Software Vault: The Diamond Collection/The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO/cdr14/yugonot2.zip/KOSO9501.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-21 | 19KB | 429 lines

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KOSOVA COMMUNICATION Bulletin of the Ministry of Information of
the Republic of  Kosova 4th Year; No202, 9 January 1995



Rugova Receives German Bundestag Member



The President of Kosova, Dr Rugova, received in Prishtina Mr.
Willy Wimmer, Vice-Chairman of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
and member of the German Bundestag, accompanied by Dr. Thomas
Schmitt, First Secretary of the German Embassy in Belgrade. In
the meeting with Mr. Wimmer President Rugova outlined the
current situation in Kosova which had deteriorated due to
increased repression and violence exercised by the Serbian
authorities. President Rugova presented the political options
for the solution of the Kosova issue, an independent and neutral
Kosova, open to Albania and Serbia being the optimum solution
and bringing about a lasting peace and stability in the region,
and reiterated his call for an international civil
administration over Kosova as a transitory solution. Rugova also
pointed out that the Albanian side was ready for equal dialogue
with under the mediation of a third party. Mr. Wimmer expressed
the readiness and commitment of the OCSE and Germany in reaching
a political solution for the Kosova issue. Belgrade should be
cooperative and ready in reaching a solution Mr. Wimmer said,
adding that  no return of Serbia to the international community
could be possible without a solution to the Kosova problem.



Bukoshi protests at expulsions and  document seizures



The Prime Minister of Kosova, Dr Bujar Bukoshi, recently
addressed a letter to the Interior Minister of Macedonia, Mr.
Stevan Crvenkovski, expressing concern at the recent arrests of
the Chairman and several delegates of the outgoing legislation
of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosova, who were residing in
Skopje.

Dr Bukoshi pointed out that the delegates were residing in
Macedonia in accordance with an agreement reached between the
authorities of the Republic of Kosova and Macedonia, signed in
June 1992 and that during their stay they had respected the
conditions of the agreement .

Bukoshi went on to add that on the occasion of Mr. Ramajli's
arrest Macedonian authorities seized the complete archives of
the Assembly of the Republic of Kosova, including  acts passed
by the Assembly, correspondence of the Chairman and other
Ministers, and audio and visual recordings of the Assembly
proceedings.

In view of the fact that the documentation belonged to the
citizens and institutions of the Republic of Kosova, wrote Dr
Bukoshi, and in view of the fact that no crime had been
committed under Macedonian Law, he requested the immediate
return of the materials to the Government of the Republic of
Kosova via the Macedonian embassy in Germany.

The Prime Minister ended by stating that in view of the already
tense situation in the Balkans, the actions of the Macedonian
Government in this matter could hardly be said to facilitate
Albanian-Macedonian relations.



Serbian forces wound two Albanians



Serbian army border units shot at and wounded on 31 December
1994, an ethnic Albanian, Ibrahim Zeqir Pagarizi from Libizhdk
village of Malisheva.

Ibrahim Zeqiri, together with a friend of his, Zeqir Thaqi from
Mirusha village of Malisheva, attempted to cross the
FYROM-Kosova border, about a mile away from the Hani i Elezit
border check point in order to avoid the border checks. He was
first beaten up by Serb soldiers and then shot Mr Zeqiri in his
leg while he was laying down, whereas Zeqir Thaqi was beaten
unconscious.

Ibrahim Zeqiri was reportedly sent to the Prishtina hospital,
whereas Zeqir Thaqi was taken to the police station in Ferizaj
where he was subjected to police torture and forced to sign a
statement

Serbian border forces in the Qafa e Morines region near the
Albanian-Kosova border opened fire on Ali Hysen Dervishaj, from
the village Gllogjani. Mr Dervishaj is currently in hospital in
Peja where he is condition is said to be stable.

Serbian Helsinki committee calls for Kosova-Serb dialogue

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights In Serbia has recently
released a report on Human Rights titled "Forced repression in
function of possible dialogue". The report amongst other things
states:

The situation in Kosova is being worsened for economic reasons
as well. due to the total lack of any investment since 1981, but
also due to constant conflict within the municipality
authorities and management of companies. The most important
economic potentials of Kosova, such as mines and the
manufacturing complex TREPCA, are almost bankrupt. Since the
autonomy of the province has been dissolved, the state's policy
has been directed towards the firing of workers of Albanian
nationality (about 150,000  wor kers during the first year), the
pulling out of all valuable capacities from Kosova (the economy
of Kosova has been estimated on 5000 billion dollars, according
to the data of the International Labour Organisation and IMF)
and depriving any social help to families of Albanian background.

During the last three years, in the ownership transformation,
the Fund for the Development of Serbia, in more than 100
companies in Kosova, has taken over the property along with
other firms in Serbia. In this way, the  more valuable
capacities became the legal property of large firms outside
Kosova - Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac and elsewhere, thus
additionally impoverishing the technology and economy of Kosova.

The discontent is growing due to the non-achieved , but also due
to the negative attitude of the international community on the
secession of Kosova.

The arrest of about 200 former workers of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs of Albanian descent, during November, further
dynamizes the political scene of Kosova and represents a kind of
a Milosevic response to the petition demands of the Serbian
Resistance Movement in Kosova.

The repression and arrogance of the Serbian regime has pushed
Albanians to an even more radical position, and now it is hard
to expect their willingness to accept conditions of the
international community. Bearing in mind the repression being
increased on a daily basis and especially the torture exercised
in the above mentioned arrests, the control over the events may
be lost, which can be dangerous in conditions of permanent
tension.

The objective of recent arrests and constant intimidation of the
Albanian population seems an effort to dissolve the parallel
state and to create a better negotiating position. With this
political action of arresting 200 Albanians the regime
demonstrates force and re-opens the Kosova question.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia follows
developments in Kosova with great concern and thereby is warning
that the constant increase of repressive measures lead s to a
spillover of the conflict to the south of the country.

The Helsinki Committee also calls attention to massive
violations of human rights of the Albanian population in Kosova
and to living conditions that are becoming worse and worse.

Bearing in mind the above mentioned, the Helsinki Committee
considers that it is necessary to immediately start the dialogue
between Belgrade and Prishtina on an equal basis.

The Helsinki Committee also considers the return of the CSCE
mission to Kosova is necessary.





Congress members write to Clinton



Members of the U.S. Congress Susan Molinari and Eliot Engel
wrote to the President of the U.S. Bill Clinton. In the letter
they state: "We are writing to express our gratitude for the
high level of attention paid to the visit of the President of
Kosova, Ibrahim Rugova. Although we are very satisfied that the
Adviser for National Security, Anthony Lake, reiterated the
stand of the U.S.A that some of the sanctions imposed on Serbia
should remain until a definitive resolution of the Kosova issue
is achieved, we strongly believe that a greater cooperation from
Serbia is needed before the lifting of the sanctions is
considered. Nevertheless, your conditioning to remove the
sanctions imposed on Serbia is clear evidence that a reasonable
solution of the Balkans crisis is not po ssible without the
solution of the Kosova problem. In the end, at a time when U.S.
policy towards Bosnia is changing and the violation of the Human
Rights in Kosova is escalating, we would recommend to you some
further steps that your Administration should take in order to
help the people of Kosova and prevent the expansion of the
conflict from Bosnia to Kosova.

First, we feel that the warning that U.S.A. would act on the
escalation of Serbian aggression to Kosova should be repeated
clearly and publicly.

Second, the U.S.A. should open an Information Office in
Prishtina, as it is anticipated by Law, and to allow the
Government of Kosova to open an office in Washington.

Third, the International presence in Kosova should be increased
through the return of the OSCE mission and possibly through the
application of a type of an international protectorate.

Serbian police evicts the Albanian families

Besides arresting and prosecuting more than 200 members of
former Albanian Kosova police employees, Serbian police has
forcefully evicted from many of their families from their homes
and threatened others.

On 15 December, Serbian police broke into the flat of Shemsi
Xhema, former commander of Kosova Special Police Units and was
evicted from his home. His family was even made to pay the
expenses of the police intervention. The flat was given to a
Serbian policeman from Kamenica. The family of Mr. Xhema was
left homeless.

On 28 December Serbian police visited the families of four
former Kosova police employees in Prishtina, and demanded that
they move out of their flats as soon as possible under the
justification that the flats belong to the Serbian state and
it's enemies can no longer live in them.

The following day a further 5 families were given orders to
vacate their homes. Three families were forcefully evicted,
including those of Reshat Goga and Sherif Krasniqi.

On 2 January two other families were forced to leave their flats.

Similar threats have been reported all over Kosova.



News in Brief



An advert published in 'Jedinstvo', dated 4 January, states that
in order to prevent the emigration of Serbs from Kosova, and to
aid its colonisation, The Fund for Development of Serbia is
letting 15 flats in Vushtrri and 5 in Mitrovica. Kosova Unions
are very concerned as the above mentioned Fund does not possess
any flats in Kosova, and therefore those advertised must have
been taken from Albanians.



All government ministries have been commissioned to prepare
propositions for the 'settlement' of the problems in Kosova,
stated Vekoslav Sosevic, a minister in the Serbian government
responsible allegedly for the 'economic development' of Kosova,
to the Serbian local daily based in Prishtina, Jedinstvo
(31/12/94) Mr. Sosevic announced plans of the Serbian government
towards the further colonization of Kosova and the changing of
the ethnic structure in the favour of Serbs and Montenegrins. He
said construction of settlements for Serb settlers was included
in the Serbian government's overall scheme and funding, DM 3.5,
million was to be allocated from the state budget. The
construction of 'industrial capacities' to offer job
opportunities for those settled in Kosova are also to be
included in the Serbian government's agenda, Sosevic told
Jedinstvo.   The same paper, on the 5 January issue, reports
that a building with 26 flats dedicated for Serbs will be built
in the centre of Kamenica.



The Belgrade based daily 'Vecernje Novosti' , (5/1/95) writes:
'A new law on regional organization is to be introduced by the
Serbian government because of the changes of the form  of
signposting settlements, streets and town centres and the
changing of several place names, particularly in Kosova. The law
will outline the procedures on forming new communes, merging
and abolishing them.



===========================================================



Kosova Information Center

KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 533 Prishtina, 18 January 1995



Defending Lawyers Testify about Savage Torture against Albanian
Detainees



Since mid-November 1994, the Serbian regime has launched a
wild-scale campaign against former police employees of the
former Kosova police force. Over 170 former policemen have been
arrested throughout Kosova in a bid to 'uncover' the alleged
Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Kosova. Based on the
reports of defending lawyers and statements of the Serbian-run
judiciary authorities, some 130 detained persons have been
extended pre-trial detention to additional two months. The
Prishtina-based newspaper Bujku carries in its today's issue
accounts of the defending lawyers in connection with the torture
and savage experiences the detainees have been going through
during investigation proceedings.  Hasan Hoti, a defending
lawyer of 10 detainees from Gjilan and Prishtina, told the
newspaper that one of his clients (he did not reveal his name
for fear of possible implications) was forced by the Serbian
security inspectors to take on the role of an investigating
judge and later to cross-examine and torture his colleague.
Another client was forced to take all his clothes off and told
that a homosexual would come to his prison cell and rape him,
Mr. Hoti said. Adem Bajri, a defending lawyer from Peja, told
Bujku that his client, Dkrgut Bibaj, was badly tortured by a
Serb examining magistrate, Veselin Cadjenovic. Mr. Bibaj was
later transferred to the intensive care ward of the Peja
Hospital and forced to  give a statement there. Mr. Destan
Rukiqi, a defending lawyer from Prishtina, was quoted by the
newspaper as saying that there was many a procedure infringement
and that he was in possession of evidence that his clients had
been subjected to all forms of torture and that electric shock
had been used against the detainees in order to force them sign
self-incriminating statements. The Serbian public prosecutors
have violated provisions of the Serbian law itself, he said.
According to this law, detainees cannot be held in detention to
more than three days, while most of the former policemen have
been held in detention for weeks without having had any charges
instituted against. Article 197 of the Serbian Penal Code reads
that detainees can be held in the so-called pre-trial detention
to one month at most, whereas Albanian detainees have been
extended pre-trial detention to two further months, Mr. Rukiqi
underscored.



Serbian-installed Rector of Prishtina University Drums up
Schemes for Colonization of Kosova



The Serb-installed Rector of the University of Prishtina,
Radivoje Papovic, told today's Prishtina-based Serbian daily
"Jedinstvo" that he preferred the strategies of the Serbian king
Aleksandar Karadjordjevic for the colonization of Kosova. Mr.
Papovic regretted that such schemes had not 'regrettably' been
'completed entirely'. "Nonetheless, what we [Serbs] are doing
now is a recurrence of such an idea which is necessary and
reasonable because it is based on necessities of the Serbian
state," Papovic points out. Commenting on remarks of foreign
delegations over the colonization of Kosova, the Serbian rector
says that no one from abroad should interfere with these matters
as "Kosova is solely a Serbian issue, it is Serbian interests
and Serbian morrow that are here". The Serbian ultra-nationalist
'scholar' who is a settler to Kosova himself, has many times
called on university professors and students from Serbia to come
to the usurped University of Prishtina, promising them
accommodation and other benefactions. He also testifies that
such schemes have already been performed. "Over the past two and
a half years, some 7000 students and 348 professors have come to
our University. We call on those who are willing to come here
and our duty is to provide apartments to all of them," Mr.
Papovic told the Belgrade-based "Nin" in its 30 September 1994
issue.  The Serbian regime has been widely advocating and
performing campaigns for the colonization of Kosova and changing
of its ethnic composition. Only last week the government of the
self-proclaimed Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) passed a
statutory decree for the "realization of the Programme for the
settlement of 100.000 Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosova". Over
the past two years, several settlements for Serbs have either
been erected or are under construction in Kosova.



British Writer James Pettifer Harassed by Serbian Security



James Pettifer, a British writer and academic, Senior Associate
Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford, was harassed by 2
Serbian security agents in Gjakova, at 4.30 on Monday (16
January). While walking in the street, he was stopped by 2
agents who jumped from a car and questioned him. Mr. Pettifer,
the author of 'The Greeks' and 'Blue Guide to Albania', among
other publications, was in Gjakova in connection with research
for his new book. Mr. Pettifer told KIC that the security agents
had warned him not to take photographs, not to stay overnight in
Gjakova, and to leave the town on the next bus.



Albanian Youth Forcefully Drafted



On 10 January, the Serbian police arrested the youth Bafti
Berisha at Mirosalk village of Ferizaj. The report indicates
that Mr. Berisha was immediately sent to serve the army at the
Serbian military barracks in Belgrade.



Repression Chronicle



Ferizaj: On 11 January, the Serbian police detained Isa Kamberi
who was repprtedly illtreated under the excuse of being in
possession of weapons.LDK sources in Ferizaj say that this was
the sixth time he was detained under the same pretext. Same day,
the Serbian police during a search conducted at the home of
Skknder Advdulli, for unknown reasons, shot with fire arms in
the direction of the young Enver Avdulli. They arrested him
afterwards and beat him up severely. Skenderaj:  On 15 January,
a Serbian police patrol halted a group of Albanian wedding-goers
and reportedly ill-treated some of them with no reason
whatsoever. Gani Koci, a member to the Kosova Parliament and
member to the LDK Central Board was reported detained together
with his wife and interrogated at the police station in Gllogovc
for over two hours.