link to alb-net
- Hundreds of Albanian Women Raped by the Serb Border Guards (The Times)
- Ethnic rage claims a boy's family and his innocence (AP)
- ALBANIAN AMERICANS PUSH FOR U.S. SUPPORT OF KLA (Scripps Howard News Service)
- US defense secretary calls Yugoslav truce offer "unacceptable... absurd" (AFP)
- Clinton Urged To Consider Ground Attack In Kosova (Reuters)
- Albania's Orthodox church helps Kosova new-comers
- Vollebaek blames Belgrade for humanitarian tragedy of Kosova Albanians
- Albania premier meets NATO deputy Secretary General
- Number of Kosovars in Vlore prefecture reaches around 4.900
- Majko says Albania is open door to Kosova war refugees
- Some 600 other Kosovars enter Albania through Hani i Hotit
Hundreds of Albanian Women Raped by the Serb Border Guards (The Times)
Groups of silent women speak volumes, writes Sam Kiley from Kukes
NOT satisfied with using young men as human shields
against Nato and Kosovo Liberation Army attacks, nor with shooting dead children and the
burning of homes to accelerate the exodus of Kosovo Albanians, Serbian border guards have
taken to adding one more atrocity - rape. Their victims are reluctant to talk about what
happens in the border post at Monice, through which more than 200,000 people have been
herded over the last few weeks. But the faraway stares in their tearful eyes, their torn
clothing and the despair of the families of the victims speak volumes.
Just as the extremists of Bosnia's Serb Republic pursued a campaign against Muslims which
included the forced impregnation of many Bosnian women, so the border guards of Monice
clearly hope to father scores of Muslim children carrying Serb blood.
According to human rights groups and investigators from the War Crimes Tribunal at The
Hague, and the victims themselves, Kosovo Albanian women are being picked out at the
border as they wait with their families to cross into Albania, taken to a building not far
away and violated.
"There have been so many credible reports of this sort of thing that we are convinced
it is part of a systematic campaign of sexual abuse. The whole level of atrocities being
committed in Kosovo has overwhelmed us. We are going to have to bring in extra
investigators," said a member of the tribunal team in Kukes, the nearest town to the
border crossing.
The Serbs' method is simple. They select the women they fancy tormenting as they approach
the final crossing point with their families, who are ordered to keep travelling into
Albania.
They are then taken away, weeping and begging for their lives. Hours, perhaps a day passes
for the families, and then those who survive the ordeal are sent on their way with a
casual wave.
At Monice their families keep a vigil standing in silent huddles by the metal barrier.
Reluctant to admit what is happening to their daughters, these members of a society who
view rape as the ultimate shame for a woman, say: "We were separated, and praying
that the Serbs will let them live."
When the young women are reunited with their families, there is no celebration that they
have survived. They fall in silence into their parents' arms. Hiding their faces they
rejoin the huge throng of miserable humanity - again in silence.
Overwhelmed by the logistics of coping with an influx of refugees which is expected to
reach 250,000 in the next day or so, and climb to half a million or more, the Albanian
authorities and the few aid agencies which have reacted to the Kosovo catastrophe have
been unable to offer any kind of help to the rape victims.
"There is simply nothing we can do but hope that the families of the victims are
strong enough and supportive enough of these young women. But if any are pregnant as a
result, they face a miserable future of possible rejection by their families, or of
raising a child conceived in hatred. That must be the worst thing anyone can inflict upon
a woman," said a British aid worker in Kukes. There have been reports of rape and the
use of Kosovo Albanian women as sex slaves since the beginning of the forced exodus which
came close on the heels of the start of Nato's air bombardments of Yugoslavia. But the
latest revelations appear to carry more weight with human rights groups who stand
alongside the families of abducted women and teenage girls, helpless to do anything about
what they are certain is going on behind the bulletproof glass of the Monice crossing.
Young men have been spared rape, but their life expectancy behind Serb lines can be
calculated in minutes. Hague investigators are looking into a number of credible reports
that up to 500 men were marched into a field close to where the KLA has been fighting a
rearguard action against the Serbs on the Albanian border.
Once in the field their resistance was allegedly broken down by being forced to stand in
freezing rain for several hours. They were then driven like cattle back into a barn and
ordered to dress in rags provided for them.
Then, at gunpoint, they were ordered to stand in front of Serb trenches while the Serb
artillery fired mortars and heavier weapons at KLA positions, confident that they would
not be the first victims if fire was returned.
So far, The Hague said, there had been only a handful of survivors from this latest
alleged atrocity.
In Kukes, the refugees said that they were now pinning their hopes on Nato and the dim
expectation of ground forces to save those still left in Kosovo.
Risolta Unico, a student from Dajkovica who crossed into Albania in her slippers, had been
spared the rapists because at Qafae Prushit the border is manned by professional Yugoslav
soldiers who maintain a keen-eyed watch on their Albanian counterparts.
"They are burning our houses and killing the men. In the town there have been many
rapes, but no one will speak of it. We need to be saved before there is nothing left for
Nato to worry about. Please tell the world that we are worth it, we are human beings not
animals to be slaughtered," she cried.
When told that the US had ordered 24 Apache attack helicopters to Albania she broke into a
broad smile. "First there will be helicopters, then there will be soldiers. Nato will
not let us down. If they do not send troops, then what was the point of the bombing?"
Ethnic rage claims a boy's family and his innocence (AP)
April 6, 1999
KUKES, Albania (AP) -- Ten-year-old Dren Caka fingers the inflatable brace wrapped around
his bullet-shattered right arm and asks: "Will it move again?" "Of
course," a doctor assures the boy as she pumps antibiotics into the IV drip hanging
by a paper clip. They are in a tidy Italian field clinic in the centre of a chaotic
refugee camp swelling by the hour with more tractors, cars and horse-drawn wagons. Dren
says he was shot as Serb police slaughtered his family. His arm, too damaged to carry his
two-year-old sister to safety from a burning home, dripped a trail of blood throughout a
two-day journey to Albania. The thumb-size hole above his elbow will heal. But a scar will
remind him forever of the brutality in Kosovo that has destroyed families, levelled towns,
overwhelmed aid groups. And left one brown-haired boy bravely trying not to cry or think
too much about what now lies ahead. The yellow Yugo reaches the border post late Monday
afternoon. Dren's uncle is driving. Dren is in the back seat with his young cousins, his
arm cushioned by bloody pieces of bed sheets. Doctors are waiting. Other refugees have
told them of a badly wounded boy back in the line of traffic that stretches more than 20
kilometres. "Come on, move!" shouts Dr. Flori Bakalli, a Kosovo refugee who took
up with the French group Doctors of the World a few days ago. The sling is removed. Blood
spurts from the wound. Dren winces as medics squirt iodine over his arm. "Courage,
courage," Bakalli says. Dren whimpers, then grows quiet as the anesthetics brings
relief. As doctors work, his relatives help the boy tell his story. It begins before dawn
Saturday when they claim Yugoslav police began looting and burning homes on Milos Gjlic
street in Djakovica, in southern Kosovo. "They were howling like wolves," says
his uncle, Selajdin Dylhasi. Dren and 19 women and children, including his mother and
three sisters, hide in a basement. But they are quickly discovered and accused of being
supporters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian separatists fighting the
forces of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. A 13-year-old girl is shot first, Dren
says. Then, one by one, the police lower their guns and fire. It takes less than a minute.
"I was hit in the arm, but I fell and pretended I was dead," the boy says. The
police set the home ablaze and move on, he says. Thinking everyone is dead, he starts to
run. Then he hears moans from his baby sister. "I tried to pick her up, but ...
but," Dren says before breaking into tears and pointing to his arm. His uncle takes
over: "He means he couldn't lift her because of his arm. She burned to death in the
house." Dren stumbles to a relative's house. They gather other family members and
head for the border, about 25 kilometres by road. The surviving clan includes Dren's four
grandparents, two aunts, an uncle and two cousins. Dren's father had fled to the mountains
with other men from the village. They last heard he, too, has made it over the border.
"He has only his son left," says Dren's 68-year-old grandfather, Xhemal Caka.
"Maybe he will join the KLA and seek revenge. That's what I would do if I was
younger." Dren, too young to fight, looks over to his grandfather. "Maybe
someday I will be the one to kill Milosevic," the boy says. Dren wakes Tuesday with
his aunt, Nimete Babalia, stroking his forehead and cowlicked hair. She still wears the
corduroy slippers she fled in. "You're going on a helicopter today," she says.
"They are taking you to a big hospital." A French doctor, Anne Marie Guilleux,
pushes through the tent flaps to Dren's section. First, she looks in on a four-year-old
boy whose calf was blown off by mortar fire. Then she pulls back the yellow blankets
covering Dren. "Good," she says as she looks at his arm and presses his chest,
covered by an undershirt that is stiff and rusty-colored with dried blood. Drops of blood
dot his pants and blue-striped socks. The doctor leaves for other patients, and Dren's
six-year-old cousin, Vjosa, slips him some chocolate and kisses his forehead. They smile
at each other. "Grandfather?" Dren asks. "Wherever we go, do you think they
will play soccer there as well?" Xhemal Caka nods comfortingly. He doesn't want to
tell the boy they have no idea what will happen to them. Like almost every refugee, they
were stripped of all money and documents. The French military helicopter to take Dren to
Albania's capital, Tirana, lands in a field of clover. Dren's aunt Nimete pats him on the
head and boards the Puma chopper first. Three other children are included on the first
medical airlift of refugees: the boy with the mortar injury, a girl whose foot was slashed
by a grenade blast and a baby with severe abdominal pains and fever. There is no room for
the mother of the boy with the mortar wound and her four other children. Dren's aunt
promises to watch all the young patients until their families can make the seven-hour
drive to Tirana. The baby's mother suddenly panics. She doesn't want to let him go.
"Look," shouts one of the doctors, "if you leave him here he will
die." Medics secure the stretchers and the pilot twirls his index finger; they are
ready to leave. Back in the Italian camp, the rest of Dren's family watches the helicopter
rise, bank and climb over the mountains. Little Vjosa waves goodbye.
ALBANIAN AMERICANS PUSH FOR U.S.
SUPPORT OF KLA (Scripps Howard News Service)
Apr. 6, 1999
By LANCE GAY Scripps Howard News Service
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON -- Albanian American groups are raising funds to continue the fight over Kosovo
and gearing up to lobby Congress next week to provide arms for the Kosovo Liberation Army
to carry the ground war against Serbia's forces.
Joe DioGuardi, chairman of the Albanian-American Civic League and a former U.S.
congressman from New York, said his organization and other Albanian American groups plan
to lobby Congress when it returns next week to provide U.S. training and at least $25
million in funding for the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Some Albanian Americans are volunteering to return to the Balkans to fight with the KLA
and the latest group of 20 are leaving New York for Albania next week, he said.
DioGuardi, whose father was from Albania, said there's no need for NATO to send ground
troops into Kosovo to combat Serbian ethnic cleansing.
``Let the KLA do the dirty work,'' he said.
DioGuardi contends Albanian fighters could easily locate and neutralize Serbian tanks and
surface-to-air missile batteries that are operating in border zones in preparation for a
NATO assault, if the Albanians have the right training and weapons.
Proposals to funnel U.S. aid to the Kosovo rebels have already created some unusual
political alliances in Congress.
The Senate is expected next week to take up a proposal sponsored by Sens. Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., to fund the KLA. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., has proposed a separate measure to funnel U.S. funds to
groups inside Yugoslavia, with the aim to encourage broader opposition to Milosevic,
rather than just help the KLA. Helms' bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg,
D-N.J.
The administration had opposed such legislation before the NATO air strikes began on the
grounds that they wanted to work out an agreement under the Rambouillet accords, which
required the KLA to disarm.
Avni Mustafa, president of the National Albanian-American Council, based in New York, said
the Serb assault on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo has electrified the estimated
500,000-strong Albanian American community, and increased fund-raising for the fight.
``The KLA is a popular uprising and it's not going to go away,'' Mustafa said, contending
the insurgents don't have the necessary equipment to confront Serbia, which is flush with
military equipment from the Yugoslavian National Army. The Yugoslav army was the 4th
largest in Europe at the end of the Cold War.
Mustafa said Albanian Americans aren't going to give up on Kosovo. The neighboring
countries of Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, which are bearing the flood of more than
400,000 refugees, are too fragile politically to allow the refugees to remain permanently
outside of their homeland, he said.
``This is way beyond what these countries can handle,'' he said, noting Albania is the
poorest country in Europe and has the least developed infrastructure and economy. ``It's
absolutely important that all these people be sent home.''
Mustafa said the majority of the Albanian-American community is composed of
first-generation immigrants who still have strong ties to their homelands. The collapse of
the Iron Curtain produced a surge of emigration from the impoverished Balkans, producing
large expatriate Albanian communities, particularly in New York. DioGuardi estimates there
are some 7 million Albanians now living outside of Albania around the globe.
Political activists estimate the KLA last year was receiving about $500,000 a week in
donations from groups of exiles, most of which was collected by the Albanian-American
group ``Homeland Calling.''
US defense secretary calls
Yugoslav truce offer "unacceptable... absurd" (AFP)
WASHINGTON, April 6 (AFP) - US Defense Secretary William Cohen on Tuesday dismissed
Belgrade's offer of a unilateral ceasefire in Kosovo as "completely
unacceptable." In an interview with the Voice of America shortly before he was to
leave for talks with NATO leaders in Brussels, Cohen said Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic's offer was not only "completely unacceptable but absurd."
Noting that Serbian forces have triggered a massive exodus of ethnic Albanians from
Kosovo, he said accepting a ceasefire at this point would be "an abdication of
responsibility on the part of the United States and NATO."
"We intend to continue our air campaign until we achieve our military
objectives" to "diminish and degrade Milosevic's military capability," he
added.
"Our air campaign is gaining momentum ...With the weather clearing, each day that
passes, you're going to see more and more damage to" Yugoslav military capability.
But Cohen ruled out any introduction of ground forces until Belgrade has met conditions of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for an end to the air campaign: a withdrawal of
Serbian security forces, the safe return of refugees and deployment of a international
force to protect the refugees.
Cohen also said Yugoslav attacks on Kosovar Albanian separatists would only serve "to
radicalize more of the Albanian population...to continue a long-term guerrillaw war"
against Belgrade.
The US defense secretary was heading for Belgium late Tuesday and then on to Italy and
possibly Germany to consult with NATO allies about the 13-day-old air strikes.
Cohen planned to meet with NATO secretary general Javier Solana and the alliance's supreme
commander, US General Wesley Clark, in Belgium on Wednesday to review the military
operation, a spokesman said.
Earlier Tuesday, the Yugoslav and Serbian government said "all army and police
activities in Kosovo" against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) "should be
stopped unilaterally, starting at 8:00 p.m." (1800 GMT).
Belgrade said it expected the decision, coming ahead of Orthodox Easter this weekend,
"will be understood as a goodwill gesture and wish for support for peaceful
solution."
The offer was Belgrade's first concrete political initiative since the start of NATO's
bombing campaign against Yugoslavia on March 24.
Clinton Urged To Consider Ground Attack In Kosova (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton is under
increasing pressure from key members of Congress and military experts to prepare for an
offensive by U.S. ground troops against Yugoslav forces for control of war-torn Kosovo.The
Clinton administration has steadfastly resisted calls for using ground troops, choosing
instead to use NATO warplanes and cruise missiles to attack military targets from the air.
Experts say Clinton was caught between two politically dangerous options. If the air
assault failed, he and NATO would get blamed for letting President Slobodan Milosevic have
his way with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.If they threatened a major offensive on the
ground, and Milosevic still refused to back down, Clinton would risk heavy American
casualties. NATO leaders agree that at least 100,000 troops would be needed for NATO to
fight its way into Kosovo.``We believe that a sustained air campaign can accomplish the
objectives that we have laid out,'' Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday
when pressed on whether ground troops should be considered. ''As we have repeated over and
over again, the president has no plans or intentions for ground forces in a non-permissive
environment,'' she added during an appearance at the independent Brookings Institution.
But a growing number of influential lawmakers and defense experts doubt NATO's air
campaign along can stop the slaughter and destruction of villages as Milosevic's forces
drive Kosovo's ethnic Albanians into neighboring states.To inflict enough damage to stop
the Serb forces and force Milosevic to accept NATO conditions that would allow refugees to
return, Clinton may need to use ground forces, or at least show he is willing to use them
in a major offensive, they say. A Washington Post/ABC poll of Americans published Tuesday
found that 55 percent of those surveyed supported the use of ground forces to help end the
conflict. Last week, a CBS News poll found that 41 percent favored their use.Advocates of
this approach argue that precious little time was left for a decisive attack against
Milosevic, given evidence of a widening crackdown on ethnic Albanians. Since the NATO
bombing started on March 24, 360,000 refugees have fled Kosovo, bringing the total for the
last year to 831,000. ``The diplomacy won't start until our president stops saying no
ground troops,'' said Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. He said Congress should
``try to convince the president to do his job, to be commander in chief to win the
war.''Many Republicans have criticized the Democrat president for a failure of resolve
over the Kosovo crisis and in other earlier foreign policy crises like Bosnia and
Iraq.Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who spent more than five years as a prisoner
of war in Vietnam, insists the United States should be preparing its troops for a ground
war in case that option became necessary.McCain was one of a number of members of Congress
travelling to Brussels and Aviano, Italy with Defense Secretary William Cohen in the next
three days to meet top NATO leaders and visit U.S. forces involved in the operations.
Senior RAND fellow Robert Hunter, who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO from July 1993 to
January 1998 and negotiated past NATO action in Bosnia, said no less than the alliance's
future was at stake. ``If NATO failed, many people would ask; 'What long-term moral basis
would there be to provide political support for an alliance that won't stop this kind of
slaughter in Europe?''' Hunter said. ``The answer is: 'NATO must win.''' But any change in
policy that would thrust thousands of U.S. ground troops into combat could quickly
backfire on Clinton. NATO casualties, which have so far been avoided in the air campaign,
would be inevitable and fighting against could drag on for months or longer, experts say.
A few members of Congress have already put Clinton on notice that it would be a huge
political and military mistake to put U.S. ground troops in harm's way in Kosovo. In a
terse statement, Republican Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri, a member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said Clinton lacked the ``political leadership'' to engage American
ground troops in a Balkan war.
Albania's Orthodox church helps Kosova new-comers
TIRANA, April 6 (ATA) - By E. Riza: The Orthodox church of Albania under the archbishop of Tirana and the whole Albania, Anastas, has undertaken a wide ranging aid program for the Kosova people. This program, who is backed by the Action by Churches Together (ACT), an office at the World Council of Churches, is being carried out by the "Love Service" office personnel in cooperation with the international personnel. Church sources said to ATA that the ACT had collected US$1.7 million with the Church World Service from the United States offering US$800 thousand. Three airplanes transporting 51 tons of foodstuffs, two trucks and two fuori strada, all from Denmark, arrived in Rinas airport between April 2 and 4, 21 tons of which were distributed to Kukes city. /lh/ak/
Vollebaek blames Belgrade for humanitarian tragedy of Kosova Albanians
TIRANE, April 6 (ATA)-By A. Haxhiu, President of the Republic Rexhep Meidani on Tuesday met with Knut Vollebaek, Norwegian Foreign Minister and chairman-in-office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who was also accompanied by Ambassador Everts and charge d'affaires of Norway to Albania. Vollebaek stressed the need of strengthening OSCE presence and expressed the readiness of his country to strengthen bilateral relations. He blamed Belgrade for the humanitarian tragedy the Kosova Albanians are living through and considered it an "organised evil". Vollebaek committed himself to ask the Macedonian authorities to enable a temporary stay of the Kosovars. Meidani reiterated that "the Kosova Albanians should stay as close to their lands as possible and is still early to apply other solutions. "No chance should be given to Milosevic and his military and propaganda machine with their plans, but the Alliance's operations in Kosova should be intensified to save thousands of human lives, who are lacking all means of life, in forests and mountains," said Meidani. He expressed gratitude to all the states for their solidarity manifested in alleviating this humanitarian catastrophe. Referring to the situation at home Meidani said that the central and local governments are making all efforts for a more effective coordination to cope with the situations and raised the idea of setting up Local Emergency Offices with a broader representation, also including the international organisations. "There is no more room for accusations and speculative ploys, but only political and national responsibility to face the situation," said Meidani. /lh/lm/
Albania premier meets NATO deputy Secretary General
TIRANA, April 6 (ATA) - By E. Nepravishta: Albanian prime minister Pandeli Majko is holding a closed-door meeting with the NATO deputy Secretary General Sergio Balanzino, who is on an official visit to Albania. Majko hailed the NATO stance on ongoing attacks against Yugoslavia even after a temporary "ceasefire" offered by Milosevic. The NATO senior official was expected to visit the NATO forces in Albania who are engaged in helping Albanians driven from Kosova. /ypa/ak/
Number of Kosovars in Vlore prefecture reaches around 4.900
VLORE, April 6 (ATA)-By H.Koci, The number of the Kosova refugees in the Vlore prefecture is estimated at around 4 900, of whom 4 400 have been accommodated in the Vlore district. According to the inspector of the prefecture, Shkelqim Arapi, they have been mostly accommodated in the city while several hundreds in the commune of Novosele, in the village of Tragjas and the Orthodox Church of Cerkovine. Arapi said that the refugees have been sheltered in families, students' dormitories, former workers' summer resort as well as state reserve warehouses. /lh/lm/
Majko says Albania is open door to Kosova war refugees
TIRANE, April 6 (ATA)-By I. Luto, Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko on Tuesday told Knut Vollebaek, chairman-in-office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), that Albania will continue to be an open door to all the Kosova war refugees who will ask for shelter, also including those coming from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Majko said that although the current situation at home is considered to be one of the gravest crises since the World War Two, the Albanian government is optimistic to overcome it, always backed by the international community, according to the Prime Minister's spokesman. "This is a fight for survival," said Majko adding that "we have no other way but to win it, both self-reliantly and with the aid of the international community". Vollebaek evaluated the performance of the Albanian government to cope with the crisis and said that his visit to Tirane aimed at identifying what the OSCE can do to help resolve the crisis. As Norwegian Minister of Norway Vollebaek explained the steps his country has undertaken to help Albania in this difficult situation, also including here a concrete aid project for the Kukes town. /lh/lm/
Some 600 other Kosovars enter Albania through Hani i Hotit
SHKODER, April 6 (ATA)-By M.Malja, Some 600 Kosova refugees entered Shkoder on Tuesday afternoon through the Hani i Hotit border crossing. Most of the arriving refugees immediately left with their vehicles for other cities of the country, while the rest were accommodated in the sports-hall and families in Shkoder. The latest arrivals brought the number of the Kosova refugees on Tuesday though the Hani i Hotit border crossing to 800. The number of the refugees recently arriving through Hani i Hotit in Shkoder is estimated at 4000. /s.s/lm/