Re: <nettime> Concerned about terrorism in Kosovo

[felipe rodriquez <felipe@xs4all.nl>]

Andre,

>We in Yugoslavia are very concerned about the increasing of terrorist
>actions by so called "Kosovo Liberation Army", the paramilitary and
>illegal terrorist organization of Albanian separatists in Kosovo, 

Who is terrorizing who in Kosovo ?! Read these reports, and you'll see that
the Serbian government is systematically terrorizing the citizens of
kosovo:


This is what the UN has to say about Kosovo:

"The General Assembly would strongly condemn the measures and practices of
discrimination and the violations of human
rights of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo committed by the authorities of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
Montenegro) under an orally amended draft resolution approved by the Third
Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)." (11 dec 1995 Press Release
GA/SHC/3348 )

and:

"There were also a number of reports from the Special Rapporteur on the
situation in the former Yugoslavia, Elisabeth Rehn.
A general report (document E/CN.4/1997/56) includes among its
recommendations that all allegations of ill-treatment or
torture, "of which some of the most serious come from Kosovo", should be
promptly investigated by an impartial authority;
that the Government of the federal Republic of Yugoslavia ensure that no
persons are convicted on the basis of statements
extracted by torture; that "the healing of society in the territory of the
former Yugoslavia demands that alleged grave
violations of humanitarian law be fully and fairly reviewed before the
International Criminal Tribunal", and that the Special
Rapporteur has been "deeply disappointed by the lack of cooperation of most
Governmental authorities in the region with the
Tribunal, and she calls on them to change these policies immediately"; and
that greater attention and support be given to
orphaned children, victims of rape, mentally handicapped residents of
forgotten institutions, and others "suffering in silence
who deserve the attention and assistance of the international community".
(Press Release HR/CN/794 10 April 1997 )


Sub commission resolution 1996/2 from UNCHR

"Gravely concerned at the various discriminatory measures taken in the
legislative, administrative and judicial areas, acts of
violence and arbitrary arrests committed by the authorities of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)
and the further deterioration of the human rights situation in Kosovo,
including:
(a) Police brutality against ethnic Albanians, killings, arbitrary
searches, seizures and arrests, forced evictions, torture and
ill-treatment of detainees, discrimination in the administration of
justice, arbitrary dismissals of civil servants, notably from the
ranks of the police and the judiciary, doctors and other medical staff;
(b) Discrimination against Albanian pupils and teachers, and the closing of
Albanian-language secondary schools and the
university, as well as other cultural and scientific institutions;
(c) The systematic harassment, persecution, intimidation and imprisonment
of members of political parties, human rights
organizations and journalists, the elimination in practice of the Albanian
language in the public administration and services,
and the disruption of the Albanian-language media;
(d) The serious and massive occurrence of discriminatory and repressive
practices aimed at Kosovo Albanians as a whole,
resulting in widespread involuntary migration, and the absence of clear
guarantees for their return home, and noting that
these measures and practices constitute a form of silent "ethnic cleansing"
<..>
Strongly condemns the large-scale repression, measures and practices of
discrimination and the violation of human rights
committed against the defenceless ethnic Albanian population by the
authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro), aimed at forcing ethnic Albanians to leave their
land;"


And Amnesty International in their annual report 1997:

"In Yugoslavia, torture and ill-treatment by police were widespread; most
victims were ethnic Albanians in Kosovo province.
Between April and October, nine Serbs, including five police officers, were
shot dead, and an organization calling itself the
Liberation Army of Kosovo claimed responsibility. The authorities responded
with mass, indiscriminate arrests of ethnic
Albanians, many of whom were ill-treated and later released without
charge." (http://www.amnesty.org//ailib/aireport/ar97/eursum.html)

Amnesty newsreleases about Kosovo:

" Since 1989, when the province's previous autonomy within the Republic of
Serbia was effectively abolished, most ethnic
Albanians -- who account for almost 90 per cent of the population of Kosovo
-- have refused to recognize Serbian authority
in the province. The majority have supported the main ethnic Albanian
political party, the Democratic League of Kosovo,
which, while calling for Kosovo to be recognized as an independent state,
has consistently advocated the use of peaceful
means.

The deplorable record of human rights abuses in Kosovo, in which over the
years thousands of ethnic Albanians have
been beaten and otherwise ill-treated by police, and hundreds imprisoned in
unfair trials, has accumulated a dangerous legacy
of bitterness amongst many ethnic Albanians. Ethnic Albanian leaders and
others have warned that unless urgent steps are
taken to resolve Kosovo's problems by peaceful negotiation, popular support
may grow for those who resort to violence."
(http://www.amnesty.org//news/1997/47003297.htm)


Human Rights Watch:

" Since coming to power in 1987, Serbian President Milosevic has targeted
the 1.8 million ethnic Albanians in the southwestern region of Kosovo. Serb
authorities have used police violence, torture and political trials to
repress ethnic Albanians and encourage their emigration from the region. As
the current crackdown on demonstrators in Serbia shows, human rights
violations in Yugoslavia are committed against all citizens: the lack of an
independent judiciary, state control of the media and a brutal police force
have a negative effect on the rights of all people, regardless of
ethnicity. However, there is no doubt that minority groups in Yugoslavia
are especially susceptible to abuse, especially the Albanians in Kosovo."
(http://www.hrw.org/hrw/research/serbia.html)



I could publish hundreds of pages of text like this about Kosovo, a
search-engine job on the words Kosovo and Torture returned 1457 documents.




---
Felipe Rodriquez        felipe@xs4all.nl  
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