Kosova Crisis Center
link to alb-net
Mental trauma of Kosova rape
victims difficult to treat (CNN)
From Correspondent Eileen O'Connor
TIRANA, Albania (CNN) -- She is a Kosovar medical student who can only be identified by a
nickname -- Mer. Her family remains behind as she goes from refugee to refugee,
undertaking one of the most difficult missions of war.
Mer is gathering evidence of war crimes committed against the people of Kosova --
particularly rape.
"I take their names and their ages and the dates," she explained.
The stories she hears are horrifying.
Vassar, for example, was not a victim of rape, but an eyewitness. Told by Serb police to
leave her home, she gathered her young boys and left the small town of Drina on the family
tractor. They joined a column of other families that was approached by Serb militiamen
outside of Djakovica.
Soldiers in uniforms, with red and gray kerchiefs on their heads, rounded up the young
women, Vasser said. Later, Vasser and the others left the column to try to find the young
women. She said she saw the girls lying in a field where the soldiers were raping them.
Vassar and her neighbors were forced to return to the line. The girls came back later, she
said, with their clothes in shreds.
Shame keeps victims silent
These kinds of accounts from witnesses, Mer said, are too common to ignore. But accounts
from actual victims are nearly impossible to find. The shame that keeps rape victims
silent even in the West is especially acute among these Muslim families. Often victims who
do come forward will describe incidents stopping just short of rape.
Vilora Gegar said she was taken at gunpoint by Serb police several weeks ago, before
fleeing her country.
"They told me to take my clothes off," she said. "I refused."
The Serb police held her by her hair and beat her, Gegar said, taunting her by saying she
should get the Americans to protect her. She said she still has back pain from the blows
of rifle butts.
Gegar's cousin said she witnessed four young girls taken away by Serb militiamen wearing
masks.
"They were sisters between 19 and 25 years old," she said. "Only their
father was left. We came here and I never saw them again."
Survival comes first
International doctors seeing refugees at makeshift clinics or hospitals in the Albanian
border town of Kukes said they have seen girls so traumatized that the doctors suspect
they were raped -- but they cannot ask.
As Dr. Jeff Colyer explained, it is simply not appropriate for a Western male to bring up
the subject with the ethnic Albanian women.
"The additional problem is that people are more concerned about food and shelter and
just living," Colyer said. ( 148 K/12 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
Many refugees who make it across the border enter the hospital suffering from severe
dehydration and exposure. Their psychological needs become secondary.
But international investigators and doctors in the Kosova refugee camps said it is
difficult to have any doubt that the violation and rape of women has become a weapon of
choice in Kosova, as it was during the Bosnian conflict.
The list of the identified victims
in the massacre of Studime (KP)
Vushtrri, May 4th (Kosovapress) The list of the identified persons in the massacre that
was executed by serbian terrorists in the village Studime e Poshtme, commune of Vushtrri
on May 2nd of this year: Veli Rashica, Istref Rashica, Ali Rashica, Abdyl Ibrahim
Gėrgjaliu, Shaban Hazir Gėrgjaliu, Bajram Hazir Gėrgjaliu, Imer Islam Gėrgjaliu,
Skėnder Gėrgjaliu, Abdyl Fetah Gėrgjaliu, Fatmir Fetah Gėrgjaliu, Zejnullah Hetem
Gėrgjaliu, Mahmut Rashica, Sherif Sfarqa, Skėnder Sfarqa, Hazir Nezir Muli, Asllan Nezir
Muli Nuhi Gėrgjaliu, Haki Gėrgjaliu, all from Studime Poshtme. Gjavit Mulaku-Vushtrri,
Ekrem Mulaku-Vushtrri, Xhevdet Nysret Gėrgjaliu –Studime e Poshtme, Fatmir Ejup
Gėrgjaliu –Studime e Poshtme, Sejdi Hasan Gėrgjaliu –Studime e Poshtme, Ismail
Popova, Namon Gėrguri, Enver Gėrguri, Skėnder Gėrguri, Musli Gėrguri, Agim Gėrguri,
Ramush Gėrguri, Adnan Bunjaku, Eshref Rashica-Studime e Poshtme, Ali Beqir
Hyseni-Vushtrri, Basri Beqir Hyseni, Rrahmon Hyseni-Kaēanoll, Podujevė, Ramadan
Hyseni-Kaēanoll, Podujevė, Veli Xhafa, Zymer Pronaj –Stanovc, Kadrush Musa
–Bajgorė, Ilaz Musa –Bajgorė, Hysen Bunjaku –Pestovė, Musa
Abazi–Vushtrri, Remzi Morina –Okrashticė, Mehdi Avdyl Musliu –Vushtrri,
Bajram Isė Muliqi Sfaraēak i Epėrm, Sabri Maxhuni –Novosellė e Maxhunit, Sahit
Diku – Samadrexhė-Sfaraēak Driton Maxhuni –Novosellė e Maxhunit, Hysen Qazim
Hyseni – Dumnicė e Poshtme, Rrahmon Ademi Novosellė e Begut, Avdi Rrahmon Shala
–Okrashticė Visar Xhafa –Sfaraēak, Nazif Xhafa –Bare, Nezir Halim Beqiri
–Kaēanoll, Podujevė, Shaban Krasniqi –Sfaraēak i Poshtėm, Gani Muli
–Vushtrri, Sylė Ferizi –Ferizaj, Sali hysen Muzaēi – Ferizaj, Enver
Sheremet Pronaj –Stanovc, Ferid Kolla -Kollė.
Strong resistance of the freedom
fighters in Drenicė (KP)
Drenicė, May 4th (Kosovapress) During the past week, serbian terrorist forces burnt the
village of Kotor, Tėrnavc, Kuqicė and all the house that have not been yet burnt in
Prekaz tė Epėrme, Polac and in the villages around Qirez. There was a strong resistance
of KLA soldiers in all these villages. We have to stress the strong resistance of the KLA
soldiers of the III Battalion of the114 Brigade "Fehmi Lladrovci" in Tėrnavc,
Prekaz and in Galice. Here, 17 serbian police soldiers have been killed and many others
were wounded.In order to take their cadavers, serbian military executed heavy
bombardments. Indignated by this strong resistance, serbian terrorist forces took revenge
over the albanian civil population, including women, children and old age people. Only in
Prekaz tė Epėrm they`ve killed 14 civilians from the age of 9-83. These are: Arif Latifi
(83), Sherif Lata (65), Hajdin Ukshini (63), Ejup Ukshini(45), Qerime Selim Dauti (40),
Rifadije Ferat Ferati (25), Sinan Fadil Dauti (9), Eset Maliqi (58), Vesel Maliqi (52),
Ferat Latif Maliqi (47), Kajtaz Maliqi (60), Vesel Ferati (62), Hida Kamberi (50) from
Galica (mentally sick), Muhamet Shaqir Fazliu (30), Musli Zeqė Fazliu (26). In Klinė tė
Mesme, four brothers Hetemi have been killed: Muharremi (75), Hetemi (70), Haliti (68),
Sadiku (65),then Vesel Muaharrem Hetemi (50), and Isuf Duraku (20). Another victim in the
commune of Skėnderaj joined to this victims, Ferat Hamit Dajaku (55) from Rakinica. The
hostages from Kuēica have not been released yet and they are mainly old age people over
the age of 60th: Bajram Bajraktari (73), Shaqir Selimi (81), Bajram Selimi (75), Sabri
Beka (80), Bajram Beka (62), Elez Beka (60), Rizah Selimi (60), Musah Selimi (75), and a
guest from Kopiliq. The bandit game of serbian terrorist approved even in the case when
the started to move civil population towards the cross-border with Albanian and they sent
them back again in Skenderaj and in Mitrovicė. The confessions of these people are
terrible. The young people were hold and beaten during this long journey. Now the civil
population is facing with the serious lack of food and medicines and its survival is
questioned.
For 12 albanian hostages, serbian
policemen are asking 12 000 DM (KP)
Pejė, May 4th (Kosovapress) In the villages of Lugu tė Drinit(Trough of Drini); Ozdrim,
Kashicė, Staradran, Prekallė, Trubuhoc, Trestenik, Lutogllavė, Rakosh, Llabjan and
Zabllaq, the conditions of the displaced population is very alarming because of the lack
of food and medicines. There over than 50.000 inhabitants being concentrated in these
regions. After the serbian terrorist burnings and lootings in Nabėrgjan, the population
was forced to leave. Serbian police and serbian para militaries are continuing to provoke
the inhabitants of these dwellings. The number of the kidnapped people has reached the
cipher of 12th. To set them free, serbian terrorist police is asking for 12 000 DM.
Two successful actions, executed by
the KLA units of the OZ of Llapi (KP)
Podjevė, May 4th (Kosovapress) Today, KLA units of the OZ of Llapi have undertaken a
counter-attack against serbian criminal forces. Within 24 hours, KLA units of the OZ of
Llapi have executed two successful actions. The first one was executed in the road axes
Prishtinė-Medvegjė and the other Prishtinė-Podjevė. KLA units of the 151 Brigade of
the OZ of Llapi, in their action along the road Prishtinė –Medvegjė, destroyed
three serbian military truck full of armament and they`ve killed 6 serbian
soldiers.Another truck with ammunition has been confiscated by our soldiers. The serbian
cadavers are still in the place where the action took place. The other action was executed
by the 151 Brigade unit „Zahir Pajaziti", in the road Prishtinė –Podjevė.
KLA unit during this action has killed two serbian soldiers and destroyed a military
picgauer.
KLA-opened popular kitchens
Podjevė, May 4th (Kosovapress) The Command of the OZ of Llap, seeing the grave situation
of the civil population, has released an order for Units and Brigades of KLA in this zone,
to open popular kitchens for civil population. In the territory under control of the 151
Brigade, a such kitchen has already started to work since today. OZ of Llapi is doing
everything and is using all their means to help the civil population. But also we must
mention here the material and moral support the civil population is giving for the freedom
soldiers.
ALBANIAN DOCTOR AND STUDENT
ACTIVIST REPORTEDLY DISAPPEARS IN PRISTINA
According to Kosovapress, which is linked to the KLA, Dr. Flora Brovina, a well-known
doctor and civil society leader in Kosova, was kidnapped on April 22 in the ward known as
Aktash, Pristina. Dr. Brovina was renowned for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of
civilians. No further details are available, and the report has not been independently
confirmed.
The Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade issued the following report of Albin Kurti's
arrest.
On 28 April 1999, Albin Kurti, the former leader of the Albanian Students Union and
spokesman to the former political representative of the KLA, was arrested in Pristina.
Adem Demaqi. Albin's father and an official with the Kosova Parliamentary Party, was also
arrested at this time, as well as Albin's two brothers, Nazmi Zeka, the owner of the house
where the Kurtis were temporarily residing, and Nazmis son. Witnesses claim that the
arrest was conducted in an extremely brutal manner. Twenty-four hours later, Albin's
fifteen-year old brother and Nazmi Zeka were released; they both had visible signs of
beating.
The day before Albin Kurti was arrested, on 27 April 1999, the brother of a prominent
soccer player Fadil Vokrri, Adil, was arrested. No information has been available about
the destiny of the arrested persons.
On 25 April 1999, Adem Demaqi was taken in for questioning. According to his account, he
had been interrogated for two hours in relation to his attitudes towards the solution to
the Kosova issue.
There are other developments in Pristina, which cause a feeling of insecurity among the
remaining Albanians. The police make rounds visiting homes and compiling lists of
Albanians with permanent residence in Pristina and refugees staying with them. A number of
Serb shopkeepers refuse to sell their goods to Albanians. There are only a few Albanians
in Pristina whose telephone lines have not been cut off.
Report of the Council for the
Defense of Human Right and Freedoms- from Mitrovica
Mitrovicė, May 4th (Kosovapress) The humanitarian situation of the 60.000 displaced
albanians from Mitrovica is very catastrophic because except the lack of food and water,
they are threaten from diseases and there no medicines. On April 26 in the mountain called
Shirin near the village of Tėrnavc of Skėnderaj,serbian ēetniks uniformed in military
uniforms, with long bears and hairs, have executed 24 young persons who were taken from
the column with displaced people on April 25 in Skenderaj. On April 19th, about
16°°o`clock, near the bridge of the river Ibėr, in Koshtovė of Mitrovicės, two
serbian ēetniks inhabitant of the village Zubē of Zubinpotokut, took the 80 years old
man, Rrustem Hasanin, from Koshtova and they threw him from the bride in the rocks, and
they killed him. Among the many executed persons from Mitrovicė are also Sami Sahiti
(31), Mehdi Tahiri (19), Fatmir Avdyli (15) and many others. Fadil Avdyl Neziri (25), was
badly wounded and he reached to escape even though his hands were tied ed with barbed
wire. Together with him was Bedri Muja (40). Among numerous arrested persons are Shaban
Gashi, Muhamet Maloku, Nazmi Bunjaku, Xhymjet Bunjaku, Bahri Neziri, Naim Zeqiri, Fatmir
Zeqiri, Hazir Myftari, Bajrush Rrahmani, Lulzim Dajaku, Naim Dajaku, Blerim Zejnullahu,
Skėnder Muja, Rexhep Sejdiu, Ismet Sejdiu, Mustafė Sejdiu, Fehmi Haziri, Muhamet Haziri,
Shefqet Aliu, Nazmi Aliu, Naim Syla, Shesivar Tahiri, Avni Xhafa and many others who are
arrested on April 25 in Skenderaj and Shipol. There are no informations about their fate.
Whereas in Polac of Skėnderaj, uniformed serbian ēetniks executed: Feriz Ukėn (70),
Idriz Ukėn (60), Enver Uka (30), Mursel Uka (18), Xhavit Kabashi (30), two sons of Emin
Kabashit, Qerim Kerolli (60) the son of Mursel Ukės 14 years old and Hazir Hoti (50),
together with 10 others bur we could not learn their names. Serbian ēetniks, wearing
soldiers uniforms and masked, have executed many albanians in the villages of
Drenica,without taking in consideration their gender or their age. Only in the village of
Kllodernicė, respectively in the so called place "Te ara e Latifit"(Field of
Latif), these persons were executed: Rrahim Mulaj (55), Rifat Mulaj (50), Rrustem Mulaj
(67), Islam Mulaj (53), Mexhit Mulaj (27), his brother Mustafa (15), Idriz Sejdiu (55),
Zeqir Mulaj (55), Murat Topalli (70), Ahmet Dervishi (56), Emine Latifi (70), she was
sick; they have burnt her with lights in a tractor trailer. They executed the daughter of
Zeqir Mulaj (16), and another 17 years girl and they burnt the old age man Mahmut Mulaj
(74), and the 17 years old girl of, Hashim Latifit. From this execution have reached to
escape but are badly wounded Ahmet Miftari (60), Ibrahim Miftari (58), Isa Miftari (32),
Valon Miftari (16), Ardian Abazi (15), who were in the same executed line with the other
persons. We have to mention that these are only a small part of the massacred and killed
persons by serbian criminals in the villages of Drenica because it is impossibile to learn
all the names of the massacred people. In Mitrovicė, respectively in the ward Bair,
Ibėr, Ura e Gjakut, 2 Korriku, Kodra e Minatorėve, Kroi i Vitakut and villages of
Suhadoll, Vinalc i Epėrm e i Poshtėm, Gushavc, Koshtovė, Zhabar tė Epėrm, serbian
ēetnik and serbian civilians together with gypsies have burnt over than 950 albanian
houses. The burnings of albanian houses and albanian villages by serbian bar bars, are
still going on.In the streets of Mitrovica serbian police leaded by the ēetnik Ratko
Antonijeviq, are executing, beating, arresting many innocent albanians. There also some
unconscious albanians who are collaborators with serbian criminals and they are identified
and their names are in the office of the CDHRF in Mitrovica. We have to mention that the
above mentioned executed persons, have been displaced in the village Kllodernicė, and
they`ve been executed on March 27 of this year. The arrested persons in Skėnderaj are
also: Xhevat Tahiri (47), Lulzim Magjuni (23), Driton Rushitaj and Kajtaz Sylė Rushiti
(45), inhabitants of Mitrovicė .
Argentine Woman Donates $500K to Kosovars (AP)
ROME (AP) -- An Argentine businesswoman has made the largest ever private donation to the
World Food Program -- $500, 000 for Kosova refugees, the U.N. agency announced today.
Amalia Lacroze De Fortabat, president of the Loma Negra cement company, said she was moved
to make the donation after seeing reports on the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians
driven out of their homes in Kosova.
" They arrived in a foreign country with nothing to eat, and it seemed to me that
this is what had to be looked after first, especially for the children, " De
Fortabat, 72, was quoted as saying by the Rome-based U.N. agency.
More than 675, 000 ethnic-Albanians have fled Kosova since NATO began its air campaign
March 24 in a bid to force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a peace
proposal for the Yugoslav province.
Blair Vows To Defeat Milosevic
'Genocide' (Reuters)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - Britain's prime minister vowed Tuesday that NATO would
defeat the ``hideous racial genocide'' of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic as
U.S.-Russian talks made no breakthrough and alliance bombers launched more strikes.
Tony Blair, who has emerged as the most hawkish leader in the alliance, said NATO's
prolonged air campaign would triumph over Milosevic and that a new Serbia rid of his
``corrupt dictatorship'' could then rejoin the international community.
``I pledge to you now: Milosevic and his hideous racial genocide will be defeated. NATO
will prevail,'' Blair said in a speech to the Romanian parliament in Bucharest as alliance
warplanes launched a 42nd day of strikes on Serbia.
President Clinton said after talks with Russia's Balkans envoy Monday there could be a
pause in the bombing campaign, but only if Milosevic submitted to NATO terms in the Kosova
crisis. U.S. officials gave no hint of a breakthrough.
Meanwhile the bombing went on. NATO planes fired at least two missiles Tuesday at a
previously hit industrial plant in the western Serbian town of Valjevo, the independent
Beta news agency said in Belgrade.
Monday night alliance warplanes hit a television building in northern Serbia and a
military airport near Belgrade.
In Brussels, NATO military spokesman Gen. Walter Jertz told a news briefing that
operations in the past 24 hours ``have gone extremely well ... it was our most successful
military operation against fielded forces in Kosova.''
Belgrade said Tuesday that 1,200 Yugoslavs had been killed so far by NATO bombing and
5,000 seriously injured.
Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin, whose country opposes NATO's strikes, said after
meeting Clinton at the White House that a diplomatic solution to the conflict was now
closer.
But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was due to meet Chernomyrdin later Tuesday,
cautioned against expecting any quick diplomatic fix to the crisis.
Diplomatic efforts plodded on, however. Germany announced that foreign ministers of the
Group of Seven major industrial powers plus Russia would meet in Bonn Thursday to discuss
solutions to the conflict.
Blair's hard-hitting speech in Romania insisted there would be no compromise on NATO's
demand, which Milosevic has so far rejected, for an armed international force to go to
Serbia's Kosova province to protect returning ethnic Albanian refugees.
Those demands ``must be met,'' he said.
There was similar rhetoric from Gen. Wesley Clark, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for
Europe, who said in Albania that the air campaign ``is proving every day that we are
winning and Milosevic is losing.''
NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels that the weather over the Balkans had been
favorable Monday, allowing NATO planes to carry out several strikes against Yugoslav
tanks, artillery and military equipment.
``We also struck 40 fixed targets elsewhere in Yugoslavia. No part of the Yugoslav army
was spared,'' Shea said.
In Washington, defense officials said a U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter shot down a Yugoslav
MiG-29 jet Monday night after the MiG rose to challenge the American warplane.
NATO also received a boost from Bulgaria, where after a heated debate against a background
of pro- and anti-NATO demonstrations, parliament voted Tuesday to let alliance aircraft
use Bulgarian airspace to strike at Yugoslavia.
Despite the confident talk from NATO, the allies' reliance on air strikes alone, without
use of ground forces, was panned Tuesday by the respected International Institute for
Strategic Studies, which said the policy would not work.
``While the operation against Serbia could clearly damage Serbian military power, the
value of air power as an instrument to force diplomatic compliance was shown to be
limited,'' the think tank said in an annual survey.
The Kosova refugee crisis worsened with thousands more uprooted ethnic Albanians swamping
the border crossing to Macedonia, many of them dumped by trains.
``Our intelligence reports say yesterday was one of the worst days for refugees,'' a NATO
official said in Brussels. Some new arrivals showed signs of starvation, he added.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said in Geneva it would begin transferring thousands of
Kosova refugees from Macedonia to Albania in the next few days as a ``last resort'' to
ease overcrowded camps in Macedonia.
In the ongoing air campaign, Serb state television said, two rockets struck the television
station in Novi Sad, causing extensive damage but no injuries as the building was empty.
Belgrade residents reported attacks Monday evening to the west of the city around
Batajnica, site of a military airport hit repeatedly by NATO since raids began on March
24.
NATO denied that its planes had attacked a bus in western Kosova Monday, killing 17
civilians, as reported by Serb media. Officials in Brussels hinted that ethnic Albanian
guerrillas in Kosova might have carried out the attack.
Serbia's electricity authority said power supplies were again disrupted across the country
Tuesday, apparently caused by problems at a huge power plant on the Danube river.
Supplies had been returning to normal after 70 percent of the country was blacked out
Sunday night by what NATO called special bombs that short-circuited electrical equipment.
Treating the Thousands With
Sympathy and Aspirin (NY Times)
By ANTHONY DePALMA
KUKES, Albania -- The butt end of a Serbian rifle left the refugee's eyes swollen shut. In
a crowded storage closet that is now his examining room, Dr. James Desmoore found that the
man was bleeding from the gash on the bridge of his nose, and that his cheek, his forehead
and perhaps the back of his skull had probably been fractured by the beating.
Above the noise and confusion caused by the 10 refugees who had helped the man walk the
last five miles to the border, and who had then brought him to the examining room,
Desmoore knew he needed X-rays, some tranquilizers and a hospital bed.
All he could do, however, was clean the wounds and give the man aspirin.
"It's frustrating," Desmoore said as the man lay on the examining table,
"because we can't do what we know we should do."
Lack of medicine, scarcity of equipment, resistance from local doctors and an unending
stream of needy refugees combine to make this refugee frontier a test of humanitarian
resolve and medical ingenuity.
With perhaps 100,000 desperate refugees in and around this crumbling city, just 10 miles
from the Yugoslav border in Albania's remote north, providing even the most basic medical
attention has become a pressing and almost unmeetable need.
Desmoore and about 30 other doctors from half a dozen relief organizations here know they
are tiptoeing around the edge of a catastrophe as they try to treat the worst cases with
the bare minimum of supplies that have arrived here so far.
They are thankful for small blessings, like the continued cold temperatures that have
suppressed the breeding of flies and mosquitoes and thus prevented epidemics that are
spread by insects. But the chilly dampness has also led to an outbreak of respiratory
infections that can easily turn into pneumonia.
The doctors see scabies, and broken bones, and shrapnel wounds. But worst of all, they
say, are the lingering effects of the violence and hatred of this particular war.
"The kids won't talk, the old people can't sleep, nobody can eat," said
Desmoore, who previously volunteered to work in other refugee crises, including Rwanda.
"I've never seen people this traumatized by war."
The local people call Desmoore, who is originally from Decatur, Ala., Dr. Jim, and while
language is something of a barrier in his examining room, they entrust themselves to the
hulking American, who does not wear a traditional white coat because there is none here to
fit him.
Skender Vehapi brought his 6-year-old son, Mentor, to Desmoore because he was listless and
weak, coughing so hard that his face turned red and he refused to eat. They had spent
nearly a week on the road after being driven from their homes in Zatric, in southwest
Kosova.
After examining the boy, Desmoore said that he had a fever and the flu, but that what was
really causing his condition was the trauma of what he had been through. This suppressed
his appetite, making him weak and susceptible to infection.
But Desmoore has no sedatives or tranquilizers to calm these terrorized people so they can
sleep, or eat without vomiting.
After his son was examined, Vehapi reluctantly asked the doctor to check him, too. He was
also run down, and had tonsillitis and other infections. Desmoore prescribed antibiotics,
which were supplied by a pharmacy in the clinic, and told the man to take tea with lemon.
Vehapi thanked the doctor and left. Outside, he said he did not have money to buy tea.
Nearly 400,000 refugees have entered Albania from Kosova, most of them passing through or
settling temporarily in this city. Slowly, a medical infrastructure has emerged.
Organizations like Doctors Without Borders, Doctors of the World, the Red Cross, the
United Nations and the International Medical Corps are here, and Unicef is to bring in
about 70 doctors and medical assistants.
The teams have been helping refugees in camps and the unofficial refugee centers
established by the refugees themselves in whatever flat, open area they could find.
"The situation is quite stable now," said Francis Tyler, program coordinator for
the International Medical Corps, an organization of doctors that has its headquarters in
Los Angeles. "But there still are a lot of special cases."
In particular, he said, it has been difficult to provide specialized medicine for those
with chronic diseases. One family came to Desmoore in search of medicine for an inhaler
used by a woman with asthma. It was not available, but Desmoore and the Kosovar pharmacist
working at the Kukes clinic devised a substitute using three medicines.
Another problem is that the rebel Kosova Liberation Army, which has a recruitment and
training camp here, sometimes comes in and demands medical supplies. "They have
guns," Desmoore said, "so we give them what they want."
Some medical supplies sent to Albania have been held up or confiscated by customs
officers. In some instances, relief organizations have had to pay outlandish sums to
rescue the supplies. In other cases, the medicine just disappears, probably to resurface
on the black market.
Even a big step forward does not always bring the clinic any closer to easing the
problems. A British charity recently delivered a complete mobile surgical unit with
sophisticated examining equipment. But it sits unused because it is powered by a portable
generator that runs on unleaded gasoline, which is not sold in Albania.
Desmoore has spent his entire career working with underprivileged people, first with the
Peace Corps and later with other organizations. Part Scot and part Cherokee, Desmoore is a
Vietnam veteran who admits he just does not fit into the American medical establishment.
He keeps his long hair in a tight pony tail and carries around a bag of colored candy that
he uses to calm the children he treats.
Desmoore, 47, showed up in Albania last month from Egypt, where he now lives and works
with an organization called Sinai Support Systems. The group provides medical care for
desert Bedouins, and veterinary care for their camels.
When they arrived in Albania, Desmoore and two medical assistants, Lars Anderson and Chris
Donovan, were carrying about 240 pounds of medical supplies in their backpacks, which they
had decided to deliver themselves.
Desmoore volunteered to work and was immediately assigned to examine and treat people as
soon as they crossed the border. He saw thousands of refugees, including the survivors of
a family whose car ran over an anti-tank mine at the border.
When the flow slowed this week, Desmoore was asked by the International Medical Corps to
set up an examining room in an Albanian clinic that could serve all the refugees.
"When we got here, this place was just filled with junk that we had to shovel
out," he said. An examining table and a desk were brought in, and a sparsely filled
medicine cabinet.
On a recent day, he arrived shortly after 8 a.m. to find the hallway dark because light
bulbs had been stolen. The sink was overflowing.
During the course of 10 hours, during which the rain and the clamor never stopped, 163
refugees came to Desmoore's tiny office. By the end of the day, one bulb had been
replaced,
"All in all, a light day," he said, "comparatively speaking."
Albanian Civil Society Survives
Amidst the Carnage
By Teresa Crawford
In March of 1998, six Americans traveled to Pristina, Kosova at the invitation of the
Independent Student Union of the University of Prishtina (USUP). I was part of that group.
Our mission was to work with the students in their efforts to expand and extend their
active nonviolent campaign. In the course of our stay, we met with ethnic Albanians and
Serbs of Kosova, and began to develop a picture of their life in the province. After
almost two weeks, we were arrested by Serbian authorities for failing to register with the
police. We were tried, and then sentenced to ten days in prison. We were pardoned by
President Milan Milutinovic after serving three days and were deported to Skopje,
Macedonia.
For me, the worst part of the experience was not being able to say goodbye. Upon our
release, I was picked up from my prison in Lipjan, about 13 km outside Pristina. Lipjan is
on the way to the Macedonian border. The men had already been collected from their prison
in Pristina. We were driven to the border, given back our passports, with stamps inside
forbidding re-entry for three years, and told to walk across no man's land to the
Macedonian side. The people we met and the family we stayed with had opened their hearts
and their homes to us. I did not get to say goodbye.
I have strong memories of our all-too-brief stay. I have never had that much Turkish tea
or coffee to drink in my entire life. We went from house to house, hearing story after
story of the parallel society that had been created by ethnic Albanians. This involved
ingenuity and creativity. The methods they used to survive did not happen in a vacuum.
Kosovar Serbs employed many methods to survive in Kosova also. I remember a Kosovar Serb
restaurant owner -- a former Communist party official who had been fired from his job for
speaking out when Belgrade revoked KosovaÕs authority in 1989. He opened a restaurant and
employed people from all ethnic groups and used this as a legitimate front to smuggle
gasoline, which he sold on the black market. Or the Kosovar Albanian professor in the
technical faculty at the "parallel university," who devised a double-booking
system of accounting which allowed Albanian businesses to hide their true assets from the
Belgrade authorities, and so avoid taxation. Belgrade had levied steep taxes and fines on
the Albanians when they declared an "independent" government in Kosova, and the
businesses were also paying taxes to the LDK (Democratic League of Kosova) to sustain the
parallel institutions. So anything that kept their real assets hidden helped to support
their parallel state.
What they were able to accomplish individually was matched by what they were able to
achieve collectively. The parallel political, medical and education systems were supposed
to be temporary: an interim step to a political solution. But for ten years they served
the needs of approximately 2 million people. This figure does not include those Kosovar
Serb and Roma who received help from some of these parallel organizations. (for an
expanded article on some of these structures, see Prof. Julie Mertus, Remembering Kosova, http://www.law.onu.edu/organizations/international/Kosovo.htm)
These autonomous structures were developed by ordinary people, even if they were funded,
in large part, by the Diaspora community. It meant that Kosovars began to see themselves
in a democratic political environment. This helped to change the demands for a restoration
of autonomy into one of independence. It was a crucial shift, although Ibrahim RugovaÕs
passive non-violence was receiving much more attention -- and praise -- internationally.
The crackdown against the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) in Drenica in early March was
another catalyst. It served up images of dead women and children, and prompted many in the
cities to affirm that they, too. were KLA.
The province of Kosova has always been a contentious space within the Yugoslav federation.
Kosova was an autonomous province under the Yugoslav Constitution of 1974, and it differed
from the other provinces of Yugoslavia in that it could not secede from the state. During
the late 1970Õs, demographic changes continued a trend that began in the decade following
World War II. The ratio of Albanians to Serbs in Kosova has gone from approximately 6 to 4
following World War II, to todayÕs ratio of 9 to 1. During the 1970Õs and 80Õs, Serbs
submitted many concerns to the federal government about their safety amidst a growing
Albanian population. In 1981, a series of large Albanian demonstrations against the
Yugoslav government encompassed the entire Albanian community and made demands such as
greater autonomy and better living conditions for Kosova. The Yugoslav government reacted
to these demonstrations with violence and heightened security measures. Meanwhile, Serb
grievances to the federal government continued in the 1980Õs, until present-day Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic finally embraced their concerns in 1987. Milosevic was the
first politician from Belgrade to acknowledge Serb grievances since the 1960Õs. He
addressed their concerns by revoking the autonomy of Kosova, a move met by support from
most politicians in Belgrade. During and after the war in Bosnia he began to move in
Serbian refugees from the Krajina, many against their will, to Kosova in an attempt to
reverse the ethnic make-up of the region.
Of the six of us arrested last year in Kosova all have continued our work on behalf of the
Kosovars and somehow stayed connected to the region. Peter Lippman is writing for The
Advocacy Project in Bosnia. His series of profiles on returning refugees will start going
out to subscribers within the next few days.
As for me, I have been moderating the Kosova Action Network distribution list, KAN-L on
the <www.alb-net.com> server. This has meant that I get to see many emails about
Kosova, and people have been sending me fascinating notes about work they are doing or
questions they need help answering. Whether it is "Shani" in San Francisco
telling me about a Roma group in Skopje, or "Tova" telling me about a trip for
Crabgrass, these messages display a deep commitment to a free Kosova and an understanding
of what it will take to achieve that. They also demonstrate that the spirit and courage
which created that parallel society in Kosova is still alive and well in the new Albanian
Diaspora, and even the refugee camps. It has not been destroyed, in spite of the brutal
events of the last month.
We are learning of women helping other women. There is the woman who was blocked at the
border for 24 hours before being able to leave Kosova. Once in Macedonia, she contacted
the local Macedonian Albanian Women's Organization. Within days, they had a clinic open.
There are the two women from the United States, who rescued another woman's 84-year-old
mother-in-law from the camps and paid for the rent of a clinic with money collected in the
United States. There is the group of former women journalists who are organizing to go out
and interview refugees in private homes in the south of Macedonia, and sell their stories
to news services to avoid becoming dependent.
There is the man in Tirana who is helping women organize within the National Albanian
Farmers Union. There is the 24-year-old Albanian-American woman who (with her father) has
started the "Kosova Humanitarian Aid Organization" and is sending two teams to
Macedonia and Albania to distribute aid and register the names of refugees a database.
Then there is "Women 4 Women," an organization that originally started working
with women in Bosnia, and is now opening an office in Tirana.
The Advocacy Project has decided to start issuing excerpts of this email traffic to our
subscribers in the form of our Electronic newsletter (E-letter), On the Record. The
Advocacy Project was established last year to help civil society with information. This,
combined with the personal involvement of two of our members in Kosova, makes this
entirely consistent with our work. We hope you agree. This first issue starts with the
disturbing news that Dr. Flora Brovina, a well known female activist in Kosova, has been
kidnapped from the apartment where she lived in Pristina and Albin Kurti, former leader of
UPSUP and former secretary of Adem Demaci, was arrested in Pristina along with his father
and two younger brothers -- proof of the terror that has been wrought against civil
society in Kosova. But it also illustrates the dynamism and determination of Albanian
Kosova. One can only be both inspired and appalled by what is taking place in the Balkans.
The first issues will focus on civil society in the regions most affected by the influx of
large numbers of refugees. The coverage will gradually be extended to areas, which have
received less coverage in the mainstream media, such as Montenegro, Bosnia, Turkey, and
other countries that have accepted refugees over the last year. We have also received
reports of the work of civil society within Serbia and Montenegro itself. To the extent
possible, we will also feature their reports, although there is a risk that too much
publicity could make them more vulnerable to repression. They could be in acute danger if
Milosevic is still in power once this conflict ends.
Among the subjects to be covered: Albanian Civil Society; Macedonian Civil Society;
Kosovar Civil Society reconstructed; Refugee centers in Montenegro, Bosnia, and Turkey;
Serbian Civil Society; the response of international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
(this will include supporters like the Platform for Kosova, KHAO, Balkan Sunflowers, and
the nongovernmental aid agencies that are members of the International Council of
Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), a partner of The Advocacy Project); the international community
(UNHCR, other UN agencies, NATO, and the OSCE); Women and children; the plight of the
Roma; and possibilities for using the new information Technology.
Teresa Crawford is a founding member of The Advocacy Project. She was among a group of
peaceworkers arrested in Kosova, by the Serbian authorities in the spring of 1998. To
subscribe send an email to: majordomo@lists.advocacynet.org
with the words (in the message body):
subscribe kosovo