Jahresbericht
1997
derMenschenrechtsorganisation
KMDLNJ
/ CDHRF Prishtina
ANNUAL REPORT 1997
ON VIOLATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND
FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS
IN KOSOVA
IN THE COURSE OF 1997
The situation of human
rights and freedoms was very difficult in Kosova during the last
year. They were violated by the Serbian authorities
in an institutionalized and systematic
way. The international norms guaranteed by agreements
and conventions signed by
former SFRY, ( ramp FRY ), as well as legal provisions
were not respected at all.
Council for the Defence
of Human Rights and Freedoms based in Prishtina (hereafter
referred as CDHRF), which has been monitoring
the violation of human rights since its
foundation (1989), has concluded that during
1997 there was no single right or freedom
that was not violated.
In the course of 1997,
CDHRF has registered 35 cases of violent deaths of Albanians,
5 of whom died due to the police torture, 12
were killed by fire weapons, whereas 18 died
under unknown circumstances. 22 woundings and
2 murder attempts were marked during
the very same period.
CDHRF based in Prishtina
has available information on 5031 individual cases of ill-
treatments and 10.194 kinds of human rights violations
by Serbian police and other law
enforcement authorities, as well as by Serbian
citizens. Not even children (79), women
(258) nor elderly (56) were spared. The political,
trade union, humanitarian activists, as
well as those of Financial Council of Kosova
and CDHRF (413) were on the target of the
Serbian police.
The wave of convictions
towards Albanians in the rigid political trials continued. On 30
May, the legal proceedings against 20 Albanians
at the Serbian Run District Court in
Prishtina came to its ending. As members of Kosova
Liberation Army, they were charged
for penal acts: "hostile activity", "threatening
of territorial integrity", 6 of them faced also
charged for "terrorism". The Grand jury, chaired
by Dragolub Zdravkovic, announced the
total sentence of 107 years' imprisonment (prison
terms ranging from 2-10 years).
On 11 July, at the Serbian
Run District Court in Prishtina, the legal proceedings against
15 Albanians charged for "terrorism and aiding
terrorists" came to an end. The defendants
were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4-20
years (a total of 264 years'
imprisonment.
On 16 December, at the
Serbian Run District Court in Prishtina, the trial against 19
Albanians charged for allegedly being members
of Kosova Liberation Army, "hostile
activity" and "terrorism", came to its end. The
Grand jury, chaired by Dragolub Zdravkovic,
sentenced 17 Albanians to prison terms ranging
from 4-20 years (a total of 186 years of
imprisonment).
In three rigid political
trials against 52 Albanians held during 1997, the Serbian Run
District Court announced the sentence of 557
years imprisonment. Council for the
Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms assessed
that these trials and convictions as a
genocidal act of Serbian authorities based only
on violence and terror.
The legal and procedural
violations accompanied by the brutal torture against Albanian
defendants during the whole procedure had only
one aim, getting self-incriminating
confessions. The Grand jury, as always when it
concerns Albanians, did not take into
account any evidence or relevant fact presented
by the lawyers and defendants.
The Albanian defendants
were denied the judicial defence during the whole procedure.
Lawyers were not allowed to discuss the "act"
with their clients.
Besides, 73 albanians
were brought before courts for petty-offences for weapons or
other "offences" mainly fabricated.
The wave of collecting
weapons has been one of the gravest kinds of persecution in
Kosova and it has not decreased at all in the
course of 1997. Under the very same
pretext, Albanians have been taken to police
stations, arrested, beaten, threatened and
ordered to report again. There were 854 registered
cases.
According to the information
made available by CDHRF, in the course of 1997, there
were 1740 cases of physical torture. 587 victims
were subjected to severe body injuries
with truncheons, wooden sticks, sharp things,
kicks, etc. as an aftermath of such torture,
tens of Albanians are dead. During the very same
period, 5 Albanians died due to police
torture or its consequences:
*On 2 January, Xhafer
A. Hajdari (52) from Bistrica e Shal_s near Mitrovica died due to
torture at the police station, where he had been
taken several times.
*On 22 February, Besnik
M. Restelica (1967) from Podujeva, an engineer arrested on
30 January, died due to torture in prison.
*On 7 May, Naser H.
Ferizi (1972) from Mitrovica committed a suicide, after being ill-
treated at the police station during the previous
days.
*On 16 October, Jonuz
Zeneli (55) from the village of Ballaban near Prishtina, father of
7, arrested on 30 April, died in the hospital
of Central Prison in Belgrade.
*On 26 November, Ismet
¦aush Gjocaj (1962) from the village of Gjocaj near De_an,
was massacred at the police station of Irzniq
near De_an. Ismet was arrested on 21 and
25 November. According to the sub-CDHRF available
information in De_an, "the body of
the deceased had been massacred. The eyes of
the victim were torn off. The right part of
the skull was badly damaged. The victim had 6
bullet wounds on his back. His right
shoulder was broken to pieces. He had many wounds
on his chest and bruises all over the
body. On both legs, under the knees, signs of
injuries could be seen. It is obvious that the
victim had been subjected to inhuman and degrading
torture..."
This and other cases
testify the brutal torture exerted on arrested Albanians, for what
the international associations were informed.
In the course of 1997,
CDHRF has registered:
*35 Albanians were killed
or died in a violent way, of whom:
*5 died due to police
torture,
*11 were killed with
fire weapons by police or army,
*1 was stabbed by a
Serb,
*18 were killed or died
under unknown circumstances,
*1073 persons were arrested,
of whom 125 were convicted,
*596 persons were arbitrarily
arrested,
*803 persons were searched
for and summoned to police stations,
*480 were taken for
"informative talks"
*427 Albanian families
were raided,
*1 rape attempt,
*207 threatening cases,
*5 hostage cases,
*3 kidnapping cases,
*57 cases of police
intervention in educational institutions,
*8 cases of police intervention
in political parties and associations,
*5 cases of police intervention
in humanitarian associations,
*10 cases of profanation
of national symbols,
*10 cases of real estate
usurpation,
*9 cases of real estate
confiscation,
*10 cases of hampering
of economical activity,
*3 cases of hampering
of private feasts,
*8 cases of police intervention
in political institutions,
*3 cases of police intervention
in cultural institutions,
*1 case of police intervention
in religious institutions,
*39 passports were seized,
*14 cases of prevention
of repatriation,
*12 summons for drafting
in Serbian army.
The situation continues
to be very grave in the area of education. Despite the difficult
conditions, the educational work has been burdened
by the police violence and
repression. The year 1997 was the seventh consecutive
year that Albanian pupils,
students and teachers have been conducting their
lectures in private houses, basements
and garages made for the purpose. The situation
has remained unchanged, although the
Agreement of Understanding regarding the education
in Albanian was signed. In the
course of 1997, 57 cases of police intervention
in educational institutions were registered,
whereas 295 educational activists were subjected
to ill-treatment. In most of the cases of
intervention in educational institutions, the
school documentation was confiscated,
whereas the educational activists were taken
for "informative talks", were subjected to
physical and psychological ill-treatment and
were threatened and hampered while
teaching.
The sports activists
were persecuted in the same way. All sports facilities were usurped
by the Serbian authorities, therefore, Albanians
are forced to develop their sports activities
in very difficult conditions. 31 sports activists
were subjected to ill-treatment during the very
same period.
The wave of massive
peaceful protests organized by the Students' Independent Union
of the University of Prishtina for the unconditional
release of school and university facilities
included all university centres. Apart from Prishtina,
the protests were held in Prizren, Peja,
Gjakova, Gjilan, Ferizaj and Mitrovica. During
these protests, large police forces
intervened and exerted brutal violence on protesters.
CDHRF registered 537 cases of ill-
treatments during the protest held on 1 October.
During the protest held on 29 October,
police intervened in Peja and Gjakova, whereas
during the protest of 30 December, 179
persons reported their cases. The gravest cases
have the medical reports attached. As
regard the events during the students' peaceful
protests, CDHRF has published a
brochure in Albanian and English.
Journalists have been
hampered and threatened while doing their jobs. CDHRF
registered 40 cases of ill-treatment of Albanian
journalists and foreign ones, as well as
representatives of foreign humanitarian associations.
The state of emergency
has still been prevailing in the fields of health care, culture,
economy, sports and others. The Albanian population
has been impoverished by the
violence and repression continuously exerted
on the innocent population. As an aftermath
of such state, many Albanians fled Kosova. This
was one of the main objective of Serbian
hegemonist policy, aiming at the ethnic cleansing
of Kosova. The sheltering and
employment of 20.000 Serbian refugees from Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania in
Kosova is in favour of the hegemonist aim of
Serbia.
Cultural and scientific
institutions are still closed down to Albanians of Kosova.
The banning of the Albanian
language from administration and public service has
almost come to its end. The names of settlements,
institutions, firms, squares, etc. are
written in Serbian with cyrillic alphabet, whereas
the historical and cultural monuments in
front of schools, faculties, squares, etc. were
replaced with the monuments of Serbian
personalities.
The evictions of Albanians
from their flats continued in the course of 1997. 31 Albanian
families were evicted from their flats and Serbian
families moved in instead. 21 Albanians
were dismissed from their jobs.
The looting from Albanians
is a very common phenomenon. A special form of brutal
looting is the looting in the markets. It is
very difficult for the CDHRF to get precise
information, due to the fact that many street
vendors and merchants hesitate to report their
cases. In the course of 1997, 228 cases of looting
goods and foreign currency were
registered.
CDHRF based in Prishtina
concludes that the Serbian regime has intensified the
violation towards the Albanian population in
Kosova and calls hereby the international
community and democratic public opinion to make
pressure on Serbia to eradicate its
genocidal policy and violence exerted on Albanians
for many years now.
Prishtina, 12 January 1998
Information Service
senden