Slavic Macedonians Show Their True Colors Posted July 3, 2001
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Press Release

Slavic Macedonians Show Their True Colors

Washington, July 3, 2001: The National Albanian American Council issued the following statement regarding the stalled peace process in Macedonia.

The world is witnessing first hand the disdain that many Slavic Macedonians have for their Albanian countrymen.

The Slavs in the Macedonian government have been reckless in their approach to the conflict. They have repeatedly bombed Albanian villages. Once the government "liberates" areas from the National Liberation Army ("NLA"), troops then proceed to burn the homes of Albanians and beat and arrest the "freed" civilians, including women and the elderly. Westerners, such as NATO leader Lord Robertson, have rightly called the military campaign "madness" and "pure folly," and human rights groups have denounced these practices (see attached summary). Indeed, the nearly 100,000 Albanian refugees that have fled Macedonia have done so because they fear the government, not the NLA, and because of threats from Slavic paramilitaries.

Such threats are dramatically on the rise. Slavic radicals have destroyed stores and homes, killed Albanians, and called for sending all Albanians to the gas chamber. How has the government responded to this? By taking little action to prevent crimes committed by Slavs, by providing arms to nearly 20,000 Slavic paramilitaries, and by recognizing, as President Trajkovski did recently, that the violent mobs are rightfully angry. Clearly, the situation in Macedonia is quickly escalating into a full-scale conflict.

We commend the Bush Administration for sending Special Envoy James Pardue to resurrect the peace process by talking some sense to the Macedonian government. We have repeatedly called for the appointment of a special envoy and are pleased that the Administration sent a diplomat with a great deal of experience in the region. Pardue's impact on the peace talks has been swift. We welcome his statement that "Those [in the government] who favor use of force here are undermining the peace process."

Perhaps with America's help in facilitating the peace process, those talks will begin in earnest. If talks do resume, it will be critical for Western leaders to take into account the recent behavior of Slavs within and outside the government as an example of what Albanians have to live with all the time. Albanians are not trying to break up Macedonia. They are hoping, however, to better their lives by securing changes to the Constitution that will make them equals and allow for meaningful protection of their rights.

The National Albanian American Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering in the United States a greater understanding of Albanian issues, and to promoting peace, human rights, and economic development in the Balkans. NAAC is also committed to helping train future leaders in the region and provide targeted humanitarian assistance to children and their families who are recovering from the after-effects of war. For more information, please contact Martha Vedder at (202) 466-6900.

###Human Rights Abuses Against Albanians in Macedonia

During the current conflict in Macedonia, innocent Albanians are suffering human rights abuses from the government and individuals. Below is a summary of some of those abuses:

Government Burns Down Entire Village

On May 29, 2001, Human Rights Watch reported that Macedonian government forces arbitrarily shelled and burned the ethnic Albanian village of Runica and beat some of its civilian inhabitants. Six members of one family were wounded by mortar fire and one man was killed. Seven others civilians were severely beaten, including a 53-year-old woman.

Our investigations show that Macedonian forces burned civilians homes and beat some villagers last week in the village of Runica, said Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. These crimes must be impartially investigated, and those responsible brought to account.

HRW Condemns Murder of Teenager, Attacks on Civilians

On May 4, 2001, Human Rights Watch wrote Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski to express the organizations concern with human rights violations perpetrated by the Macedonian government against the Albanian population.

This concern is strengthened by our findings following the March 2001 actions by the security forces against armed ethnic Albanian groups in the western part of the country. Available evidence suggests that government forces were responsible for the deliberate killing of 16-year-old Omer Shabani on April 3 in the village of Selce. We also received reports that families of ethnic Albanians arrested on suspicion of membership in the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) were unable to obtain any information on the whereabouts of their relatives. Finally, our documentation suggests that government forces were responsible for the wanton destruction and looting of villages perceived as being pro-NLA, including the villages of Selce, Gjermo, Gajre, Drenovec, and Kolte. We urge you to make these incidents the subject of prompt, thorough, and transparent investigations.

Hundreds of People Arrested Arbitrarily

On April 10, 2001, The Guardian reported that international monitors in Macedonia complained to the government about the arrest and beating of scores of ethnic Albanian civilians, and the vandalizing of dozens of houses, by security forces "cleaning up" after the offensive against Albanian guerrillas:

In other villages the police arrested 200 people in the first two days of their sweep. The monitors have photographs of dozens of severely bruised men. Many of them were treated in Tetovo hospital. Several had broken ribs and noses, and your kidneys don't function too well after you've been with the police," one of the monitors said yesterday. "People were just rounded up on their way to work."

Hundreds of Albanians rounded up by the Macedonian police are still missing or unaccounted for.

Violence Against Albanian Police Officers

On June 16, 2001, the Associated Press reported the cases of two Albanian members of the Macedonian police force who were severely beaten by their colleagues while being interrogated on charges of collaborating with the NLA. According to Nazim Bushi, an ethnic Albanian officer serving with the Macedonian police at the military airport in Skopje, about 40 policemen broke into his house Sunday morning, arrested him and searched the house for weapons. None were found, he said, but he was taken to a nearby police station. There, he said he was beaten by two masked policemen, who accused him of collaborating with the rebels. ``They wanted me to admit that I had given the rebels airport maps and flight schedules of the army helicopters,'' Bushi said. About 35 hours after the arrest, police dropped him unconscious on a hill outside Skopje, where his family found him. Another ethnic Albanian serving with the Macedonian police at the airport, 1st Capt. Muhaedin Bela, was also allegedly arrested and beaten up by police last week after rebels threatened to attack the airport.


Police Indifference to Mob Activity Against Albanians

According to a Human Rights Watch report of June 8, 2001, "police in the Macedonian city of Bitola did not attempt to stop rioting crowds on Wednesday night, and some police officers actively participated in the violence. As a result, dozens of ethnic Albanian homes and as many as 100 shops were burned by the mob." "The available evidence strongly suggests that the Bitola police did not take any actions to stop the anti-Albanian attacks and that a significant number of Bitola police officers, in and out of uniform, took part in the rioting. The rioting crowds claimed to be revenging the deaths of Bitola police officers that were ambushed near Tetovo.""A village mosque was also vandalized by the rioters. Grave markers were broken, and several graves had been broken open. The windows of the mosque were broken, and rioters had set the carpets inside the mosque on fire but did not succeed in burning it down. On the exterior wall of the mosque, rioters had painted several swastikas and written "Death to the Shiptars." The term "Shiptar" is an ethnic slur when used by non-Albanians""Anti-Albanian sentiment in Bitola is rapidly growing into a campaign by extremists to rid Bitola of its ethnic Albanian population. Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch stated that the rioters had yelled slogans including "Death to Albanians," "Pure Bitola," "Albanians Out of Bitola," "Get Out Albanians," and other such statements. The rioters told some of the ethnic Albanians that they had a week to get out of town before being targeted again. Many ethnic Albanians have fled their homes in Bitola in the aftermath of Wednesday's riot because they are afraid of further attacks."