVE TË NJERIUT
               COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
                     Rr. Vellusha 46, 38000 Prishtinë - Kosovë; tel&fax: 381 (0) 38 36 965
                       http:www.albanian.com/kmdlnj e-mail: kmdlnj@albanian.com

                                 REPORT NO.442

ON THE WIDESPREAD REPRESSION AND HARASSMENT PERPETRATED BY THE SERBIAN POLICE AND OTHER AUTHORITIES IN KOSOVA FROM OCTOBER 18 UNTIL OCTOBER 25, 1998

       The text you can read at  week442.htm

OSCE Verification Commission praises cooperation with LDK

      PRISHTINE, Nov 2 (ATA)-A preparatory team of the OSCE Verification Commission, made up of 250 members with observer's status, is preparing to set up a general staff in Prishtine and its regional centers in Peje, Prizren, Mitrovice and Gjilan as well as 25 offices over Kosova, the Kosova Information Centre says, referring to OSCE spokesman Mons Niberg in Prishtine.
      Niberg has assessed the cooperation with the Serb authorities and Albanians' representatives as very good.
      "The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) has formed a committee for coordination with the Verification Commission, while the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) and Adem Demaci supported the mission recently," said Niberg.
      He said that the OSCE observers encounter problems on the ground and added that the OSCE, during its one-year term has no powers to intervene, but only to implement the agreement, monitor the situation on the ground and organise elections in Kosova.
/dast/lm/

Serb project on Kosova to be announced today

      PRISHTINE, Nov 2 (ATA)
      NATO sources in Brussels reported that, today Nov 2, Milosevic is expected to announce the Serb project on the future self-rule of Kosova, which according to the mentioned sources is based on the proposal, the international brokerer, the U.S. American Ambassador, Christopher Hill presented to Belgrade and Albanian authorities, Kosova Information Center says.
      Serb proposal for the wide-ranging self-rule in Kosova will also include  11 points, announced by Milosevic after signing the agreement with Holbrooke. According to the European sources, in general, this plan offers the basis for the future agreement, which may be improved or completed in order to bring closer the stands of both sides. Albanian-Serbian negotiations are expected to begin on Nov 4.
/dast/lola/

Humanitarian aid for displaced Kosovars in Albania

      SHKODER, Nov. 2 (ATA) - By M. Malja:
      The distribution of aid in food items and clothes continue for the displaced Kosovars in the town of Shkoder. The aid has been donated by the association "Reliev-Islamic," seated in this town.
      The director of this association, Sait El Hamdi, told ATA that the aid included packages with 20 kilos of food items, 2000 blankets and 200 mattresses destined for the 1000 displaced Kosovars who sheltered in Shkodra families.
      According to him, this association has donated 1.5 million lek to provide the 120 Kosova children with books and school equipment.
      This is the third time that the above association distributes aid for the displaced Kosovars in Shkoder.
/s.sh/mt/

Some 45 specialists to treat Kosova traumatized children

      TIRANE, Nov.2 (ATA) - BY G.Dilaveri: Some 45 Albanian specialists will treat the psychosocial problems of the children coming from Kosova, the spokesman of the UNICEF told ATA on Monday.
      The group of the specialists will be able to know the psycho-social consequences of the traumas caused as the result of children's departure from their parents and relatives.
      The specialists who are teachers, doctors or nurses, underwent a training during the last week of Oct. in a meeting organized on this aim by UNICEF in collaboration with the Albanian Center for the Human Rights. There were discussed the problems created to the children coming from Kosova, and to Albanian children traumatized during the riots at home. A rich experience was given by two Croatian specialists that dealt for a long period of time with this kind of traumas in their countries.
     Recently, as a result of the displaced Kosovars, a great number of children who have eyewitnessed the crimes committed against their parents and their relatives, are sheltered in Albania.
/A.Ke/A.A/

Japanese Government backs political solution of Kosova issue

      TIRANA, Nov. 2 (ATA) - By U. Bajrami:
      The Japanese government has supported the political solution of the Kosova issue, by playing a positive role in the efforts of the international community for the resolution of this question, as a member of the UN Security Council and G-8.
      The press and information department close to the Foreign Ministry told ATA that the Japanese Government has pointed out the contribution it has given and will give for Kosova, by taking into consideration the latest report of the monitoring mission in Kosova, as well as the expected developments.
      In regard to the humanitarian assistance for the refugees and for the other persons displaced from Kosova, the Japanese government reports that it has added an assistance worth 2.3 million USD for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC.) In response to the recent appeal of the UN humanitarian organizations, the Japanese Government says that it will further increase its contribution to UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO and other organizations in Kosova, worth 7.3 million USD.
      As another form of the contribution of Japan for Kosova, the Japonesse government, in its press release, considers also the cooperation with the neighbouring countries, Albania and FYROM, ends the report of the press and information office close to the Albanian Foreign Ministry.
/lh/mt/

Some 80 000 Albanians in brink of humanitarian catastrophe

      PRISHTINE, Nov 2 (ATA)
      Some 80 000 Albanian inhabitants of Malisheve commune are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, besides a considerable number of Albanian inhabitants from the communes of Rahovec, Kline, Gllogoc, Suharek, Lipjan and Shtime sheltered in this commune, Kosova Information Center said.
      According to the chairman of humanitarian association "Mother Tereza", the gravest situation has prevailed among the inhabitants of Domanek village, who since one month have not received any humanitarian aid. While in the village of Pagarushe,  because of health service nonexistence, an 18-month child recently died.
      Reports say that Serbian police forces keep being present in Malisheve, deploying near Carralluk, Smolic and near Terpez, Kijev, Mlecan and Llazic, where reinforcements are reported to have also reached.
/dast/lola/

Betreff:         [ALBANEWS] Press-Release: APPEAL FOR UPSUP 10
Datum:         Mon, 2 Nov 1998 10:39:41 EST
    Von:         Alooscnon@AOL.COM

Dear Representative Engel--

First I would like to thank you for the tireless work you've done to help Kosova. I realize full well humanitarian agencies like the Red Cross are obstructed from their normal duties such as identifying and visiting "missing" people and detainees. And the interim "agreement" provides no mechanisms to safeguard abuse of the law.

On May 23, 1998, nine USP student leaders from Prizen between the ages of twenty and twenty three  were arrested for organizing a first aid course. They were held for  sixty days before sentencing in August. Their sentences range from seven and one half years to one year.

Two weeks ago, another UPSUP student, Hysen Dumishi was reported "missing." It has been discovered that he is in an isolation cell. No one has been allowed contact with him. The charges are unknown.

During 1997-1998, the student non-violent movement in Kosova received a great deal of Western political support for their right to demonstrate to regain their access to schools for Albanians. Indeed, Ambassador Robert Gelbard spent a great deal of time negotiating this new accord, working directly with the students, as did a peace group in Rome, S'ant Edigio. Yet when the student organization has turned to us for support as its members are arrested and charged without evidence of terrorism activities besides their "confessions," our State Department, Mr. Holbrooke, Mr. Hill, Mr. Gelbard, and our legislative bodies as well as our slew of fifty NGO's called the Kosova Action Council have chosen to remain silent. Even the New York Times which wrote an editorial saying that supporting the student movement was one of the most important democracy-building actions the U.S. could take has had nothing to say.

I find this reprehensible. I realize there are other far more urgent cases, but the students should be a starting point. They stood up to the military police's brute force in front of us all, unarmed, stating they were the last peaceful inititative in Kosova. Now we abandon them.

I urge you to try every means available to your office to push for an appeal.

Sincerely,

Alice Mead
Kosova Action Network

THE ALBANIAN AMERICAN CIVIC LEAGUE

ANNOUNCEMENT

AACL announces that a major demonstration to promote the freedom and independence of Kosova, and to honor those who have fought and died already for this sacred cause  will take place at 10:00 AM on November the 11th, Veteran's Day, a day in which America celebrates it own Heroes who also fought for freedom and independence.

As of now the AACL has already obtained the permits for the demonstration which will start  by the UN as usual, although this might be subject to change. If any such change will occur there will be prompt notification.

The AACL invites all member of the community and their family to join us on this day in great numbers and notifies the community that there is great need for volunteers to help in the preparatory phase, to ensure the success of the demonstration. The demonstration will take place in the form of a funeral march and volunteers will be needed to build coffins (out of light materials) which will be rapped in flags and carried in procession, and to gather large pictures of the victims in Kosova, which are also to be carried during the demonstration. Volunteers will also be needed  to make telephone calls in order to notify as many community members as possible.

Call the Albanian American Civic League at (914) 762-5530 to find out how you can help, or for any question you may have regarding the demonstration or our organization

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