STUDENTS' PROTESTS IN KOSOVA
To the rest of the world it may seem incomprehensible to be forced from your own school
because you want to study in your mother tongue, but that's exactly what has happened to
the Albanian students in Kosova. The University of Prishtina (UP) was founded in 1970.
Since then, more than 43,000 people have graduated (7,000 since 1991). Yet in 1991, the
Serbian policy of "ethnic cleansing" began in Kosova's educational institutions.
Some 1,000 professors and 27,000 students were forced out of the University of Prishtina
alone. Hundreds of thousands of high school students were banned from entering school
buildings. In some of the elementary schools, children were allowed into segregated
buildings - with Serb children on one side, Albanians in the other. The University and
high schools began to hold classes outside their school buildings, in private houses, in
miserable conditions. This has been going on for seven years now. The Serb police raids on
these buildings are a common practice. Teachers are beaten in front of the children as a
way to promote fear. In September, 1996, responding to international pressure to ease
tensions in Kosova, an "Educational Agreement" was signed between President
Rugova and Milosevic. This agreement was never implemented. In signing the agreement,
Milosevic intended to gain political points in the eyes of the international community in
the hopes of having Serbia's economic sanctions lifted. Over one year later, the empty
school buildings continue to be guarded by heavy police forces to prevent the Albanians
from moving in. Some buildings are used as refugee camps for Serbs from Croatia. Now the
situation has become unbearable for the Albanian students as it appears no progress has
been made towards opening the schools. Therefore, the Students Independent Union of the
University of Prishtina (SIUUP), the only student organization in the UP, initiated
peaceful protests, with one clear aim: the unconditional return of the university and high
school buildings, so the Albanian students can attend normal classes in normal facilities,
ironically built by Albanians themselves. The Albanian students DO NOT WANT the Serb
students to leave; they just want to use the 80% of the facilities that have been empty
since 1991. The University of Prishtina currently has 14 senior colleges and 7 community
colleges. 23,000 students attend classes. The "regular" University buildings are
only partially filled by Serb students, but the rest of the buildings remain empty.
Although the Serb government has offered lucrative loans and housing, it has managed to
attract less the 4,000 Serb students from Serbia and Montenegro to attend classes in
Kosova. They only occupy some 20 % of the University buildings. SIUUP is an independent,
non-political, non-partisan organization. The demand for the unconditional return of the
school buildings is a non-political demand, based on international law that guarantees
education in a mother tongue as a fundamental human right. In September 10, 1997, SIUUP
established the University Protests Council. This council has 9 members - 5 students and 4
professors. In addition, the Individual Colleges and Community Colleges' organizing
subcommittees were established. Each of the sub-committees has 5 members (3 students and 2
professors). There are four committees within the Senior Colleges and Community Colleges.
Three of them are to make sure the protests remain peaceful and the fourth one is in
charge of medical help, in case the police uses force to crush the protest. During the
three big protests in 1997, held on October 1, October 29 and December 30, every plan,
strategy and detail was legal and it was publicly announced beforehand. The slogans were
published in the papers. The media, the public, the students and the Serb regime were
notified properly beforehand. This was done to clearly avoid any provocation from anyone.
In addition to Prishtina, protests took place in 6 other towns of Kosova, where units of
the university are located. Despite the fact that the protests were peaceful, nonviolent
and were strictly attended by UP students, the Serb police forces intervened without
warning, using batons and teargas. More than 700 students were injured. Since the
political parties were not welcome by the organizing board, there were no other people
beside students and teachers participating in the protest. However, there was a large
number of people who came out in solidarity, but who stood on the side walk and did not
mix in the protest. Anyway the Albanian political parties together with SIUUP and Trade
Union on March 2, March 9, March 13 and March 19, 1998 organized big peaceful, nonviolent
protests in Prishtina and in all the other cities and towns of Kosova. These protests were
for peace, freedom against violence, war and Serbian terror. Due to the circumstances this
became more important, even more than the releasing of the buildings. In these protests
several hundred thousands Albanians were participating, and around 500 of them were
injured from brutal police intervention. With these four masive protests Albanians in
Kosova showed their solidarity and support with Albanian population in the region of
Kosova called Drenica, who were during the first two weeks of March, under unseen terror
of Serbian police and military forces. In Drenica over 100 Albanian civilians were killed,
and among them were massacred 14 children and 20 women. In this ethnic cleansing even one
pregnant women was massacred. Also, after, in Deçan, which is another municipality in
Kosova, and along the border area with Albania police and military forces made another
attack with the same scenario and due to that there were killed a large number of young
Albanians. Now the conflict is spreading more and more each day, and half of the territory
of Kosova is simply in war. The average number of killed people daily in Kosova is over
15, and totally until now more than 500 people were killed (over 50 of them were students)
. A lot of people are arrested and kidnapped everyday from Serbian police, only because
they are Albanians, and many among them are students of UP. The Albanians in their
villages are organizing themselves for selfdefence. UÇK (KLA-Kosova Liberation Army) is
the leading force and Albanian people especially in the regions in Kosova where the war is
going on, are identifying themselves with UÇK. UÇK until now liberated almost 40% of the
territory of Kosova and became a symbol of the Albanian resistance. Albanian people have a
lot of faith that gathered around UÇK finally Kosova will have it's own independence,
which seems everyday more and more that is the only way for Albanians in Kosova to have
freedom. The students of the UP stand firm with their demands and will not stop their
struggle until the demands in question are met. However, slowly peaceful means are proven
to be fruitless and until now concrete steps are not taken to meet the student demands. We
ask everyone of you to help us achieve our fundamental right - the right to study in our
mother tongue, but also to help us by using your influence, in order to avoid another
larger conflict which won't be possible to be contained only in Kosova but will spread on
the Balkans (worse than in Bosnia), and especially to stop the terror, massacre and the
ethnic cleansing on Albanian population. BACKGROUND
Kosova is a region of the former Yugoslavia, inhabited by 2.1 million people, 90% of which
are Albanians, 8% Serbs and 2% others. Kosova is an area of 4,201 square miles (10,877
square kilometers), located in the south of what used to be Yugoslavia. In the former
Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), from the year 1974 Kosova was a constitutive
autonomous province of the federation. Even though, also during those 15 years a
discrimination law in every field was applied on Albanians, which made Kosova as a real
example of apartheid in Europe. Just as example: more than 80% of political prisoners in
the former FRY were Albanians. However, in 1989, two years after Slobodan Milosevic came
at the helm of Serbian politics with his dictatorship policies, he violently and
unconstitutionally dissolved the Kosova Parliament and practically occupied Kosova,
stripping its autonomy. He did this with the help from the Yugoslav Army and police. The
illegal suspension of the autonomous status of Kosova led to wide scale protests in
Kosova, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets. Even though these
protests were peaceful, the Serb military regime violently crushed them. From March 1989
until February 1990, more than 70 Albanians were killed and hundreds were injured and
tortured in Serb prisons. The members of the Kosova (unconstitutionally resolved)
parliament, after a few sessions, in July 2, 1990, unanimously voted and declared Kosova a
Republic within the Yugoslav Federation. In September 7 of the same year, the Kosova
Constitution was approved. Following these two events the Serb police became increasingly
brutal in punishing Albanians. The Serb Government shut down the Prishtina Radio and
Television (RTP). The Albanian daily newspaper "Rilindja" was banned. Hundreds
of thousands of Albanians were fired from their jobs when they refused to sign
"loyalty oaths" to Serbia. Those fired included doctors and other hospital
staff. In September 1991, a popular referendum where 99 percent of the voters (89 percent
of Kosova's eligible voters) declared the independence of Kosova. In May 24 of the
following year (1992), the first parliamentary elections were held. After the elections,
Kosova formed its parallel institutions. Even though all the actions in the last few years
were peaceful, the Serb authorities have killed more than 200 Albanian people since 1991.
APPEAL FOR SUPPORT
The following are some of the ways you can help the University Students, their movement
and generally people of Kosova as well:
1. Write petitions and support messages for the nonviolent, peaceful protests of the
students of the University of Prishtina, and for the global Albanian nonviolent movement
in Kosova. 2. Write letters of protest to the
Serb dictator Slobodan Milosevic.
3. Write letters to the U.S. government and President Bill
Clinton and to other western capitals explaining the alarming situation in Kosova.
4. Write similar letters, to UN, EU, OSCE, Amnesty
International, Helsinki Watch, Red Cross etc.
5. Write letters to NATO to stop Serbian attacks on Albanian
civilians by positioning its troops in Kosova or by using other military actions.
6. Write letters to the Security Council of UN to bring back
all the possible political and economical sanctions (embargo) to Serbia and Serbian
regime.
7. Write letters to the Hague Tribunal, and request from them
to begin the procedure to send Milosevic and other war criminals to the international
court.
8. Write in your local papers about the situation in Kosova,
about UP and about the education in the Albanian language in Kosova in general.
9. Write to the U.S. and other Western media centers and ask
them to monitor the protests and events in Kosova.
10. Collect humanitarian aid for the people of Kosova.
11. Create NGO networks to support and help our struggle.
12. Send books and other professional materials (university
textbooks) in English language to the students of UP.
13. Send different books for nonviolent movements around the
world since there is a lack of this kind of material in UP.
14. Send to us Hypertext PDF, Postscript and all other
electronic format books and literature, technical documentation and educational software
etc. to advance the studies in the UP.
15. Organize protests in the schools you attend/teach.
16. Organize round table discussions about Kosova, where
local journalists would be invited too.
17. Exchange students with UP.
18. Send student delegations to monitor the protests and/or
see the conditions in which the UP functions.
19. Have lectures and discussion panels in your
school/university about education in Kosova.
UNIVERSITY OF PRISHTINA STUDENTS INDEPENDENT UNION
Tel&Fax: ++381 38 533 843 e-mail: upsup@albanian.com
Prishtina, July 20, 1998 |
