Kosova Crisis Center
link to alb-net
Serbs have murdered at least 5,000
(The Times)
BY MICHAEL BINYON, CHARLES BREMNER, STEPHEN FARRELL AND
ANTHONY LOYD
AS WESTERN nations step up efforts to secure a diplomatic solution in Kosova, The Times
has learnt that President Milosevic's police and paramilitary forces have massacred at
least 5,000 Kosovan Albanians and perhaps as many as 10,000.
Nato announced yesterday that at least 4,000 people have been summarily killed and a
further 100,000 men of military age have disappeared. But human rights monitors say, after
interviews with at least 600 refugees, that many more have been killed. They say the full
tally may never be known as many of the bodies have been burnt.
According to fleeing refugees, almost all the killings have been carried out not by the
Yugoslav Army but by police and paramilitaries, the very forces that Mr Milosevic insists
must remain in Kosova under any peace agreement.
Nato believes that there have been mass murders in at least 65 villages. It says that many
of the missing men may have been killed, imprisoned or are being used as forced labour and
human shields.
No accurate total of those killed can be given until human rights monitors gain access to
Kosova. But the Pentagon said last week it had evidence of 43 suspected mass graves,
identified from sources including refugee reports and aerial photography.
Two weeks after the airstrikes began the State Department said that it had reports of
3,200 killings and up to 100,000 Kosovans missing. The Foreign Office, which has also
appointed a special investigator, says that deaths ran "probably to tens of
thousands".
The International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague is collecting all the evidence available,
but insists that it still has no clear picture. "We are trying to build up a central
database . . . in a form that could be used to bring charges," a spokesman said.
The Serbs deny that any massacres have taken place, but say that 1,200 people have been
killed in Kosova and 5,000 injured by Nato airstrikes. But estimates based on Nato figures
show that at least 500 Serbs have been killed in attacks on tanks and armoured vehicles
alone.
Humanitarian groups said their exclusion from Kosova meant that they had to rely more on
hearsay than hard information. But painstaking attempts to collate reports of killings are
being made by several groups, including Human Rights Watch, which has sent monitors to
refugee centres in Macedonia and Albania.
Refugee claims suggest that for every ten villages whose inhabitants have been driven out
of eastern Kosova, two or three report massacres, usually of between four and twenty
people. In western Kosova, the main base of the Kosova Liberation Army, the figure is
likely to be higher.
The notorious Serb leader, Arkan, and his Tigers have featured prominently among refugees'
accounts of the most savage ethnic cleansing near the towns of Ferizaj and Pristina.
Louis Gentile, a London-based human rights lawyer, said: "I have received 25 to 35
credible accounts of multiple murders."
Over 20 Albanian civilians were
executed during the latest serbian offensive (KP)
Podjevė, May 6th (Kosovapress) Serbian terrorist forces have circulated even today in the
villages Teneshdoll, Vranidoll and Rimanishtė. The situation of the civil population is
more than alarming. Now they are facing with human catastrophe.Tens of old people and
children have died because of hunger in because of the lack of hygienic means and
medicines. Units of the 152 Brigade while cleaning the ground around the Qafės of
Kaqanollit only yesterday and today, have found more than 20 executed civilian persons and
their identity is unconfirmed. This number could be much higher. Serbian terrorist forces
are not saving no one during this cruel offensive. Except executing innocent people,
they;ve burnt already all albanian houses.
Enemy was forced to change positions
Gllogoc, May 6th (Kosovapress) Yesterday, units of the 121 Brigade
„Kumanova", have undertaken a successful action in a part of the village
Krizharekė, commune of Gllogoc, and sa result, several enemy soldiers have been killed.
The serbian terrorist group which incurred from this attack, was made from 15 serbian
militaries. Also, yesterday about 19°° O`clock, another unit of this brigade has
undertaken another action in the so called place „Quka" and enemy defeated
several killed persons. As result of these successful KLA attacks, serbian forces were
forced to retreat in other positions in the periphery of the village Krizharekė.
Ground troops must go in before
onset of winter, says Nato commander (The London Times)
TENSIONS between Nato's military commanders and alliance politicians emerged yesterday
over the timing of a decision to send ground troops into Kosova.
George Robertson, the Defence Secretary, insisted that there was no time limit on Nato's
air campaign and that it would continue until all five of the alliance's demands were met.
However, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Jackson, the British commander in charge of the
Nato forces in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, said that the severe winter
months, starting in October, would have to feature in planning for a ground operation. All
the refugees were in tented camps in Albania and Macedonia, so the winter imposed a
deadline on Nato, he said in an interview for BBC's Newsnight programme.
General Jackson said the decision about sending in ground troops was up to the 19
governments of the alliance.
But he added: "I see a very, very miserable and hard winter if we have refugees in
tents over that period. This tells me something about timing. The first snows come. . . in
early to late October. So that gives you a bit of a timetable where really we ought to be
thinking very hard about bringing this conflict to its resolution well before then, to
give me enough time to get that security in Kosova and to start even a bare minimum of
life support."
If the Nato governments intended to change the policy on ground troops and to send them
into Kosova without a peace agreement signed by Belgrade, General Jackson said, "we
haven't got very long, it seems to me, if such a change of strategy is decided upon."
Asked if decisions were needed in the next fortnight, he said: "That's your timing,
but I wouldn't disagree wildly with what you say."
Mr Robertson insisted that General Jackson was "not talking about ground
troops". He said: "He was saying we would need to get this conflict over in a
very short period of time. We agree with that. We want this over as quickly as we can. But
there is no time limit on our action. There is no artificial restraint on what we are
doing."
He added: "The refugees will be looked after. We are determined to get them home, but
we are not constrained in the military action we take by the humanitarian problems we are
facing."
Earlier, General Klaus Naumann, the German chairman of Nato's Military Committee, admitted
that the air campaign had been prolonged because of the phased bombing adopted by the
alliance.
Under the current review of contingency plans for ground troops, only two land options are
being studied: the deployment of troops after a peace settlement agreed by Belgrade and
approved by the United Nations, or the use of limited force when a "permissive
military environment" exists in Kosova.
General Naumann hinted that if there was no peace deal, the air campaign might continue
for "months". But General Jackson appeared to be convinced that the whole
campaign should be wrapped up before winter.
Senior Nato diplomatic sources insisted that the refugees were not the "driving
force" behind the military planning.
Testimony about a mass grave in Ēikatovė
Gllogoc, May 6th (Kosovapress) According to one witness who has escaped from the
execution, but his name is not going to be published because of the safety reasons, in the
triangle of the villages Gllanasellė-Dobroshec-Ēikatovė e Vjetėr, in the place called
„Shavarinatė", there is a massive grave where 42 massacred persons are being
buried. The witness was wounded with knife in the neck and has reached to survive only
thanks to the dead bodies that fell over him. He was retreated after the cadaver were
thrown in water pit, in the place that was excavated while taking out minerals in the
place „Shavarinatė", in Ēikatovė tė Vjetėr. These persons killed on May 2nd
were captured in the village Verboc commune of Gllogoc and together with the others, they
were sent in the Qirez mosque.From the crowd of 176 people, 42 of them, mainly young
people were selected , loaded in a truck and they were sent in the place
„Shavarinatė", and they were executed there.The are no information even neither
for the others fate. On May 3rd, another group of 25 females were captured, they were from
the ward Dobraj of Vėrbocit. Two of them have escaped whereas the others are still
captured and there no other informations about them.
Serbian military-police are hidden in albanian
houses in Kline and they`re keeping at least 100 albanian inhabitants as hostages
Klinė, May 6th (Kosovapress) Inhabitants of Klina have been forced to leave from their
houses on March 28. Now serbian terrorist forces are being placed in their houses. The
expelled people from Klina who have reached to go in Albania and in FROM, have confessed
about massive and individual killings, burnings in Klina, in the village Perlina, inform
of the enterprise „Mirusha", in the other side of the road, nearby the river of
Drini i Bardhė. A part of the Klina population, first was placed in the villages of
Kralan and Kėpuz, but they were forced by serbian police to return in Klina, and now they
are used as shield to protect serbian forces by NATO aviation, they are used to work for
serbian terrorists etc. Over than 100 albanian civilians are placed in the house of Nebi
Dushi, street „Ganimete Tėrbeshi", nr 9. There are suggestions about albanian
hostages in the in the Hospital of Klina and in the three floor house of Ramė Zeneli in
the other part of the road. This part of the town, from the street of „Eduard
Kardeli", the streets in the left side and up to the street „Ali
Kėlmendi", according to the expelled people are full of serbian military-police
forces. Serbian forces are placed even in the street „Emin Duraku", in the main
Klina road and in many albanian houses some local serbs are being placed now. The
Headquarter of the serbian terrorist forces for the region of Klina, leaded by Voja
Zajiēin, is placed in the entrance of the city of Klina, in the three floor house of
Brahim Deskut (in the bridge of the river Klina).
Serbian forces are registering albanian civil
population
Rahovec, May 6th (Kosovapress) The situation of the civil population in the villages of
Anadrinit, is very grave. Serbian forces have started to registration to population. The
inhabitants are obliged to show every two hours in the serbian commandos. The 250
prisoners in the village Drenoc, now are released but they have to show before serbian
military commands every two hours. The population is registered in the villages Ratkoc,
Potoēan, Zoqishtė and this number has to be constant otherwise they will execute people.
In the other side, small convoys with civil people are passing everyday in the road
Gjakovė-Prizren, in the direction of Albania. The enemy is concentrated in Hoqė tė
Madhe, nė Zoqishtė, Krushė tė Madhe, Has and in the villages around, then Potoqan tė
Poshtėm, Senoc and in Pastasel.
Kosova refugee children try to cope
with their trauma (CNN)
By Nic Robertson
KUKES, Albania (CNN) -- Besnik and his mother, Hamide, look just fine. But in the refugee
camps of Albania, looks can be deceptive, with dark memories lurking below the surface.
Recently arrived from Kosova, Hamide explains how her eldest son was forced at gunpoint by
Serb police to hand over all their money -- and how the rest of her children watched.
Besnik remembers it well, too.
"When we were trying to see, the police threatened us," he said. "My mother
and sister were afraid."
At a school in the camp, Besnik and the other children of the Kosova diaspora exchange
their tales of terror.
Nura describes how she saw Serb police take a young woman away. "They killed
her," she said. "Then they killed her four more times."
She meant that they shot her four more times, but her age prevents her understanding.
At the ages of 12 and 13, most of the children here are still too young to grasp what
they've been through.
"They feel like they have to speak with someone for that experience, for that bad
experience," said Ismet Tahiri, their English teacher.
Between classes, they play to let off steam, which Tahiri hopes will help them heal.
Tahiri is also a refugee, and the group Doctors Without Borders is training him and other
teachers to learn how to help their charges get over the trauma.
"With children, they don't really have that much of a life to reflect back on,"
said Christina Moore of Doctors Without Borders. "Getting a perspective is therefore
much more difficult."
The scale of the problem is huge. Aid officials expect that more than 80 percent of those
fleeing Kosova will have some kind of trauma. Of those already in Albania, they expect as
many as 60,000 are at risk of severe disturbance.
"When my child is next to me, I must be strong," Hamide said. "When he
leaves, I cry."
Their experience has wounded the whole family just when aid officials say Besnik needs his
mother the most.
Villagers 'hunted like rabbits'
(The London Times)
A KOSOVAN father yesterday told how Serbian forces shot his 14-year-old daughter with an
AK47 as she fled the ethnic cleansing of her village. Abandoned on a hillside, Refiqe Aliu
had stopped herself from screaming in pain to avoid being found and then dragged herself
to a hiding place and lay until nightfall when her father, Maurem, was able to return and
carry her to safety.
After eight days of constant pain as her family fled to the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Refiqe was last night recovering in a German field hospital after surgery to a
fist-sized bullet wound in her buttocks. But her family say five relatives were killed,
including a boy of four.
"They knew they were children. They saw us through their binoculars. They shot us as
if they were hunting rabbits. I was angry. How could anyone do this?" said Mr Aliu,
47, from the village of Dobratin, near Podujevo.
Standing at his daughter's bedside with his wife, Hava, 45, he said the Serbs arrived
eight days ago and began firing at a group of 30 men, women and children as they fled
towards a forest. The group had stopped for a rest about a mile from the village when the
firing began, he said.
"They came, they were far away when they started shooting at us. I couldn't see
whether they were police or soldiers," he said. "They just started shooting.
There were dead people all around us." Among the dead was his nephew Laudin Aliu, 11,
his cousin Bekim Xhemajli, 24, his son Lulzim, a woman of 54 and a boy of 13.
"My daughter was shot but I had to leave her behind as we ran," he said.
"When it got dark I went back to find her. I didn't know whether she was alive or
dead. She had been afraid to make any noise because they would have noticed her, so she
just stayed there quietly while we ran away and dragged herself 500 metres further up the
hillside."
He carried her almost a mile to safety, then returned to fetch his nephew, whom he thought
was wounded but had already died. Forced to leave behind their dead, the remainder of the
group took turns carrying the wounded girl as they trudged 20 miles to a nearby town,
where they were placed on tractors and put on a train to the Macedonian border, arriving
at the Cegrane camp on Tuesday.
"My daughter was in so much pain, she was crying all the time. She passed out
once," Mr Aliu said. "She is now afraid to leave my side because she is
frightened they will drag her away from me. I don't think we will ever go home
again."
Dr Wolfgang Titius, Surgeon Commander at Cegrane field hospital, operated on Wednesday to
remove a bullet from the girl's left buttock. "She is a very brave little girl. She
would have been in considerable pain," he said.
"The bullet missed her thighbone but created a cavity the size of a fist inside her
flesh. I am hopeful she will now make a full recovery and the tissue will heal so she will
be able to walk and run again normally."
*** 130 VOLUNTEERS ARE LOBBYING
CONGRESS
*** CALL AND SUPPORT ³KOSOVAR INDEPENDENCE & JUSTICE ACT OF 1999²
*** TEXT OF HR 1425
Can Serb war criminals be trusted to rule the victims of Genocide in Kosova? No. But the
Congress must hear this from you.
130 volunteers are lobbying in Congress today (Thursday, May 6th, 1999). They are lobbying
in support of H.R. #1425 which calls for Kosovar Independance and arming Kosovars so they
can defend themselves.
While these volunteers are doing their part, we need to do ours. Call the local office of
your congressperson this Thursday and Friday (May 6 and 7,1999 ) to express your support
for ³Kosovar Independence and Justice Acto of 1999. Call, fax and mail them your opinion.
If your congressperson voted against the airstrike then ask him this is his chance to
stand up against genocide by allowing liberty and freedom to the victims. If your
congressperson supported the airstrike resolution then tell him that final and lastign
solution is recognizing Kosovar independence and arming them to liberate their country.
If you do not know how your congressperson voted, check the following url before you call:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/Kosovo_WarAct_Votes/VoteNoArt.asp
Make sure that you call both the local and DC office of your congressperson. Congress
Switch Board Number: 202/224-3121
*** TEXT OF HR 1425 ³KOSOVAR INDEPENDENCE & JUSTICE ACT OF 1999²:
Kosovar Independence and Justice Act of 1999 (Introduced in the House)
HR 1425 IH
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1425
To authorize security assistance for the Kosova Liberation Army to be used for training
and support for their established self-defense forces in order to defend and protect the
civilian population of Kosova against armed aggression.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 14, 1999
Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations
A BILL
To authorize security assistance for the Kosova Liberation Army to be used for training
and support for their established self-defense forces in order to defend and protect the
civilian population of Kosova against armed aggression.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Kosovar Independence and Justice Act of 1999'.
SEC. 2. POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States--
(1) to provide the Kosova Liberation Army with the capability to defend and protect the
civilian population of Kosova against armed aggression;
(2) to publicly declare that the Albanians of Kosova have a legal right to
self-determination and that independence is the only political solution acceptable to
Kosovars;
(3) to work in conjunction with United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), and other multilateral organizations to facilitate an orderly transition to
independence for the Albanians of Kosova; and
(4) to work in conjunction with the United Nations and other appropriate multilateral
organizations to have Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic indicted and tried by the
international war crimes tribunal for crimes against humanity.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE FOR THE KOSOVA LIBERATION ARMY.
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE- In addition to funds otherwise available to carry out
section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763), there are authorized to be
appropriated to the President for fiscal year 2000 to carry out the provisions of such
section, $25,000,000, which amount shall be made available only for grants to the Kosova
Liberation Army to be used for training and support for their established self-defense
forces to carry out the policy of section 2(1).
(b) RELATION TO EXISTING AUTHORITIES- Assistance provided under subsection (a) may be made
available notwithstanding any other provision of law.
(c) AVAILABILITY- Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations
under subsection (a) are authorized to remain available until expended.
BBC Radio Plays Albanian Music in Solidarity With the
Albanian Refugees
The BBC World Service disc jockey played a demo-tape by Prishtina rapper Memle Krasniqi
called (in translation) "all things bad around us" - it begins with the sound of
ethnic cleansing and it is certainly worth trying to get this more widely available. Memle
Krasniqi himself has managed to escape to Macedonia.