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"... the whole of man, both body and soul, is holy. And that applies to every human being, regardless of his religion or nationality. Every murder, every disrespect for human personality and freedom, is sin, even more so when it is justified on ideological or nationalistic grounds."
The Serbian Orthodox Church to Her Spiritual Children at Christmas 1999
Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch  PAVLE - 7 January 2000
full text ==>  back000107a.htm
 
"What is man, and what is he worth? The twentieth century said that man is  nothing, but this feast today tells us, just as that day two thousand years ago told us, that man is sacred. And that applies not only to his spirit or his soul, but also to his body. The whole of man, body and soul together, is an inviolable shrine of incalculable and eternal worth. Today's feast tells us this, the day on which the Bodiless becomes embodied and on which the Son of God become the Son of man. This precisely is what is radically new in our faith. That the soul is holy is suggested by other religions, but that the body is equally sacred is found nowhere else. During the whole first eight centuries of Christianity, which were characterized by struggles against heresies, the Church unyieldingly defended this truth: that the whole of man, both body and soul, is holy. And that applies to every human being, regardless of his religion or nationality. Every murder, every disrespect for human personality and freedom, is sin, even more so when it is justified on ideological or nationalistic grounds."
The Serbian Orthodox Church to Her Spiritual Children at Christmas 1999
Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch  PAVLE - 7 January 2000
full text ==> back000107a.htm

 
»"The problem is that a lot of people look backward and this is what I don't like," says Renzo Daviddi, head of private sector development for the United Nations administration in Kosovo. "They talk about 1989, about Trepca, about the giants of the past. If they continue to look into the past, they are in trouble."«
From „What's an old mine worth in Kosovo?“ by Richard Mertens,
Christian Science Monitor, January 6, 2000
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/01/06/p7s1.htm

 
»The biggest problem in Kosovo is the problem of ethnic minorities, but it is first necessary to clarify the confusion regarding the terminology in that area. Four wars were waged in the Balkans because of the terms minority and majority. If you are a minority that means that you live in somebody else's state which is not yours in the ethnic sense. In the American society minority groups are not ethnic groups but the term has a completely different meaning. On the other hand, in this region the term minority does not signify a numerical qualifier but a descriptor for a status within a society. Because of that we insisted on the term ethnic community so that no one ends up a minority in Kosovo.
In Kosovo that is very important, because otherwise if [the ethnic Albanians are successful] in reducing the number of Serbs below five percent then Serbs will get minority rights, such as the right to have their folk dancing societies and attend school in Serb language once a week, as in Sweden for example. That means that you live in somebody else's state. Also, I have doubts that the Albanian society in Kosovo, which is 90 percent rural, is capable of developing better and efficient democratic institutions that would adequately protect numerically inferior ethnic communities. If the international community has so far in the Balkans in every instance regarding the Serb question applied specific solutions, in violation of accepted international laws and norms, why shouldn't it do the same in Kosovo where for the first time it is in the position to protect Serbs? Most of Kosovo Serbs haven't participated in any manner in the violence against Albanians.

Is this an example, as some claim, of double standards used by the West, which earlier this year bombed FRY because of the humanitarian catastrophe of Kosovo Albanians?

The NATO bombardment and the action initiated by the USA in full cooperation with Europe was a complete fiasco. All of them are now feeling very bad because of that but do not intend to abandon their concept. An American participant of the meeting in Sofia told me, I quote: "The International Community will insist on the multiethnic concept of Kosovo, on common institutions regardless of ethnicity of their members, even if that means that all Serbs leave the province". That is a nonsense, which points at a contradiction in terms. In America all citizens accept a given framework, that all of them are Americans regardless of their ethnic origin and separate identities, while in Kosovo the idea of a single Kosovo identity only suits Kosovo Albanians. That provides them with an acceptable tool for the forced assimilation of non-Albanians and that is why that concept has so skillfully been imposed on the International Community - the people of Kosovo shall make its own decisions. 

Which people of Kosovo?

The basic problem in the Kosovo crisis is the concept of a single Kosovo nation that has been erroneously interpreted exactly by the West. They have copied the "melting-pot" principle from the United States or France for example, where the term nationality signifies citizenship, while in this region it signifies ethnicity. On several occasions we explained to Kouchner that there is no Kosovo nation, that Kosovars are ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and that when he says "Kosovar Serbs" that literally means Albanian Serbs. Serbs in Kosovo refer to themselves as Kosovci [pronounced Kosovtsy]. The term "Kosovo nation", although it is skillfully and efficiently used by the Albanians in their propaganda, does not exist. We demand that instead the term peoples of Kosovo be used, since it refers to peoples who belong to different cultures, speak different languages, have different traditions, have opposing interpretations of history and visions of the future. In Kosovo, unlike in Bosnia-Hercegovina, there are no mixed marriages.
The differences are absolute and total. Coexistence in Kosovo always existed under threat of force and one side has always felt discriminated or was truly discriminated in one manner of another. On the other hand the conflict in Kosovo has been structured as a conflict for the full and undivided domination of one side over a certain territory and in that sense the Albanian nationalism has turned out to be successful. That is a diaspora type of nationalism, which legitimizes its claim for a certain territory by establishing an ethnic majority in it over time. In the Balkans many ethnic groups share the proverb: "The mountain belongs to those who own the sheep". The application of that model in Kosovo has given amazing results.«

Dusan Batakovic, a member of the delegation of the 
Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija at the conference in Sofia 
Interview „Serbs Do Not Want to Live in Ghettos“ by Jelena Tasic, Danas, December 27 1999

 
«Wenn wir uns auch nicht sicher sind, dass Reden rettet, sind wir uns sicher, dass Schweigen tötet»
Philippe Biberson, Präsident der französischen Sektion der Ärzte ohne Grenzen
"We are not sure that words always save, but we know, and are sure, that silence kills." 
Dr. Philippe Biberson, president of French branch of Doctors Without Borders

 
Betreff:              [balkanhr] Respected Independent Kosovar Journalists Accused by UCK as Traitors!!
Datum:              Thu, 07 Oct 1999 14:21:09 +0300
    Von:              Panayote Elias Dimitras <panayote@greekhelsinki.gr>
Rückantwort:     balkanHR@greekhelsinki.gr
RFE/RL
6-10-1999

UCK PRESS ORGAN ACCUSES KOSOVAR PUBLISHER OF SPYING.

Kosovapress, the Prishtina-based press service of the disbanded UCK, accused two prominent ethnic Albanians of being spies for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on 5 October. Publisher Veton Surroi, a member of the Kosova transitional council, and Aton Haxhiu, the chief editor of the Kosovar daily "Koha Ditore," were called "dregs" for "spying and cooperating with Milosevic's regime." Surroi said the accusation comes after he recently said that "fascists are in power in Kosova now and what is being done to the Serbs [in Kosova] is a form of fascism." Surroi and his newspaper, "Koha Ditore," have consistently spoken out against the treatment of Serbs in Kosovar since the return of ethnic Albanians after NATO troops took control of the province. Surroi said the condemnations are "an invitation to kill both me and Haxhiu." PB

_______________________________________________________________________
Betreff:              [balkanhr] KOSOVO : LE SPECTRE DU DISCOURS DE LA HAINE RESURGIT
Datum:              Thu, 07 Oct 1999 18:28:53 +0300
     Von:              Panayote Elias Dimitras <panayote@greekhelsinki.gr>
Rückantwort:     balkanHR@greekhelsinki.gr
 
Reporters sans frontières 
Kosovo 
7 octobre 1999 

KOSOVO : LE SPECTRE DU DISCOURS DE LA HAINE RESURGIT 

Dans une lettre adressée au haut représentant des Nations unies au Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) s'est inquiétée des menaces à l'encontre de deux journalistes kosovars, Veton Surroï et Baton Haxhiu. L'organisation a demandé que les représentants de la communauté internationale se saisissent au plus vite de cette affaire. "Les propos, proférés par Kosova-press, une pseudo agence de presse contrôlée par l'Armée de libération du Kosovo, constituent un véritable danger pour la sécurité des deux journalistes et sont l'illustration même de ce qu'on appelle un "discours de la haine"", a déclaré Robert Ménard, secrétaire général de l'organisation. 

Selon les informations obtenues par Reporters sans frontières, le 2 octobre, Veton Surroï et Baton Haxhiu, respectivement directeur et rédacteur en chef du quotidien Koha Ditore, ont été accusés d'être des "espions à la solde du régime de Milosevic" dans un article paru sur Kosova-press, agence de presse officieuse de l'Armée de libération du Kosovo (UCK). L'article, signé par un certain Merxhan Avdyli, affirme également que "des personnes comme Veton Surroï et Baton Haxhiu n'ont pas leur place dans un Kosovo libre. Nous ne serions pas surpris qu'ils deviennent les victimes d'actes - tout à fait compréhensibles - de vengeance. Ces deux mafieux ne doivent pas rester impunis pour leur actions criminelles d'autant plus que leur comportement idiot ne profite qu'à Slobodan Milosevic", conclut l'article. 

Koha Ditore, connu depuis plusieurs années pour ses positions modérées et respectueuses des droits de l'homme au Kosovo, est le principal quotidien de langue albanaise de la province. A ce titre, le journal a connu à plusieurs reprises la répression des autorités serbes : peines d'amendes astronomiques, difficultés d'impression et de diffusion. Les locaux du journal ont été saccagés peu après le déclenchement des frappes aériennes de l'Otan contre la Yougoslavie et son imprimerie brûlée. Menacés de mort, les journalistes de Koha Ditore se sont enfuis en Macédoine d'où ils ont relancé le journal à l'intention des réfugiés kosovars. Seul Veton Surroï est resté à Pristina, au risque de sa vie, changeant plusieurs fois de domicile de peur d'être découvert par les autorités serbes. Depuis l'entrée des troupes de la KFOR dans la province, début juin, Koha Ditore a été le seul média de langue albanaise à se soucier du sort de la communauté serbe de la province, menacée à son tour de représailles. Veton Surroï a notamment signé un article, paru fin août dans Koha Ditore et largement repris par la presse internationale, intitulé "Fascisme au Kosovo : la honte des Albanais", dénonçant les récents crimes commis par des Albanais contre des Serbes. "Après avoir été les victimes des pires persécutions de cette fin de siècle en Europe, nous sommes en train de devenir nous-mêmes des persécuteurs et nous avons permis au spectre du fascisme de réapparaître", écrivait-il. Et de conclure : "Ceux qui pensent que la violence prendra fin dès que le dernier Serbe aura été chassé se font des illusions. La violence sera simplement dirigée contre d'autres Albanais." 

Alexandre Levy 
Europe desk researcher 
Reporters sans frontieres 
5, rue Geoffroy Marie 
75 009 Paris 
tel : 33 1 44 83 84 84 
fax : 33 1 45 23 11 51 
email : europe@rsf.fr 

© Tous droits réservés Le Courrier des Balkans

Einige Hintergründe - some background:
COMMENT: KOSOVO FASCISM, ALBANIANS' SHAME
Übersetzung ins Deutsche: Haben wir dafür gekämpft?     ==>  nachdenk2.htm

back425.htmHATE SPEECH IN PRISTINA

- THE KOSOVO MEDIA WARS COULD START HERE - 
By Anthony Borden, IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 82, October 8, 1999
back430.htmResurgence of hate speech in Kosovo
                            SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION EXCHANGE (IFEX), 8 October 1999

 
Meldung vom 25.09.1999 15:40 http://seite1.web.de/show/37ECCED8.AP1

(...)
Der Grünen-Politiker Koenigs sagte dem Nachrichtenmagazin «Focus» in einem am  Samstag veröffentlichten Interview: «Wir müssen die Polizei unbedingt über die bisher geplante Stärke von 3.000 Beamten hinaus aufstocken. Für den multi-ethnischen Kurs muss man hier kämpfen.» Bisher sei knapp die Hälfte der zugesagten 3.000 UN-Polizisten im Einsatz. Wenn es die politischen Führer der Serben und Albaner nicht fertig brächten, zur Versöhnung aufzurufen, verscherzten sie sich die Sympathie der internationalen Gemeinschaft. Weil Unabhängigkeit ohne Versöhnung wieder zu Mord und Totschlag führe, sei für das Kosovo die einzig mögliche Perspektive eine Heranführung an Europa. 
________________________________________________________________________
Meldung vom 25.09.1999 12:21 http://seite1.web.de/show/37ECA032.AP1

Koenigs fordert mehr Polizisten im Kosovo

UN-Beauftragter für Zivilverwaltung beklagt Gewalttätigkeiten auf beiden Seiten
München (AP)

Der UN-Beauftragte für die Zivilverwaltung im Kosovo, Tom Koenigs, hat mehr UN-Polizisten für die Region gefordert, um Übergriffe von Serben und Albanern zu verhindern. «Wir müssen die Polizei unbedingt über die bisher geplante Stärke von 3.000 Beamten hinaus aufstocken. Für den multi-ethnischen Kurs muss man hier kämpfen», sagte der Grünen-Politiker dem Nachrichtenmagazin «Focus» in einem am Samstag veröffentlichten Interview. Bisher sei knapp die Hälfte der zugesagten 3.000 UN-Polizisten im Einsatz. 

       Lokale UCK-Einheiten seien oft nicht in der Lage, ihre Leute von Gewalttätigkeiten abzuhalten. Auch die serbische Seite agiere, wo sie in der Mehrheit sei, nicht minder hasserfüllt, betonte Koenigs. Wenn es die politischen Führer nicht fertig brächten, zur Versöhnung aufzurufen, verscherzten sie sich die Sympathie der internationalen Gemeinschaft. «Jedes in Prizren angezündete Haus kostet die Stadt zwei Millionen Mark an internationaler Hilfe», erklärte Koenigs. 

       Weil Unabhängigkeit ohne Versöhnung wieder zu Mord und Totschlag führe, sei für das Kosovo die einzig mögliche Perspektive eine Heranführung an Europa. Als Zeichen dafür, dass die Region unter internationaler Verwaltung stehe, trügen die neuen Briefmarken keine albanischen Adler, sondern das Symbol der UN. 

© AP


 
 

"Frieden zu schaffen ist manchmal schwieriger als einen Krieg zu gewinnen."

"Sometimes forging a peace is more difficult than winning a war."

Richard Holbrooke - Sunday 29 August 1999 in Prishtina


 
without justice for everyone there'll be justice for no one
CIVPOL chief, Sven Frederikssen
It is difficult to HELP people
doing nothing or little
against MURDERERS among them !
http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeserb/news/e-nedelja12septembar.html
Sunday, September 12nd, 1999
EU considers suspension of aid for Kosovo and Albania

EU country governments are very concerned because of the violation of the UN Security Council resolution 1244 regarding Kosovo, the violence and persecution of Serbs and other non-Albanian citizens, as well as the widespread and undisturbed penetration of mafia from Albania to Kosovo. 
As a diplomatic source in Brussels told Beta, EU members are as a result considering whether to threaten Albania and Kosovo with the suspension of aid to Kosovo and Albania, if the situation does not urgently improve. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday EU foreign ministers were ordered to consider how to stop the further worsening of the situation, including the threat of suspension of financial and other aid to Kosovo and Albania if the government in Tirana does not do anything to stop arm smuggling and the penetration of Albanian mafia to Kosovo. 
They will tomorrow consider their strategy regarding relations with the FRY and how to most efficiently help democratization in Yugoslavia and a change of regime in Serbia, as well as putting into effect sanctions against the government in Belgrade. At the same time they will establish how best to help democratic forces in Serbia, including the supply of energy to citizens, hospitals and schools in areas with democratically elected governments. 
European Ministers will consider the strategy of the relations toward FR Yugoslavia, and the most suitable ways to support democratization and the removal of the regime in Serbia. Foreign ministers will invite the leaders of the democratic opposition in Serbia to the meeting, and Mr. Mladjan Dinkic, in the name of the Group 17, who they consider as serious and open for the alliances with the widest circle of the opposition parties, with the main goal to achive the removal of the regime and economic and political democratization of Serbia." 
All EU governments are willing to lend their support to democratic forces and changes in Serbia apart from Great Britain and Holland. These governments along with the new president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi believe that humanitarian aid should be offered to the citizens of Serbia without any conditions being attached, especially fuel for heating during the forthcoming winter. 


 
14.09.1999
back374.htm
Time for a New Balkan Policy - Forget About Serbia, Help Kosovo
Taft Op-Ed, Washington Times, 9/14/99
The Bible says
To every [thing there is] a season, 
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; 
    a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; 
    a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; 
    a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; 
    a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; 
    a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; 
    a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; 
    a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I know that [there is] no good in them, but for [a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it [is] the gift of God.

I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

Pred 3, 1-15
Authorized Version 1769 (KJV)

Ökumenische FriedensDekade 7. - 17. Nov. '99:
                   „ ...dass Gerechtigkeit und Frieden
                              sich küssen” (Psalm 85)

Im Wettlauf mit der Zeit - Dialogarbeit im Kosovo  -  back336.htm
aus den Handreichungen für Kirchengemeinden zur Friedensdekade 1999
 



back328.htmState's Talbott on Balkan Question at Aspen Institute Aug. 24, 1999
     "Kosovo is a much harder case, and not just because the war there ended only 75 days ago. The overwhelming majority of the ethnic Albanians want out of Yugoslavia, pure and simple. If they were complete masters of their own fate, they would be independent. As it happens, today Kosovo is a ward of the international community; it goes about the business of rebuilding itself under the day-in, day-out protection and supervision by a consortium of global and regional organizations. The ultimate status of Kosovo is a question for the future.
     If the people who live there are ever going to settle for some form of self-governing autonomy short of total independence, it will only be if Serbia itself changes profoundly. It will only be if Serbia frees itself from the tyranny and barbarism personified by [President Slobodan] Milosevic. It will only be if the people of Serbia foster the conditions in which they and the people of Kosovo can, once again, live with each other -- not in the context of the old Yugoslavia but in the context of a new Europe."


Betreff:              [alb-club] Thursday various
Datum:              Thu, 26 Aug 1999 02:05:35 EDT
    Von:              Era18@aol.com
Rückantwort:     alb-club@alb-net.com

From:   mkristo1@hotmail.com (marko kristo)
To: era18@aol.com

The New Yorker
June 7, 1999
Letter to the Editor

    Like Michael Ignatieff and the American Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill, I spent some years of my childhood living in Belgrade in  the nineteen - fifties.  I was the son of the Albanian Ambassador, but my  years in Belgrade did not make me anti - Serb.

      American and Western European leaders have always had difficulty  realizing that the Balkan peoples - all of them - live in the past and can't  cleanse themselves of past feuds and animosities.

      It is a mistake to cherish the American dream of multiethnic states for the Balkans.  I wish that NATO had got rid of Milosevic early on in his  regime, so that the Serbs might at least have had a chance to join the other  newly established democracies of Eastern Europe.  Now, unfortunately, the Serbs will have to pay a high price for their dictator -  higher than the Albanians paid for theirs.

Shkelqim Beqari
Boston, Mass.

This article expresses very good my own opinion.

Betreff:         IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 69
Datum:         Wed, 25 Aug 1999 12:29:42 +0100
    Von:         Tony Borden <Tony@iwpr.net>

COMMENT: KOSOVO FASCISM, ALBANIANS' SHAME

The systematic intimidation of Kosovo's Serbs brings shame on the province's Albanians and will have far-reaching and long-term consequences.

By Veton Surroi in Pristina

In the past month an old woman has been beaten to death in her bath; a two-year-old boy has been wounded and his mother shot dead; two youths have been killed with a grenade launcher; and a woman dares not speak her name in public for fear that those who attempted to rape her will return. All these victims were Serbs.
     Sadly, these are not isolated incidents. Many more of Kosovo's remaining Serbs have locked themselves in their homes, terrified by an atmosphere in which every sound seems threatening and every vehicle that stops might take you away to your death.
     Then there is the case of the elderly couple with nothing to eat who are afraid to venture out to buy food because they know their poor Albanian language will be noticed. Their Albanian neighbours cannot give them any food because they have been warned not to "feed Serbs".
     I know how Kosovo's remaining Serbs, and indeed Roma, feel, because I, along with nearly 2 million Albanians, was in exactly the same situation only two and a half months ago. I recognise their fear. We learned from the radio that Belgrade had given its units the right to kill at will--even women, children and the old. As a result, every car that stopped was a potential danger; every unusual sound appeared to herald inevitable death. Meanwhile, little or no help could be expected from our Serb neighbours.
     This is why I cannot hide my shame to discover that, for the first time in our history, we, Kosovo Albanians, are also capable of such monstrous acts. I have to speak out to make it clear that our moral code, by which women, children and elderly should be left unharmed, has been and is being violated.
     I know the obvious excuse, namely that we have been through a barbaric war in which Serbs were responsible for the most heinous crimes and in which the intensity of violence has generated a desire for vengeance among many Albanians. This, however, is no justification.
     Those Serbs who carried out Belgrade's orders and committed atrocities against Albanians have already fled, as have others fearing reprisals from relatives of the thousands who are buried in mass graves. Today's violence--more than two months after the arrival of NATO forces--is more than simply an emotional reaction. It is the organised and systematic intimidation of all Serbs simply because they are Serbs and therefore are being held collectively responsible for what happened in Kosovo.
     Such attitudes are fascist. Moreover, it was against these very same attitudes that the people of Kosovo stood up and fought, at first peacefully and then with arms, during the past 10 years.
     The treatment of Kosovo's Serbs brings shame on all Kosovo Albanians, not just the perpetrators of violence. And it's a burden we will have to bear collectively. It will dishonour us and our own recent suffering which, only a few months ago, was broadcast on television screens throughout the world. And it will dishonour the memory of Kosovo's Albanian victims, those women, children and elderly who were killed simply because of their ethnic origins.
     The international community will probably not punish us for failing to defend multi-ethnicity in Kosovo. After all, even before the war, the number of non-Albanians in Kosovo was akin to that of non-Slovenes in Slovenia, yet nobody talks today of a multi-ethnic Slovenia. However, from having been victims of Europe's worst end-of-century persecution, we are ourselves becoming persecutors and have allowed the spectre of fascism to reappear.
     Anybody who thinks that the violence will end once the last Serb has been driven out is living an illusion. The violence will simply be directed against other Albanians.
     Is this really what we fought for?

Veton Surroi is publisher of the Pristina daily Koha Ditore, in which a version of this article has previously appeared.

http://www.kosova-info-line.de
Kosova-Info-Line
Publiziert am Montag, den 30. August 1999, um 20:01 Uhr 
Informationsdienst mit
aktuellen Meldungen, Berichten und
Kommentaren aus und zu Kosova
Kommentare / Ausgewählte Texte
http://www.kosova-info-line.de/kil/kommentare-209.html
TAZ,30. August 1999

Haben wir dafür gekämpft?

Im Kosovo werden nun systematisch Serben terrorisiert

Von Veton Surroi

Die systematische Einschüchterung der SerbInnen im Kosovo bringt Schande über die AlbanerInnen in dieser Provinz und wird weit reichende Folgen haben. Im Verlauf eines Monats wurde eine alte Frau in ihrem Badezimmer zu Tode geprügelt, ein zweijähriger Junge wurde verletzt und seine Mutter erschossen, zwei Jugendliche wurden mit einem Granatwerfer umgebracht, eine Frau wagt es nicht, öffentlich ihren Namen anzugeben, aus Angst, dass diejenigen zurückkehren könnten, die versucht haben, sie zu vergewaltigen. Alle diese Opfer waren Serbinnen und Serben.

So traurig es ist - dies sind keine Einzelfälle. Viele der im Kosovo verbliebenen Serben und Serbinnen haben sich in ihren Häusern eingeschlossen, terrorisiert von dieser Atmosphäre, in der jedes Geräusch beängstigend wirkt und wo jedes Auto, das in der Straße anhält, das Abholkommando in den Tod sein könnte.

Da ist der Fall des älteren Ehepaars, das nichts mehr zu essen hat und das sich nicht auf die Straße zum Einkaufen wagt, weil die Eheleute wissen, dass man sie an ihrem schlechten Albanisch als Serben erkennen wird. Ihre albanischen Nachbarn können ihnen auch keine Lebensmittel geben, denn sie wurden davor gewarnt, "Serben zu füttern".

Ich weiß, wie sich die hier verbliebenen SerbInnen, aber auch die Roma fühlen. Ich weiß es, weil ich zusammen mit zwei Millionen AlbanerInnen vor nur drei Monaten selbst genau in dieser Lage steckte. Ich kenne ihre Angst. Wir hörten im Radio, dass Belgrad den Militäreinheiten den Befehl gegeben habe, alle und jeden zu töten - auch Frauen, Kinder und Alte. Jedes Auto, das irgendwo anhielt, bedeutete Gefahr. Jedes ungewohnte Geräusch schien den Tod anzukünden. Von unseren serbischen Nachbarn konnten wir kaum Hilfe erwarten.

Ich muss gestehen: Ich schäme mich. Ich schäme mich zu sehen, dass wir Kosovo-Albaner zum ersten Mal in unserer Geschichte auch zu solch monströsen Taten fähig sind. Ich kenne natürlich die offensichtliche Entschuldigung, dass wir durch einen barbarischen Krieg hindurchgegangen sind, in dem Serben die abscheulichsten Verbrechen begingen. Die Intensität der Gewalt hat bei vielen Albanern den Wunsch nach Vergeltung hochkommen lassen. Aber dies ist keine Rechtfertigung.

Jene Serben, die Verbrechen gegen AlbanerInnen begangen haben, sind längst geflohen. Mit ihnen haben andere das Kosovo verlassen, weil sie Vergeltung fürchteten von den Angehörigen der tausende von Menschen, die in Massengräbern beigesetzt sind. Die heutige Gewalt, mehr als zwei Monate nach Ankunft der Nato-Truppen, ist mehr als nur eine emotionale Reaktion. Das ist eine organisierte und systematische Einschüchterung aller SerbInnen aus dem einzigen Grund, dass sie serbisch sind und deshalb als Kollektiv für alles verantwortlich gemacht werden, was im Kosovo geschah. Dieses Verhalten ist faschistisch. Die Bevölkerung des Kosovo hat genau dagegen zehn Jahre lang gekämpft, zuerst friedlich und dann mit Waffen.

Die Behandlung der Kosovo-Serben heute bringt Schande über alle Kosovo-Albaner - nicht nur über jene, die solche Verbrechen begehen. Die Last dieser Schande werden wir gemeinsam tragen müssen. Sie entehrt uns und unser eigenes Leid, das noch vor kurzem über die Bildschirme in die ganze Welt getragen wurde. Und sie entehrt das Andenken an all die kosovo-albanischen Opfer, die allein wegen ihrer ethnischen Zugehörigkeit ermordet wurden.

Vielleicht wird uns die internationale Gemeinschaft nicht dafür bestrafen, dass wir das multiethnische Zusammenleben im Kosovo nicht verteidigt haben. Schließlich war auch vor dem Krieg die Zahl der Nichtalbaner im Kosovo etwa so hoch wie jene der Nichtslowenen in Slowenien. Und niemand spricht heute von einem multiethnischen Slowenien. Trotzdem: Aus Opfern der schlimmsten Verfolgungen am Ende des Jahrhunderts in Europa wurden wir zu Tätern und haben zugelassen, dass der Faschismus hier sein Gesicht wieder zeigt.

Wer meint, die Gewalt werde von alleine enden, wenn nur der letzte Serbe vertrieben ist, lebt in einer Illusion. Die Gewalt wird sich dann gegen andere AlbanerInnen richten. Haben wir dafür gekämpft?

Der Autor ist Herausgeber der kosovo-albanischen Tageszeitung "Koha Ditore", wo dieser Text erschien. Übersetzt und zur Verfügung gestellt hat ihn die Medienhilfe Ex-Jugoslawien aus Zürich.

 
10.08.1999
back304.htm
Adem Demaçi - Champion of Free Kosova Now Urges Moderation
By STEVEN ERLANGER, August 10, 1999
Betreff:        [ALBANEWS] The New York Times: EDITORIALS/LETTERS
Datum:        Fri, 6 Aug 1999 18:03:01 -0400
    Von:        Haxhi Haxhaj <hhaxhaj@IDT.NET>
August 6, 1999

A Multi-Ethnic Kosova Doesn't Make Sense

I do not understand why so many in the West seem to be so unswervingly invested in the idea of a multi-ethnic Kosova (news article, Aug. 5).

The Serbs are guilty of a decade long, well organized and popularly supported campaign aimed at murdering and displacing entire populations of Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Kosovar Albanians.

It is not just Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader, or a few paramilitary leaders with blood on their hands; the Serbian nation as a whole is complicit. Now, the Serbs reap what they have sown, as bands of Serbian refugees make their way across the Kosova border into a shrunken, hostile and increasingly desperate Yugoslavia.

To be sure, innocent Serbs are suffering in the process, but such is the sweep of national penance.

JOSEPH S. LIEBER
Roslindale, Mass., Aug. 6, 1999

 
05.08.1999
back301.htm
RFE/RL: 
Natasa Kandic on Serb Atrocities and Albanian Revenge in Kosovo
SERBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SAYS PARAMILITARIES WERE ATTACHED TO REGULAR UNITS... ...WARNS OF ALBANIAN 'CULTURE OF BLOOD FEUDS.'
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 152, Part II, 6 August 1999
Reuters: 
Natasa Kandic on Serb Atrocities and Albanian Revenge in Kosovo
INTERVIEW-Serbs urged to face up to Kosovo crimes
By Colin McIntyre, Aug 05, 1999
Betreff:        Kosovo in Pictures
Datum:        Thu, 05 Aug 1999 10:20:44 -0400
    Von:        Skye Donald <donalds@hrw.org>
 Firma:        Human Rights Watch
August 5, 1999: Kosovo in Pictures

Human Rights Watch invites you to visit a new photo gallery of the Kosovo conflict at http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/kosovo98/photo.shtml

In the course of gathering evidence of war crimes and other abuses in Kosovo, Human Rights Watch researchers have photographed the people and places occupying center stage during this bloody conflict.

The site includes a series of new photo essays depicting all aspects of the conflict --  from evidence of civilian massacres and forced displacement of ethnic Albanians in October 1998, to the return of Albanian refugees following the peace in June 1999.  This collection also presents an essay documenting the destruction of civilian homes in February 1999, and photos of the hardships the ethnic Serb community has faced in Kosovo since the end of the NATO bombing.

We have established these galleries as a visual reflection of  -- and a counterpart to -- the written work Human Rights Watch has done in uncovering abuses by all parties to the conflict in Kosovo.

http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/kosovo98/photo.shtml

 
05.08.1999
back299.htm
Serbs in Kosovo
Betaweek August 5, 1999

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