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H.E. Mr. Sergio De Mello, UNMIK, Pristina
General M Jackson, KFOR HQ, Pristina

Gracanica, July 04, 1999

Dear Sirs,

With great distress and utmost concern we are forced to write to you again after the violence committed against the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija in the last few days.

Only two hours after the signing of our common Statement with the leaders of Kos-ovo Albanians, in which both sides expressed their sincere commitment to work on peace and reconciliation, we experienced unprecedented violence and provocations which were directly organized by the very same Kosovo Albanian leaders.

The Kosovo Albanian "celebration" which was followed with intense shooting, disorder, violence and provocative behavior, in the very presence of the KFOR troops and UN authorities in the city of Pristina, has manifested that the true goal of the Albanian political leaders does not seem to be democratic and multiethnic Kosovo, but rather an ethnically cleansed region in which everything belonging to the Serbian people is despised and exposed to destruction and humiliation.

During the night between 2nd and 3rd of July the monuments of Vuk Karadzic and Njegos (the famous Serb writers), in the very center of the city were destroyed. The pulled down statues were trailed by tractors through the streets of Pristina, while the enraged Albanian crowd was yelling and spitting on them. At the same time intensive shooting by weapons of different calibers spread around city and its surrounding that it seemed that the real war had just begun. Such provocative use of weapons, which is a direct violation of the recent Undertaking between KFOR and UCK, clearly manifests that the international community worked on one track only, forcing the Serb troops to withdraw, while on the other hand hundreds of gangs were allowed to return to Kosovo with new weapons ready to spread death and destruction against all non-Albanians.

There is no need to say what symbolic and psychological meaning the destruction of these two monuments has for our people. Their destruction is a clear message to Serbs that there is no place for them and their culture in Kosovo. Regrettably, Pristina is not an isolated example. Several days ago a statue of the Serb Medieval Emperor Uros in Urosevac was destroyed, while the monuments to Emperor Dusan and Consul Yastre-bov in Prizren were desecrated and destroyed as well. All around Kosovo everything which belongs to the Serbian people is exposed to merciless destruction. In fact beside many outrageous murders, looting, expulsions, rapes, burning of homes, we are experiencing a culturocide of our people.

We have reliable reports that on the head of the celebration and disorder in Pristina was no one else but Mr. Hashim Thaci, the leader of UCK, who just a few hours before had signed the joint Statement in which he agreed to appeal on his people to restrain and live in peace with their neighbors.

Only a few hours later Albanian crowd, enflamed with nationalism and ethnic hatred "celebrated" their freedom by burning additional few Serbian homes in Pristina and destroying the Serbian cultural heritage.

But this is not the end. The Albanian leaders not only failed to speak openly to their people in the line of our mutual agreement but the crimes against Serbs were contin-ued with greater vigor. All Serbs from Orlovac village near Pristina had to leave their homes (41 families altogether). Several Serbs were kidnapped. Yesterday, Djordjevic family in Gnjilanska street in Pristina were attacked by a group of armed Albanians. Miroslav Djordjevic was seriously wounded and had to be operated for 3,5 hours in the hospital. Ratko Djordjevic, his brother, was beaten and wounded in his leg. The family was forced to leave their home.

We have just received a report from Gnjilane area, where the monastery of Binac near Vitina was desecrated and burned to the ground. The monks from the monastery were forced to leave and hardly managed to save their lives. A Serb Milan Ljusic was kidnapped by three armed Albanians with UCK insignia from Gorioc Monastery near Istok yesterday afternoon, while the nuns were threatened to leave the monastery or otherwise they would be slaughtered. Five carbonated Serb bodies have been found in Istok. We still do not know their identity.

Gentlemen, our delegation made a very important step forward towards peaceful coexistence of all national communities and restoration of peace and stability in Kosovo. We clearly condemned crimes by Milosevic's regime although the Albanian delegation refused to mention and condemn crimes against Serbs at all. We think that we have manifested more than our sincere readiness and wish to cooperate. But we are not going to continue doing so under any condition. Therefore we strongly demand from UNMIK and KFOR:

- to publicly condemn the violence which occurred during the "Albanian cele-bration" two days ago.
- to energetically urge Kosovo Albanian leaders, especially Mr. Thaci to distance himself publicly from the latest violence and address openly his people and call them to live in peace and tolerance. Words without clear actions are useless. The authority which Mr. Thaci enjoys among Kosovo Albanians makes him very responsible for their present and future behaviour.
- to restore both monuments in Pristina to their previous positions and to insist that the same is done in Urosevac and Prizren. The presence of KFOR must not be abused by Kosovo Albanians for destruction of the Serbian cultural heritage. The Albanians are free to build their monuments as well but not to destroy what belongs to other communities and cultures.
- to urge UCK officials to urgently offer detailed information about all Serbs who are arrested or kidnapped by their members. We have clear indications that camps for Serbs still exist in Kosovo. Who is running them and how long they will exist more is the answer for KFOR authorities. The crimes committed against Kosovo Serbs by various Albanian military formations must thoroughly be investigated by ICTY and not by local Kosovo courts. We must have in mind that in the course of last two years many Serb civilians were killed by UCK, many kidnapped, all Serbs who lived on the Albanian controlled territory were completely expelled from their homes and their property looted or destroyed. The crimes against Serbs have not begun two weeks ago only. Publicly acknowledged investigation of the crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanians will very much prevent further crimes and atrocities for which some extremist Albanian think that they have no responsibility.

Fulfillment of these demands will give us sincere encouragement to continue our fur-ther cooperation. However, if Albanian leaders, especially from UCK, continue ignoring or minimizing crimes against non-Albanians, especially Serbs, and put all responsibility on Serbs in general, we must say that we cannot take part and cooperate in any joint commission envisaged by the latest Statement. Our will to work together, despite severe criticism of Milosevic's media and individual protests from some of the suffering Kosovo Serbs, must not be understood as a green light for continuation of crimes against our people and Church. Unless the Albanian leadership not only condemns the latest crimes but also makes first verifiable steps to stop terror and free the arrested and kidnapped Serbs, we will not be in position any longer to meet them and work together again.

We sincerely believe that you fully understand our position. We are also taking opportunity to express our gravest surprise how KFOR could not have prevented such violence in the streets of Pristina and the destruction of our two monuments. That is why we expect that this failure will be improved and the monuments be restored to their place in the nearest future.

Despite of these latest incidents we must say that we appreciate the efforts which KFOR has made in the course of the last week. Actions in which KFOR soldiers confiscated weapons, arrested various criminals, and in several cases prevented major crimes show true commitment of the KFOR and UNMIK to work on creation of better security conditions for all communities in Kosovo and Metohija and fully implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1224, for which we remain grateful.

Sincerely Yours,

Bishop of Raska and Prizren, Kyr ARTEMIJE

Mr. Momcilo Trajkovic, Serbian Democratic Movement

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