- Dann werden die allermeisten Flüchtlinge freiwillig zurückkehren.
Seitdem hat sich die Lage aber verschlechtert, wie auch der "Vierteljahresbericht Juli-September 1997" des Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Prishtina, feststellt (Text 3 englisch siehe unteo).
Eine weitere Verschärfung ist eingetreten aufgrund
Die Partei des radikalen Nationalisten Seselj
hat in ihrem Programm
die gewaltsame Unterdrückung und Vertreibung
der Albaner aus Kosova.
siehe: "Wie
würden die serbischen Radikalen die Kosova-Metohija-Frage lösen?"
Inzwischen bin ich nicht nur - wie auch andere - der Meinung:
Jugendliche, die sich radikalisieren
Die Geduld der Öffentlichkeit geht angesichts mehrerer negativer Entwicklungen zu Ende.
Zunächst sind stärkere Radikalisierungserscheinungen
bei Jugendlichen als Folge polizeilicher Brutalität festzustellen.
Ungefähr 80 % der albanischen Bevölkerung ist unter 30 - (verhängnisvoll)
eine Bedrohung für Belgrad.
Die Jugendlichen haben wenig Berufsaussichten
und befürchten eine entscheidende Verschlechterung der Wirtschaft,
da Belgrad weiterhin die Ressourcen der Region ausbeutet ohne jedoch in
sie zu investieren.
Dazu kommt als zweiter Aspekt hinzu, dass sich
die albanische Führungsschicht zunehmender Kritik ausgesetzt sieht,
weil sie es nicht schafft, ein freies Kosova mit friedlichen Mitteln zu
erreichen. Führer der LDK befürchten, dass ein Funke genügen
könnte, eine Massenrevolte auszulösen, wobei schlimmeres Blutvergießen
als das in Bosnien befürchtet wird. In der Provinz wimmelt es nur
so von jugoslawischem Mititär, serbischen Spezialeinheiten und schwerbewaffneten
serbischen Einwohnern inmitten von 2 Millionen Albanern.
Die größte Oppositionsbewegung
gegen die LDK, die Parlamentarische Partei, von Adam Demaci geführt,
der lange aus politischen Gründen in Haft war, verlangt offeneren
Widerstand gegen Belgrad. Demaci und andere drängen auf unterschiedliche
gewaltlose Maßnahmen, um die serbische Herrschaft zu brechen und
um das Interesse der Völkergemeinschaft wieder auf Kosova zu konzentrieren.
Aber die LDK befürchtet, Milosevic könnte friedliche Proteste
als Vorwand benutzen, ein Massaker zu veranstalten oder die "ethnische
Säuberung" in vollem Umfang durchzuführen.
Der Terrorismus in Kosova wird stärker.
Die Untergrundbewegung zur Befreiung von Kosova übernimmt die Verantwortung
für die Ermordung mehrerer albanischer Kollaborateure (mit Belgrad).
Für arbeitslose und verzweifelte Jugendliche mag die Befreiungsbewegung
eine attraktive Alternative zur Einschüchterung und Demütigung
durch die Polizei darstellen. Sowohl die LDK als auch die Parlamentarische
Partei sind besorgt über die Radikalisierung und den Terrorismus,
aber ohne westliche Unterstützung können sie wenig tun, um diese
Entwicklungen zu verhindern.
Eine dritte negative Entwicklung ist das offen erkennbare Versagen der internationalen Gemeinschaft, die Kosova-Albaner zu schützen. In Prishtina, der Hauptstadt Kosova's, verbreitet sich die Ansicht immer weiter, Europa und Amerika würden möglicherweise die Albaner sogar verraten in der verzweifelten Hoffnung, in Serbien eine Demokratie zu errichten und Milosevic in den bevorstehenden Wahlen absetzen zu können. Albanische Führer sind empört über kürzlich abgegebene amerikanische Erklärungen, wonach Kosova in das Gefüge der territorialen Einheit Serbiens zurückgeführt werden soll. Es gibt einen unumstößlichen Konsens darüber, dass eine Rückkehr zu einem Autonomiestatus innerhalb Serbiens unannehmbar ist. Falls die LDK eine solche Option unterstützen würde, würde der Einfluß radikaler Gruppen sofort wachsen.
Prüfender Blick auf Amerika
In Prishtina wird Europa nicht als ernstzunehmender
Partner (Mitspieler) betrachtet. Alle amerikanischen Bewegungen werden
jedoch genau untersucht. Albanern wurde empfohlen, bis nach den serbischen
Wahlen im Herbst Geduld zu üben. Aber sie zweifeln daran, dass Belgrads
Politik sich ändern wird, egal wer die Wahlen gewinnt. Weder die regierenden
Sozialisten noch die bedeutenderen Oppositionsparteien unterstützen
das Selbstbestimmungsrecht für Kosova, obwohl einige inoffiziell zugeben,
dass Kosova eine Art Schlinge um den Hals Serbiens bleibt und dass die
beste Lösung eine Abspaltung wäre.
Die Kosova-Albaner brauchen einen Beweis für
Fortschritte. Ansonsten werden sie wohl nicht mehr länger die US-Forderungen
erfüllen, sich zurückzuhalten, und sie könnten möglicherweise
die Appelle ihrer eigenen Führer nicht weiter beachten. Die Politik
der "kleinen Schritte" des Belgrad-Prishtina-Dialogs über Themen wie
den Rechten im Erziehungswesen ist offensichtlich fehlgeschlagen. Milosevic
nimmt die Zugeständnisse nicht ernst und spielt lediglich mit den
Verhandlungspartnern, um die USA dazu zu bringen, die "äußere
Mauer" (outer wall) der Sanktionen gegen Jugoslawien aufzuheben.
Eine deutliche (scharfe) Initiative ist dringend
notwendig, um eine Katastrophe in Kosova zu verhindern, die den gesamten
südlichen Balkan aus dem Gleichgewicht bringen würde. Washington
sollte einen speziellen Abgesandten ernennen, der eine Rolle erfüllen
sollte ähnlich der, die Richard Holbrooke vor 2 Jahren in Bosnien
innehatte. Dann sollte eine Konferenz auf höchster Ebene in Prishtina
stattfinden, die alle konstruktiven Möglichkeiten offen prüfen
sollte, wie die Krise beigelegt werden kann, und sie sollte eine Entscheidung
über den Status von Kosova fällen. Die Aufgabe des Gesandten
sollte sein, einen Vertrag auszuhandeln und einen Zeitplan für dessen
Umsetzung festzulegen.
Die sinnvollste (lebensfähigste) mittelfristige
Option besteht darin, Kosova in ein föderalistisches Jugoslawien einzugliedern,
das dann aus drei Republiken bestehen würde (mit Serbien und Montenegro).
Um dies durchzusetzen, müssen beide Seiten Positionen aufgeben, die
(bisher) keinen Kompromiss zuließen. Eine solche Lösung würde
eine militärische Auseinandersetzung und Blutvergießen verhindern.
Sie würde auch eine weitere Isolierung und Bestrafung Belgrad's abwenden,
falls es in der Region zu Massakern käme. Ohne eine solche Lösung
unter der Schirmherrschaft der USA steuert Kosova auf eine Katastrophe
zu.
- Then most of the refugees will go back volunteerily.
The article "Containing a Kosovo Crisis" (Text 2 english see below) express my opinion on the situation in Kosova - at the reported time.
But since then the situation has worsened - as the "Quarterly Report July-September 1997" from Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Prishtina, states too (Text 3 see below).
Situation has further tensioned because of
We voiced our deep concern over tensions in Kosovo. We call on the authorities in Belgrade and the leadership of the Kosovar Albanian community to join in a peaceful dialogue.
We urge the sides to create the conditions necessary for refugees from Kosovo to return home. As a first step, we call on all concerned to implement the Education Agreement without delay and to follow this up with additional confidence-building measures.
We warn against any resort to violence to press political demands and urge all sides to exercise maximum restraint.
Regarding the dispute over Kosovo's status, the position of the Contact Group countries is clear, we do not support independence and we do not support maintenance of the status quo. We support an enhanced status for Kosovo within the FRY. Such a status should fully protect the rights of the Albanian population in accordance with OSCE standards and the UN Charter. As a first step to reduce tensions, it is essential that dialogue begins.
Radicalized youths
Public patience is nearing the breaking point as a result of several negative developments.
First, Albanian youths
are becoming radicalized as a result of police brutality. Ominously for
Belgrade, about 80 percent of the Albanian population is under 30.
Youths see few employment
prospects and fear a serious economic decline as Belgrade continues to
exploit the region's resources without investing in it.
Second, Albanian leaders
are under increasing criticism for failing to deliver a free Kosovo by
peaceful means. LDK spokesmen fear one spark could ignite a mass revolt,
with bloodshed worse than Bosnia's. The province is swarming with Yugoslav
military, Serb special forces, police units, and heavily armed Serb residents
in a sea of 2 million Albanians.
The largest movement
in opposition to the LDK - the Parliamentary Party, led by longtime political
prisoner Adam Demaci - demands more open resistance to Belgrade. Mr. Demaci
and others urge various nonviolent policies to disrupt Serbian rule and
refocus world attention on Kosovo. But the LDK fears Milosevic could use
peaceful protests as a pretext to stage a massacre or engage in full-scale
"ethnic cleansing."
Terrorism is on the
rise in Kosovo. The clandestine Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo claims
responsibility for the killing of several of Belgrade's Albanian collaborators.
Among unemployed and desperate youths, the Liberation Movement may appear
an attractive alternative to police intimidation and humiliation. Both
the LDK and the Parliamentary Party are concerned about radicalism and
terrorism, but they can do little to prevent it without firmer Western
backing.
A third negative development
is the widely perceived failure of the international community to protect
the Kosovars. There is a growing view in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, that
Europe and America may betray the Albanians in the forlorn hope of democratizing
Serbia and unseating Milosevic in the upcoming elections.
Albanian leaders are
outraged by recent US statements that Kosovo needs to be resolved in the
context of Serbia's territorial integrity. There is absolute consensus
that return to autonomous status within Serbia is unacceptable. If the
LDK were to support such an option, radical groups would rapidly gain ascendancy.
America under scrutiny
Europe is not considered
a serious player in Pristina, but any US moves are closely scrutinized.
Albanians have been told to remain patient
until after Serb elections this fall. But they doubt Belgrade's policies
will change, whoever wins.
Neither the ruling Socialists
nor major opposition parties support self-determination for Kosovo, though
some privately concede Kosovo remains a noose around
Serbia's neck and the best ultimate solution would be
separation.
The Kosovars must have
proof of progress. Otherwise, they may no longer adhere to US demands for
restraint and could ignore appeals by their own leaders.
The "small steps" policy of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue
on issues such as educational rights has evidently failed. Milosevic is
not serious about concessions and merely plays
with negotiators to entice the US to lift the "outer wall" of sanctions
on Yugoslavia.
A bold initiative is
needed to avoid a catastrophe in Kosovo that could destabilize the south
Balkans. Washington should appoint a special
envoy with a role similar to that of Richard Holbrooke in Bosnia two
years ago. Then a high-level conference in Pristina
should be open to all constructive options for settling the crisis
and deciding Kosovo's status. The envoy's objective would be a Pristina
agreement and a timetable for its implementation.
The most viable midrange
option is federalizing Kosovo in a three-republic Yugoslavia (with Serbia
and Montenegro). For this, both sides must
yield uncompromising positions. Such a solution would avert militancy
and bloodshed as well as further isolation and punishment of Belgrade if
massacres were to occur in the region. Without
such a solution under US sponsorship, Kosovo is heading for disaster.
QUARTERLY REPORT JULY-SEPTEMBER 1997 ON THE
VIOLATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN KOSOVA
The continuous deterioration
of the situation of human rights and the increase of violence
perpetrated by the Serbian regime against the
Albanians of Kosova, have reached the
highest level.
During this period, there was a systematic violation
of human rights in Kosova. Victims of this
free reign violence are the Albanians, while
the perpetrators are police, army, and other
Serbian law enforcement authorities.
Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms
has registered 1076 individual
cases of human rights violation. 2263 violations
of human rights and freedoms were
perpetrated against these persons. Compared
with the second quarterly period of this
year, when 816 cases of ill-treatment were
registered, the repression during this
period has been increasing.
CDHRF has got evidence that many of the persons
ill-treated by police did not report their
cases, due to the police threats.
The last week of September was marked by mass
walks in towns of Kosova, with the aim of
supporting the initiative of the Students' Independent
Union of the University of Prishtina for
peaceful protests for the unconditional release
of the university facilities. Many Albanian
citizens were subjected to ill-treatment by police
and armed Serbian civilians in Prishtina,
Mitrovica, Gjilan and Gjakova. One of those that
were injured in Prishtina is Arben Mehmeti
(1975), student, Dragodani quarter II. Without
checking his identity, police ill-treated
him severely
and broke his jaw. Arben was compelled to undergo a surgery and has
been
hospitalized in a private ambulance in Prishtina.
The trials and convictions of Albanians on political
grounds have continued during this very
same period. On 11 July, at the Serbian Run Court
of Prishtina, legal proceedings against 15
Albanians charged for "terrorism and aiding terrorists"
came to an end. The first defendant
Besim Rama was sentenced to 20 years, Idriz Asllani
to 15 years and Avni Nura to 4 years of
imprisonment. The other 12 defendants were tried
in absentia. Adem Jashari, Jakup Nura,
Fadil Kadriu, Nuredin Lushtaku, Sabit Jashari,
Rafet Rama, Sami Lushtaku, Iljaz Kadriu,
Zenel Kadriu and Rexhep Selimi were sentenced
to a term of 20 years of imprisonment; Ali
Jonuzi to 15 years and Hashim Thaçi to
10 years of imprisonment. It is worth mentioning
that during such rigid political trials against
the Albanians, evidence that proves the
innocence of defendants is not taken into
consideration. Attempts of Serbian regime
to present Albanians as terrorists in order
to justify the state terror exerted on them
are evident.
During the very same period, CDHRF has registered
3 cases of mysterious assaults.
On 18 August, at about 9.15 p.m., Elez Hysen Miftari
(1939), father of seven from
Berja village near
Gjakova, chairman of Financial Sub-Council and member of LDK
sub-branch in Ponosheci village, was killed under
unknown circumstances. The late was
killed while he was entering the house of his
nephew Selim Miftari to visit his mother.
On 23 August, at about 4 p.m., unknown persons
shot Sadik Halil Morina (40) from
village Kopiliq i Poshtëm near Skënderaj,
who died at the hospital of Mitrovica at about
11 p.m. After this event, large police forces
with armoured cars and helicopters raided,
arrested and provoked many citizens.
Figures show that all those detained have been
subjected to violence. 897 persons have
been subjected to psychical
torture. Not even children, women or old people were
spared from such torture. 25 women, 18 children
and 11 people older than 60 underwent
police brutality during this quarterly period.
27 persons were convicted for political
reasons, penal acts and for petty-offences. 86
cases of ill-treatment of political, humanitarian,
trade union, educational activists were reported.
In most cases, the activists are summoned to
he police for several times, are taken for "informative
talks", subjected to physical and
psychical ill-treatment and released on
the condition that they are to report again and give up
their activities.
In education, the situation continues to be
grave. Apart from the difficult conditions,
police repression and violence burdens the
situation. 64 educational activists have been
subjected to ill-treatment and police intervened
in 22 educational institutions.
Journalists have been hampered and threatened
while doing their jobs.
CDHRF registered 10 cases of ill-treatment.
The dismissal of Albanians workers continues.
During the very same period, 17 Albanians
have been dismissed, while 4 Albanian families
have been evicted from their flats.
Another common phenomenon worth mentioning,
is the looting of the Albanian
population. A special form is the plundering
in the markets. CDHRF has never
succeeded in registering the exact number, due
to the fact that the Albanian vendors fear
reporting their cases. During this very same
period, police plundered goods and foreign
currency from 95 vendors.
We, hereby give a table of data on the violation
of human rights and freedoms for the period
July-September 1997. During this very same period:
Prishtina, September 8, 1997 Information Service
Lucian Kim, Special to The Christian Science Monitor
PRISTINA, SERBIA -- The peaceful student protests
that Serbian police brutally broke up last week
have focused international attention on Kosovo, one of the most volatile
regions in the Balkans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo, who make up 90
percent of the population, have faced Serbian repression since 1989, when
Serbia gradually ended Kosovo's autonomy and assumed direct administrative
control. Kosovo Albanians reacted by boycotting Serbian elections, electing
their own "shadow" government, and setting up an independent education
system. In September 1996, shadow-state president Ibrahim Rugova and Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic signed an agreement returning autonomy to
Kosovo's schools. But because the Serbian government still has not implemented
the accord, Kosovo Albanian university students took matters into their
own hands.
Before Yugoslavia fell apart, Kosovo enjoyed an unprecedented level of autonomy within the Republic of Serbia. Most Kosovo Albanians hoped that one day they, too, would have a republic in Yugoslavia, on the same level as Slovenia or Croatia. President Milosevic dashed these hopes when he stirred up vicious Serbian nationalism in the late 1980s. Kosovo, the heartland of medieval Serbia, was the key.
Milosevic claimed Kosovo's Serbs were being subjected to ethnic cleansing by Albanians. In 1989, Milosevic assembled more than a million Serbs outside Pristina, Kosovo's capital, to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. Although the invading Turks defeated the Serbs in the battle and subsequently ruled the Balkans for five centuries, the battle has played a crucial role in Serbian nationalist nostalgia.
Today most Serbs share these emotional ties to Kosovo. Milosevic has attempted to "Serbify" Kosovo by resettling 15,000 Serb refugees from Croatia, but few Serbs would voluntarily choose to live in Serbia's poorest region.
For Kosovo Albanians, there is no sign that a change of government in Serbia would affect their plight. Vuk Draskovic, the charismatic leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, said during the just concluded presidential election campaign that Kosovo should get back what he says is its historical name, "Old Serbia." Serbian Radical Party candidate Vojislav Seselj, who claimed victory in Sunday's presidential vote, has suggested he would expel ethnic Albanians from Kosovo to neighboring Albania. In the 250-member Serbian parliament, Kosovo has 42 seats. But all of them are held by Milosevic's Socialists and extremist parties.
"At least the previous level of acquired rights has to be reinstated," says Gazmend Pula, an Albanian human rights activist in Kosovo. Mr. Pula says that most ethnic Albanians would be satisfied if Kosovo became a federal republic on equal footing with Serbia.
But impatience in the Albanian community is rising. Many Kosovo Albanians question whether shadow president Rugova's passive resistance is the correct way to deal with Milosevic. After all, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia all achieved independence through war.
Last week's student demonstrations in seven Kosovo cities merely demanded that the Rugova-Milosevic education agreement be implemented. For seven years, Kosovo's Albanian high school and university students have attended classes in private homes. "Many people say that in an educational sense," a separate, parallel education system is "a disaster," says Denisa Kostovic, a Kosovo expert based at Cambridge University in England. "But it is important because it socialized people into the Albanian community."
Ethnic Albanians in Pristina supported the students by turning out in the streets and preventing an escalation of violence. But for the past year, a mysterious organization calling itself the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) has led attacks on Serbian police stations and ethnic Albanian "collaborators."
The group has claimed responsibility for 18 killings this year. Some political analysts in Pristina and Belgrade say that UCK is an invention of the Serbian leadership to justify cracking down on Albanians. Others say it is likely some attacks were the work of radical Albanians, while the rest were carried out by Serb agents provocateurs.
The United Nations special rapporteur for human rights, Elisabeth Rehn, warns that growing frustration with Serbian intransigence could plunge Kosovo into "a real explosion ... even civil war." Ms. Rehn contrasts Western Europe's lack of attention to Kosovo with the more active involvement of the United States. This year, Rugova has met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and US special envoys John Kornblum and Robert Gelbard.
Last year, while the State Department was closing more than 40 US Information Service offices abroad, just one new one opened - in Pristina.
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