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LETTERS OF SUPPORT

SERBIAN MASSACRES

VOTING BOOTH

 Updated on 7:39 EST - April 3, 1999

Refugees: Catastrophe in the making

We have been in contact for few days now with a aid worker at the Macedonian border in Blac were over 40.000 refugees from Kosova are waiting to find temporary shelter in Macedonia. From her reports and from the pictures and reports by the News Media there is catastrophe in making at the border. Macedonian authorities are deliberately slowing down the processing of entering of Kosovas refugees. As a result up to last night 36- people have died from exposure and hunger( most of them children and women)

HRW: VIOLENT ETHNIC CLEANSING IN GJAKOVA

Evidence began mounting Friday, April 2, that a violent form of ethnic cleansing is in its final stages in Dakovica (Gjakove in Albanian), an Albanian-majority city with approximately 100,000 inhabitants on the road between Pec and Prizren. In a marked departure from the forced depopulations that have taken place over the last week in large cities such as Pristina, Pec and Prizren, Dakovica appears to have experienced violence above and beyond the forced depopulation techniques described in other locales (See Human Rights Watch Flash #9).

Dozens of witnesses from Dakovica interviewed by Human Rights Watch in Krume, a small town north of Kukes, Albania, said that Yugoslav forces have been gradually destroying homes and neighborhoods in Dakovica since March 24. The pace of destruction picked up dramatically yesterday, April 1, with large-scale destruction of homes. Today, thousands of refugees flowed into Krume from Dakovica, saying that the town had been largely emptied overnight.

Unlike the urban forced depopulations in Pec and Prizren studied by Human Rights Watch in recent days, the Dakovica refugees recalled seeing large numbers of corpses lying in the city streets. Refugees spoke of clusters of corpses numbering one to six in each cluster. In addition, the refugees from Dakovica all reported that large numbers of families had suffered at least one execution in their homes. The testimonies given by Dakovica refugees strongly suggest that the level of violence experienced in that town is higher than in other Kosova urban centers.

In addition, refugees spoke of their homes being bulldozed by Yugoslav tanks or destroyed by security force mortar fire in a gradual, neighborhood-by-neighborhood destruction that began on March 24. In these incidents, residents were typically ordered out of their homes and then, within minutes, troops wearing green or blue camouflage opened fire on their residences. The residents were then ordered to walk to the Albanian border at Qafe Prushit.

Six thousand refugees appeared in Krume during the day of April 2, and UNHCR sources reported that another 10,000 arrived late at night on April 2, after having walked for twenty-four hours or more to the Albanian border. The physical conditions they face are particularly acute, given Krume's remote location and the lack of any international humanitarian presence in the town.

Many of the Dakovica refugees arrived without men aged between twenty and fifty. According to the refugees, many of the men had fled in the previous days to the mountains out of fear of police retaliation. In some cases, women searching for food in town were ordered to leave Dakovica immediately, without time to link up with their husbands or children.

Human Rights Watch is particularly worried about areas such as Dakovica where the men have been left behind. In many of the forced depopulations documented by Human Rights Watch since the NATO bombing began, the men exited Kosova together with their families. In some areas -- namely Dakovica and Malisevo -- the men have either been forcibly separated or have autonomously taken to the hills to avoid capture. In some past instances, Serbian and Yugoslav forces have executed ethnic Albanian men of fighting age (for example in the village of Golubovac on September 26 - see Human Rights Watch report:

Rahovec: Bodies of 136 massacred people found in a village near Rahovec

Rahovec, April 3, 1999 (Kosovapress) - In the villages near Rahovec, more massacred people need to be added to the list of 70 victims we reported about two days ago. Today, we learned that in the village of Pastesel, 82 bodies were found, in the village of Burim 38, in the village of kaznik 7 and in the village of Polluzhė 10 Albanian civillians. We received reports that there are victims in other surroinding villages, however, until now we were unable to confirm those reports. It is feared that there is a large number of victims in the village of "Guri i Kuq". All these villages are near Rahovec, except the village of Burim, which is near Malisheva.

The bodies will be buried today and we will publish the list of names in one of our reports later.

Despite this, the overall conditions in this are are catastrophic. There is a huge need for food and shelter. We appeal to all the international organizations to try everything they can to provide the displaced civillians with food and shelter by any mean, ground or air.

Ferizaj: Fierce clashes between the occupying Serb forces and the KLA

Three Serb tanks destroyed by KLA

Shtimje, April 3, 1999 (Kosovapress) - The IDP's were forced to leave the area of Terne (Ferizaj) one more time today. That was caused by Serb troops, who are trying to penetrate in the areas where civillians are hiding to excpel them to Albania and Macedonia. KLA was able to succesfully resist the attacks, however, for safety reasons, the IDP's were displaced to a different location.

In the Village of Greme, there was clashes as well. An armored car of Serb enemy troops was destroyed and there were casualties on Serb side. On our side, there was only one wounded soldier, who is not in danger.

Appeal from the people of Rugova area: Send aid for displaced civilians by air

Rugovė, April 3, 1999 (Kosovapress) - The conditions of the population of the Rugova area is very grave. During last days there have been many clashes in the Rugoves Gorge between units of 136 Brigade of KLA and the serbian terrorist army. The units of KLA succeed in keeping their postions and they forced the enemy to retreat. There is a large number of displaced population coming from the regions of Dukagjini. The inhabitants of the 17 villages of Rugova are doing everything to help these people secure food and shelter for them. The 136 Brigade of KLA, executing the order of the General Headquarters of KLA, is preventing the civillian population from fleeing outside of Kosova.

The 136 Brigade of KLA is urging the civillians that left the area who fled before to return and not stay in Rozhaja waiting for buses to Albania. A encouraging fact is that all of the qualified men from the area are joining the KLA in response to KLA Headquarter's appeal issued yesterday.

The population of Rogova appeal to all international organizations to airlift food, medications and other supplies necessary for the survival of thousands of displaced people, so a catastrophe can be prevented.

Drenica: Uninterrupted shelling by Serb forces in Drenica

Civillians under attack

Drenicė, April 3, 1999 (Kosovapress) - The Serbian terrorist army started a fresh offansive today in the morning in the south region of Drenica. This offansive is continuing as we report. In this moment, the villages of Kishnareka, Nekocit, Baice and Petreshtica are under attack. There is a large number of civillians in the area under fire. The situation in the area is very alarming.

Drenica: A New Offansive has begun

Gllogoc, April 3, 1999 (Kosovapress) - Since 7AM (GMT), villages of Komoranė, Zebel i Epėrm, Sankoc, Fushticė e Epėrme, Fushticė e Poshtmem, Baice, Shalė, Krojmirė and Petreshticė, are under new serbian terrorist military-police offensive. Over than 50 tanks, armoured vehicles, transporters, rocket-launchers and trucks with ground troops are engaged in this offensive.

While we are making this report, Komaran village is in flames.

IOM to assist Kosovars in Albania

TIRANE, April 2 (ata) - The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Albania, Kadri Rrapi, had a meeting on Friday with the General Director of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) with headquarters in Geneva, Ibrahim Mcinley and discussed with him the assistance that IOM may provide to help the Kosovars arriving in Albania. According to the spokesman of this ministry, the meeting dwelt on the question of the people violently evicted from Kosove, the measures adopted by the Government to welcome, accommodate and record them, etc. The IOM General Director promised that the organization he is leading will make maximum contribution especially to register the Kosovars. To this end, an appeal will be addressed to foreign donors to support IOM for this project. The coming IOM meeting will be devoted precisely to the refugees from Kosove who have arrived in Albania, which is a member of IOM.

National Committee for defence of people's interests condemns massacre against Kosova brothers

VLORE, April 2 (ata) - By Harilla Koci: The National Committee for the defence of people's rights with its headquarters in Vlore and with affiliates in all Albania, condemned on Friday through a statement the massacres and genocide that the clique of Milosevic is exerting against Albanian brothers in Kosove. The statement supports the NATO decision to bombard Yugoslavia and hailed the correct stance of President Clinton, but it also voices the regret for those communist segments of the politics in some other countries which are defending the Great Serb criminals. The National Committee for Defence of people's interests sides with the approach of the Albanian Government for the national question and considers right the measures that it is adopting to face with the influx of the people from Kosove who are forced to flee their homes under the Serb violence.

Total number of Kosovars in Albania until Friday evening amounted to 150 000

TIRANE, April 2 (ata) - By Th Thanasi: Until Friday evening the total number of the Kosova people in Albania amounted to 150 000 people. The Ministry of Information told ATA that over 55 000 of the total number of Kosovars have been accommodated in various districts of the country. On Friday early hours until 8 p.m. 40 000 Albanian Kosovars reached the prefecture of Kukes from Kosove and within the same time nearly 12 000 of them were taken to other zones of the country.

NATO Decides to Send Troops to Albania

(Brussels, Belgium-AP) -- NATO has decided to send thousands of troops to Albania. Up to six thousand Italian troops will be sent on a mission to safeguard the humanitarian efforts for ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosova. NATO is also looking at ways to put together a major airlift of humanitarian supplies to Albania and Macedonia. A source says NATO officials have directed Commander Wesley Clark to set up headquarters in Albania to supervise the operation. The source says Clark has also been ordered to start planning for an urgent mission.

Attack on Belgrade Is Pattern for Future: UK Official

LONDON (April 3) Britain said on Saturday that NATO's overnight bombing of key government buildings in Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, would be the "pattern for the future". Junior Defense Minister Doug Henderson told a press briefing held in the Defense Ministry that the raid on the Yugoslav and Serbian interior ministries had hit the "nerve center of Belgrade". Air Marshal Sir John Day told the briefing that the time would soon come when NATO would be free to unleash attacks without being limited by bad weather.

Clinton Calls For Kosova Security Arrangement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton said Friday the ultimate allied goal in the Yugoslav conflict was to allow Kosova refugees to return home, live under self-government and be protected by an allied security force. Clinton's comments suggested the United States was at least considering an alternative plan given the fading hopes for a peace plan negotiated in Rambouillet, France, because of the Serb offensive against ethnic Albanians. Under a plan discussed among allied governments, once Serb forces are bombed out of the province, NATO troops would escort ethnic Albanians back into Kosova and create the atmosphere for establishment of a self-governing enclave under allied protection. This could have allied troops in Kosova under a hostile environment, instead of the peaceful climate envisioned under the peace plan. The reason the new plan is being discussed is because hostilities are so inflamed between Serbs and ethnic Albanians that it would be difficult if not impossible to put the Rambouillet plan in place. ``Ultimately, we want to make it possible for the victims to return home, to live in security and enjoy self-government,'' Clinton told reporters at the White House. Asked if there would need to be a security and political arrangement beyond what was envisioned at Rambouillet, Clinton said: ``I think there will have to be some sort of security arrangement in order for them to live safely. And then there will have to be some sort of agreement that entails the autonomy to which they are entitled.'' He added: ``And it seems to me that will require clearly for some period of time some sort of international force that will be able to protect their security.'' But he said the Rambouillet plan ``is still the framework people are going to have to deal with, whatever label you put on it.'' State Department spokesman James Rubin, asked if the administration had begun to explore the possibility of a Kosova protectorate, said ``obviously people are doing thinking'' but that ``the basic principles of Rambouillet'' remained U.S. stated goals. At a news conference, Clinton also reiterated his warning to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that he would be held responsible for the safety and well-being of three U.S. servicemen captured by Serb forces Wednesday near Macedonia's border with Kosova. ``As long as they are detained, they have the status of POWs (prisoners of war) and are entitled to all the protections that come with that status,'' Clinton said. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Albright had spoken to her counterpart in Sweden, which is representing U.S. interests to Belgrade, and that the Swedes had spoken to the Serbian government. He said he had no firm information that the Serbs had decided to move forward with a trial of the three servicemen. Serb authorities said Friday an investigation of the case had been launched, suggesting plans for an immediate trial had been put on hold, which Lockhart said ``would be the right decision.'' Clinton insisted that NATO's 10-day air bombardment of Serb military targets still has a ``good possibility of achieving our mission'' without ground troops. And he appealed for Americans to remain patient and, in discussing why the ground troops option has been ruled out, he said that ``we have a real obligation to keep the NATO allies together.'' Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell said the air war was not having the desired result. ``The air war has failed to stop the barbarity inflicted on the Kosovar Albanians,'' he said. He wrote to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright demanding the United States arm the Kosova Liberation Army rebels, which the Clinton administration has refused to do. Clinton had a mid-morning meeting with representatives of humanitarian organizations who urged him to respond quickly to the growing refugee crisis in Kosova. Francis Carlin, deputy executive director of Catholic Relief Services, said a U.S. and NATO military airlift was needed to take care of the tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians fleeing Serb repression in Kosova. ``What we're looking at on the ground is depopulation,'' Carlin told reporters. He said it was on the scale of Josef Stalin's 1930s ``social engineering'' in the Soviet Union. Other participants in the meeting said neighboring countries needed to do more to care for the refugees because Albania and Macedonia were being overwhelmed by the crisis. NATO said earlier Friday in Brussels that Yugoslav ethnic cleansing had forced more than 634,000 Albanians from Kosova in the past year, a third of the province's original population.

Clinton Vows To Help Kosova Refugees Go Home

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton vowed Friday to help Kosova refugees return to their homeland and live under self-government and said he still believed the NATO bombing campaign had a good chance of success. As Kosova refugees swamped neighboring Macedonia and Albania fleeing Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's purging of the province, Clinton was briefed on the problem by senior U.S. officials and by representatives of private relief agencies and non-governmental organizations. Clinton told reporters he was alarmed at the plight of displaced ethnic Albanians inside Kosova and that NATO air strikes were now increasingly focused on military targets in Kosova. ``There's no doubt that what Mr. Milosevic wants to do is to keep the land of Kosova and rid it of its people. We cannot let that happen with impunity,'' Clinton said. A CBS News poll said 65 percent of Americans believe the United States will send ground troops to Kosova but only 41 percent think the country should. Clinton said he still had no intention of doing so. ``I still believe that we have a good possibility of achieving our mission with the means that we have deployed,'' he said. An assistant secretary of state, Julie Taft, said so far U.S. officials believe 689,830 people in Kosova have been either internally displaced or become refugees. U.S. military officials said they were preparing to step up humanitarian aid to Kosova refugees, with an immediate shipment of 500,000 meals to Albania and tents, blankets and other aid to follow. They said there were 138,500 refugees in Albania, 86,000 in Macedonia, 55,000 in the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro and 17,400 in Bosnia. The meals would go to Tirana, said Lt. Gen. John McDuffie, director of logistics for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The United States has committed an estimated $150 million to the humanitarian relief efforts. But McDuffie and other officials said it would be difficult to get aid to displaced people inside Kosova, where Serb forces have been on a brutal offensive, essentially undeterred by the 10-day NATO air campaign. ``An air drop has many, many, many drawbacks,'' McDuffie said. Francis Carlin, deputy executive director of Catholic Relief Services, said after meeting Clinton that a U.S. and NATO military airlift was needed to take care of refugees. ``What we're looking at on the ground is depopulation,'' Carlin told reporters. He said it was on the scale of Josef Stalin's 1930s ``social engineering'' in the Soviet Union. Other participants in the meeting said neighboring countries like Greece and Turkey needed to do more to care for the refugees because Albania and Macedonia were being overwhelmed by the crisis. Clinton said the ultimate allied goal in the Yugoslav conflict was to allow Kosova refugees to return home, live under self-government and be protected by an international security force. Clinton's comments suggested the United States was at least considering an alternative plan given the fading hopes for a peace plan negotiated in Rambouillet, France, because of the Serb offensive against ethnic Albanians. Under a plan discussed among allied officials, once Serb forces are bombed out of the province, NATO troops would escort ethnic Albanians back into Kosova and create the atmosphere for establishment of a self-governing enclave under allied protection, the New York Times reported. This could have allied troops in Kosova in a hostile environment, instead of the peaceful climate envisioned under the Rambouillet plan, which called for a 28,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force. The reason the new plan is surfacing is because hostilities are so inflamed between Serbs and ethnic Albanians that it would be difficult if not impossible to put the Rambouillet plan in place. ``Ultimately, we want to make it possible for the victims to return home, to live in security and enjoy self-government,'' Clinton told reporters at the White House. But he said the Rambouillet plan ``is still the framework people are going to have to deal with, whatever label you put on it.'' State Department spokesman James Rubin, asked if the administration had begun to explore the possibility of a Kosova protectorate, said ``obviously people are doing thinking'' but that ``the basic principles of Rambouillet'' remained stated U.S. goals. At a news conference, Clinton also reiterated his warning to Milosevic that he would be held responsible for the safety and well-being of three U.S. servicemen captured by Serb forces Wednesday near Macedonia's border with Kosova. ``As long as they are detained, they have the status of POWs (prisoners of war) and are entitled to all the protections that come with that status,'' Clinton said.He said there were no plans for an Easter pause in the bombing.

U.S. To Ship Meals To Kosova Refugees

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military officials said Friday they were preparing to step up humanitarian aid to Kosova refugees, with an immediate shipment of 500,000 meals to Albania and tents, blankets and other aid to follow. The meals would go to Tirana, the Albanian capital, Lt. Gen. John McDuffie, director of logistics for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference. ``Our intent is to have the first mission off tomorrow. And that flow will continue,'' McDuffie said. The largest number of refugees -- 138,500 -- have gone to Albania. There are also 86,000 in Macedonia, 55,000 in the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro and 17,400 in Bosnia, U.S. military officials say. NATO says 634,000 people -- a third of Kosova's population -- have fled their homes in the past year. Although there is plenty of food in the region, stockpiled by agencies such as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Program, aid officials have asked the United States for more. ``I don't think anybody could foresee the breadth of this brutality that has led to this flood of refugees,'' Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said. McDuffie said the meals -- packets providing a person's complete food needs for a day -- would be flown out of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, probably on commercial 747 cargo jets. At the request of aid agencies, the U.S. military would also move tents, blankets, cots and sleeping bags from depots in central Europe to Macedonia, and forklifts, trucks and other equipment to Albania. McDuffie said the need was not dire, as aid officials foresaw the disaster and have stockpiled enough to feed 400,000 people for several months. ``People are not starving. The report out of Kukes, which was the tough area there in Albania, was that we had about 10 days of food,'' McDuffie said. But the meals the military has are good for giving to people on the move. McDuffie pulled apart one of the book-size, yellow-wrapped packets, which replace the widely disliked ``meals ready to eat'' (MRE) used in the 1991 Gulf War.Each one contains 2,200 calories of grain-based food, with no meat or other animal products so they will be acceptable to virtually any religious group. ``It's significantly cheaper than the MRE,'' McDuffie said as he pulled out a foil-wrapped fruit pastry, jam, a fruit bar, shortbread, peanut butter and pasta with tomato sauce. He said there were no plans to airdrop the supplies, in part because of Yugoslav air defenses. ``We would be resupplying the Serb military more than we would be feeding Kosovars,'' he said. ``And secondly, you would be establishing almost a magnet for Kosovars to put them in harm's way -- they could be rounded up by the Serbs even more.'' Overall the operation was not a difficult one, compared to previous efforts in Rwanda or Somalia, McDuffie said. ``When you compare this operation with an operation down in Africa -- where you had the tyranny of distance, you did not have the infrastructure, you did not have a population even helping with the flow of refugees -- while this is challenging, it is not as tough,'' he said.McDuffie said that there were many airfields available.``While the roads are tough and rutted, and you can't particularly go fast, you can at least get there,'' he added.

HRW: SYSTEMATIC DEPOPULATION IN KOSOVA'S CAPITAL

Serbian authorities have been systematically depopulating the Kosova capital Pristina of its ethnic Albanian population, according to refugees interviewed yesterday by Human Rights Watch. Serbian authorities are using passenger trains to transport thousands of Pristina residents to the Macedonian border.

Testimony from ethnic Albanian refugees collected by Human Rights Watch in Macedonia reveals an undeniable pattern of forced expulsion from the following neighborhoods of Pristina: Vranjevci, Tashlixhe, Dragodan and Dardania. Refugee statements are highly consistent and describe an orchestrated mass expulsion.

Expelled refugees uniformly told Human Rights Watch of police and masked paramilitaries going from door to door to tell ethnic Albanian residents that they must leave at once. In some cases, Albanians were warned that they would be killed if they failed to comply.

Once out of their homes, refugees said, residents were directed by police towards the central railway station in Pristina, although some people were allowed to leave in their private cars. Side roads were blocked by armed police and paramilitaries. Witnesses told of thousands of people gathered at the railway station, with armed police posted around the area. Many people were being herded onto a passenger train headed for the Macedonian border, where slow-moving checkpoints are creating a massive bottleneck of thousands of refugees.

One refugee told Human Rights Watch that he was one of twenty-eight people forced into a train compartment meant for eight passengers. Several refugees also described people being loaded onto buses and trucks at the railway station, which suggests that it is serving as a general collection point for the organized expulsion.

Refugees have witnessed police dragging some people from cars and beating them. Most of those interviewed indicated that police and especially paramilitaries are demanding hard currency for safe passage, as well as stealing jewelry and vehicles outright. Looting of Albanian shops and homes was also reported. None of the refugees interviewed saw anyone shot or killed by the police, although all interviewed refugees reported hearing frequent gunshots and explosions while they were being forced out of the city.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN GROUPS CALL FOR USE OF FORCE TO PREVENT GENOCIDE IN KOSOVA

According to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, genocide is unfolding in Kosova. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide obliges those countries which have ratified it, including the United States, to "undertake to prevent and to punish" genocide.

We, the undersigned representatives of human rights, humanitarian, and religious organizations demand that the international community uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention by taking immediate action to prevent and punish genocide in Kosova. The targeted execution of the ethnic Albanians' civil society leaders (including political figures, journalists, doctors, human rights advocates, and humanitarian workers), the round-up and execution of large numbers of ethnic Albanian men, the use of terror to force a one third of the population from their homes, and the physical destruction of homes, villages, and cultural sites are the means by which President Milosevic's forces are swiftly destroying the ethnic Albanian people of Kosova.

These actions are a clear indication of his intention to destroy the Albanian community in Kosova, and are the elements of genocide. The NATO bombing campaign is valuable in limiting President Milosevic's ability to wage war in the future, but bombing alone is not sufficient to prevent or stop genocide in Kosova.

Therefore, we strongly appeal to the Clinton Administration and to allied governments to immediately deploy a NATO protection force:

* to remove all Serb police and military forces from Kosova before they execute those Kosovar Albanian civil society leaders who are still alive and kill or forcibly displace the remaining population from their homes and villages;

* to create a safe environment for refugees and displaced to return home;

* to aid local and international humanitarian organizations to assist them in rebuilding their homes and communities;

In addition, in keeping with the United States' treaty obligation to punish those responsible for genocide, we call upon the Clinton Administration to immediately provide the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with all available intelligence information in a form that may be used at trial for purposes of securing the indictment of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj and their subordinates who are carrying out the acts of genocide, including Zeljko Raznjatovic ("Arkan").

Remarks of Leonard S. Rubenstein Executive Director Physicians for Human Rights National Press Club, Washington, DC April 1, 1999

Last week President Clinton forcefully stated that NATO countries must intervene in Kosova to protect the civilian population of Kosova from further atrocities by the Yugoslav Army and paramilitary forces. A week later, with no ground forces offering that protection, we are witnessing the destruction of the very people he committed to protect. Yesterday the State Department estimated that the number of refugees and internally displaced people stands at 580,000. Today we learn that Pristina and other cities are being emptied and burned. There soon may be no ethnic Albanians left in Kosova to protect.

The imperative remains protection. We urge four actions by the United States and NATO countries to prevent the utter destruction of this people.

1. Protection of Kosovar Albanian civilians. The paramount priority of the United States and NATO must be to introduce a protection force to stop the forced expulsion of terrified men, women, and children and to end the physical destruction of their homes, villages and cities. This must be done immediately.

2.Creation of a safe environment for return. The displacement of the more than half million Kosovar Albanians from Kosova cannot be allowed to become permanent. Refugees fleeing Kosova and those displaced within it must have the opportunity to return home, to a safe environment, so Kosovar civil society can reorganize and rebuild Kosova. A force with a mandate to assure their safe return is essential.

There is an understandable focus on the short-term refugee crisis. Generous assistance to the operations of local and international relief organizations with Kosova, and to neighboring counties, is essential. Processing and the granting of Yugoslav identity papers must be facilitated so refugees do not become stateless persons. But short-term assistance alone is inadequate. The only way to salvage the human rights of Kosovar Albanian civilians is to allow them safely to return home as soon as possible – within weeks, not months or years. Strategies for the return of refugees to their homes, and for protection once there, must be developed now. The longer they are denied access to their communities, the more they will suffer the extreme psychologist trauma of displacement, vulnerability to disease, family instability, and other harms The longer they are displaced, moreover, the more difficult it will be to re-establish the infrastructure of communities, including health care, cultural institutions, and civic and local political leadership.

The creation of refugee camps outside Kosova or "safe havens" for displaced people within Kosova are no answer to the humanitarian disaster there. That will mean permanent displacement. All of Kosova should be made a safe, protected zone, where Kosovar and Serb civilians can live in safety.

3. Human rights monitoring. The Kosova Verification Mission should be reconstituted to collect human rights information from the refugees in Albania and Macedonia. At the earliest possible moment they should be redeployed in Kosova to monitor the safety of returning refugees and any others within Kosova who may be at risk.

4. War crimes investigations. The investigations of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Kosova should be supported and expanded. The United States should immediately release intelligence information that may have bearing on Serb ethnic cleansing and genocide. It should also turn over to the International Tribunal immediately all available information regarding crimes by President Milosevic and others leaders of the Yugoslav government.

 

PHR INVESTIGATOR REPORTS FROM THE MACEDONIAN BORDER

April 1, 1999 An investigator from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) reports the following information concerning events at the Macedonian border.

*Refugees are waiting several days on the road to exit Serbia. They report that they did not receive humanitarian assistance during that time.

*There are thousands of refugees stuck in "no-man's land" between the official border crossings out of Serbia and into Macedonia. There are many more refugees stuck in the "no-man's land" just to the west of the official border by the train tracks.

*Those travelling by car have had to abandon their cars before crossing the border. The only people witnessed being allowed into "no man's land" with cars were a few very ill people.

*Once on the Macedonian side, humanitarian organizations are working and refugees are getting some bread and water. They are receiving improvised medical assistance from International Medical Corps, Medecins du Monde, and the local Red Cross. Very ill people have been transported by ambulance to the hospital. In the mid-afternoon, however, the Macedonian authorities changed their policy and began allowing only local Red Cross members into the part of "no man's land" where thousands of those who came with cars have to wait before being allowed to cross to the Macedonian side. The people in the grassy "no man's land" have no cover from the blazing sun or the cold night.

*Macedonian authorities are processing refugees very, very slowly by approximately four or five uniformed men sitting at tiny tables on the edge of this area.

*Nearly all of the people are coming from Pristina. Many of those arriving today said they had been travelling since Monday.

*One woman refugee died of cardiac arrest. The PHR investigator witnessed part of the resuscitation attempt.

*People are thirsty and hungry but the most striking health problems are psychological - several women were brought to the first aid station with intense stress reactions: shaking, posturing, staring blankly.

*One woman who had been treated for psychosis in the past turned violent on the train from Pristina and was thrashing around on the grass in no man's land and intermittently grabbing people and attempting to strike them. She was given diazepam and brought,with great difficulty, to the first aid tent.

*PHR has received unconfirmed reports that two physicians were murdered today in Djacova.

*One 23-year old woman who lived in the center of Pristina said "police with black masks" broke down her door and gave her, her husband and two children (ages 3 and 5 and ½ months) three minutes to leave. She said they told her, "Get outside. You have 3 minutes to leave the house." She said, "Let me take some Pampers (diapers) and milk." They responded something to the effect of , " We will make you like shit on Pampers '. She said the men swore at them and said, "Call NATO, NATO will help you."

*One doctor who left Pristina said, with tears in his eyes, that the town was "completely dead."

*Very few buses left the border of Macedonia to take refugees into town during the day today. PHR witnessed around four this morning, was told by UNHCR that another few left in the late afternoon, and witnessed several more being prepared for departure in the early evening.

*Around 7:30pm two buses full of Macedonian special police with what appeared to be semi-automatic weapons, flak jackets and hard helmets rolled in and began to surround the refugees and push the media people farther away.

More news from Macedonia in the next issue of NEWS FROM PHR.

(c) Copyright 1999 Physicians for Human Rights All rights reserved.