From kosova at jps.net Fri Dec 17 12:05:59 1999 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:05:59 -0800 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 001 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 001, December 13, 1999 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week of December 5, 1999. ========================================== THIS WEEKS TOPICS: ========================================== Amnesty International: 12-year prison sentence for Kosovo doctor is outrageous Alice Mead: Update on Detained Minors Reuters: U.S. asks Serbs to free Kosovo Albanian doctor Sudee Jacquot Marsh : Personal Narrative of OSCE BBC: Kosovans demand Serbian prison releases Independent Digital (UK) Ltd.: Lawyer detained by Serbs vanishes Washington Post Foreign Service: Kosovo's Youth Blamed For Brutal Ethnic Crimes ========================================== QUOTE OF THE WEEK: ========================================== Flora Brovina's husband, Ajri Begu, age 48: "It was not Flora who was put on trial, it was the medical profession. It was a trial against all brave people, humanists, who stood in the way of the regime." ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY): 12-year prison sentence for Kosovo doctor is outrageous December 10, 1999 After an unfair trial, a Serbian court sitting in Nis yesterday sentenced an ethnic Albanian medical doctor to 12 years' imprisonment on charges of "association for the purposes of hostile activity" in connection with "terrorism". Amnesty International believes the authorities are making an example of Dr Flora Brovina and is calling for her release. Although the written judgment has yet to be issued, Amnesty International's information indicates that the charges against Dr Brovina are without foundation. Dr Brovina was accused of assisting the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), by supplying medicines, treating wounded KLA fighters, and helping to supply them with uniforms. The activities were allegedly carried out in Pristina (Prishtina) from her clinic and the office of the League of Albanian women, an association which she helped found in 1992. In court she denied any connection with KLA. Reports of the trial indicate that the evidence produced against her was weak and consisted primarily of self-incriminating statements which she signed under duress. During the trial she withdrew the statements and stated that she had been interrogated 18 times after her arrest in Pristina in April while the Kosovo conflict was at its height. Sometimes Dr Brovina was questioned from morning to late afternoon without food. She complained that during the period of interrogation she was suffering from angina and on one occasion she was hit on the head by police. Other evidence reportedly consisted of testimony from one witness, photocopied documents and a photograph of Dr Brovina with a man in KLA uniform, whom she stated she met by chance as he was the husband of a friend. During yesterday's hearing the court accepted the prosecutor's amendment of the indictment to include stiffer penalties which apply in time of war. According to the authorities some 1,900 other ethnic Albanians are detained in Serbian prisons. Some have already been sentenced in unfair trials after having statements extracted from them under torture, while others await trials which are also likely to be unfair. ========================================== ALICE MEAD Update on Detained Minors December 09, 1999 According to the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in Belgrade, twenty five of the Albanian children who were held for five months in Serb prisons have so far been released. The Albanian lawyer, Teki Bokshi, was active in obtaining releases for nineteen of the children upon furnishing proof of their ages. In the process of working on the children's cases, two more Albanian boys were discovered in Pozahrevac Penitentiary. The prison judge has stated that they too will be released when their birth certificates arrive. HLC credits international support as helping greatly in obtaining freedom for the imprisoned children who ranged in age from thirteen to seventeen years old. ========================================== REUTERS U.S. asks Serbs to free Kosovo Albanian doctor December 09, 1999 WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The United States urged the Serbian authorities to reconsider the conviction of prominent Kosovo Albanian activist Flora Brovina, sentenced on Thursday to 12 years in jail for "terrorism." "The United States has been steadfast in condemning the proceedings against Dr. Brovina," said James Dobbins, U.S. special adviser for Kosovo and Dayton implementation. "This action is an example of the bankruptcy that faces the Serbian state and the rule of law in Serbia. We understand that the court proceedings in and of themselves were severely flawed. We urge Belgrade to reconsider this conviction," he told a briefing on ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. "We will do everything we can, both to track and inform ourselves of her condition and to alleviate it, and ultimately to get her release," he added. Brovina, a doctor, humanitarian worker and poet, was well-known as a leader of women's groups distributing humanitarian aid and an organiser of protests against Serb rule in the province, which is now under U.N. and NATO control. The court in the town of Nis tried Brovina on a charge of "association for hostile activities related to terrorism, carried out during the state of war." The prosecution said she helped the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army. Her case was one of dozens now being brought against hundreds of Kosovo Albanians arrested during the NATO air strikes on Serbia between March and June this year. Dobbins said the United States insisted that the Belgrade authorities account for, release and return to Kosovo thousands of Kosovar Albanians that they are holding. The United States believes the number of Kosovo Albanian detainees inside Serbia is at least 2,000, he added. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited ========================================== PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF OSCE CONFERENCE by Sudee Jacquot Marsh Prishtina December 09, 1999 December 10, International Human Rights Day, honored here in Kosova for the first time by an OSCE sponsored International Human Rights Conference. Yesterday was Flora Brovina?s third hearing and I didn?t know the outcome as it wasn?t on any international news. I watched and I was unable to get through to Ajri Begu. So, I only found out about her 12 year prison sentence when I was in the crowd undergoing a security protocol for the conference. When I found out from a Kosovar conference attendee, I was stunned, couldn?t believe it. I felt like turning around and leaving, to be anywhere else than this conference with the subject matter now feeling like a farce. Instead, I stayed and registered, hoping this group would at least be a forum for addressing the issue of Kosovar citizens imprisoned or missing in Yugoslavia for purely political reasons. I saw many of my Kosovar women friends who are and have been activists for human rights issues, although none so well know as Dr. Flora Brovina. They seemed sad but contained. The first speaker, Bernard Kouchner, started his speech by quoting from Mary Robinson that today was not a day for celebration. He brought up the atrocity of Flora?s sentence and asked for us to stand for a moment of silence to honor all the victims of the war and 10 year repression. He went on to emphasize the sad state of human rights in the world today mentioning Chechnya and Sierra Leone among numerous other countries. The second speaker was Daan Everts, Ambassador, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the UN, and OSCE Head of Mission in Kosova. He also was an effective speaker acknowledging the pain and losses Kosovars had suffered during the last decade. He talked about Flora and her courageous work assisting women and children in Kosova. He stated though that a just war was not fought to win an unjust peace, and the need to establish a culture of human rights. The two keynote speakers were less inspiring and spent a lot of time blaming about Kosovars responsibility to be tolerant and stop their own violence against their ethnic minorities. All of this acceptable when personalized by acknowledging what Kosovars have gone through but a bit irritating when so academic and theoretical. It got a bit much for me, so I left. Outside of the conference which was at the Government Building, crowds were forming and a march was beginning. What looked to crest at tens of thousands of sad peaceful protesters marched and held banners up reminding us all about those Kosovars missing or imprisoned in Serbian prisons. Old women with pictures of husbands and sons and young people with pictures of fathers and brothers. I saw Uranik at the head of one procession with a sign saying free my mother. He is Flora?s 21 year old son and he proceeded over to greet me and counsel me to not give up hope. He couldn?t enlighten me to where his father was and I was unable to locate him in the masses of protesters. At 6 pm I finally was able to see Ajri Begu at his home. He was exhausted and pale. He told me that the Serbian judge had called forth the reported witness from Montenegro to Flora?s crimes. The witness refused to say anything and Ajri became convinced that Flora would be released. Instead, the judge dropped the charge of article 136 and added the charge of 139 which is more specific to crimes during war and carries a longer maximum sentence. When he announced the sentence of 12 years, Ajri found himself clapping because the whole trial was such a farce and he couldn?t stand pretending any longer. He reports that Flora remained strong and said whatever she did she would do again as it was her job to heal and care for the sick and wounded. By that time it was 3 PM and too late for Ajri to be allowed to visit Flora for his regular every two week half hour visit. He had to return to Kosova for urgent meetings the next day on financial issues with people for the World Bank. One of Flora?s sister, who had traveled from Turkey for the trial, remained to try and visit Flora the next day. A day of Human Rights as usual in Milosevic Yugoslavia! ========================================== BBC Kosovans demand Serbian prison releases December 10, 1999 Thousands of people have demonstrated in the Kosovan capital Pristina to call for the release of prisoners held in Serbia since the end of the war. Holding up pictures of political prisoners and people still missing, the protesters rallied outside the province's first human rights conference. They called on international officials to act on behalf of the 1,700 people they believe are being held in Serb prisons. The head of the United Nation's administration in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, said the hearts of all UN staff and international delegates at the conference were with the detainees. He also warned that ongoing violence in Kosovo "affects all ethnic groups". The head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, Daan Everts, called on Kosovans to testify against crimes committed by any ethnic group. "The just war was not fought for an unjust peace," he said. The case of Dr Brovina Many demonstrators held signs calling for the release of Flora Brovina, a human rights activist sentenced on Thursday in Serbia to 12 years in prison. Dr Brovina, whose case has been taken on by Human Rights Watch and the US State Department, has become a symbol for those trying to win the release of prisoners held in Serbia. Her son, Uranik Begu, insisted that his family and other human rights activists would continue to press for her release. "For me personally, this was a case against conscience, against freedom, against the stability of the region," he said. Dr Brovina, a 50-year-old paediatrician, was accused of joining groups "with a view to carrying out terrorist activities" in support of Kosovo's campaign for independence. Her case was also raised inside the conference hall. Mr Everts said: "I call upon all those at this conference to condemn this and other outrages against human rights; to remember that oppression left unchecked will not cease, and finally to remember that the role of a human rights defender is never an easy one. "Those like Flora Brovina who stand so bravely against oppression must be encouraged and protected and supported," he said. Criticism of K-For One of the banners held up at the rally read: "The Albanian in the prisons are hanging between life and death. Act." "What are K-For doing here? Our children don't need the toys the world gives them, they need their parents," one of the demonstrators, 45-year-old Ferdeze Mullahasani, said. "K-For could get our people back if they wanted to," said Luan Zogaj, whose brother is jailed in Serbia. ========================================== INDEPENDENT DIGITAL (UK) LTD. Lawyer detained by Serbs vanishes By Laura Rozen in Pristina December 08, 1999 Concern is mounting for a leading Kosovo human rights lawyer detained by Serb police and held incommunicado. In an ominous sign that those working to uphold the law in Serbia are in growing danger, Teki Bokshi, who was representing many of the 2,000 ethnic Albanians held in Serbian jails, was arrested five days ago by plain-clothes police and taken away in mysterious circumstances. One of his colleagues received a phone call from Mr Bokshi a day after his disappearance but the call was cut off and nothing has been heard of him since. The Serbian Ministry of the Interior has failed to respond to requests for information. Mr Bokshi, a Kosovo Albanian lawyer, was working for the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC), a human-rights organisation in Belgrade. The United Nations special rapporteur for human rights, Jiri Dienstbier, and Amnesty International sounded the alarm among the international community and human rights activists about Mr Bokshi's arrest. Barbara Davis, the representative to former Yugoslavia for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: "The special rapporteur has asked the Serbian authorities if they would explain Bokshi's whereabouts and help resolve his arbitrary detention. I hope this situation will not lead to a setback for all detainees." Amnesty International said it was "seriously concerned for Mr Bokshi's safety", and urged people to send letters to President Slobodan Milosevic. Two lawyers, Ibish Hoti, and Mustafa Radoniqi, were with Mr Bokshi when he was arrested. The trio had met Kosovo Albanian detainees jailed in the southern town of Mitrovica. They were driving the 130 miles back to Belgrade when, 10 miles from the capital, they were ordered to pull over by a man in a grey Mercedes that had official Ministry of Interior licence plates. Three men, in plain clothes, got out of the Mercedes and took the keys of the lawyers' car from the driver. They ordered Mr Bokshi to accompany them back to his Belgrade hotel to pick up his identity documents. When alerted, Natasa Kandic, the executive director of the HLC, issued a request to the Serbian Ministry of Justice for information on why Mr Bokshi was being held. Yesterday, she had still not received any information. Ms Kandic said she received a phone call from Mr Bokshi on Saturday, the day after his disappearance. According to Ms Kandic, Mr Bokshi said "I am here", before the phone was cut. Ms Kandic says she doesn't know where "here" is. For those who have met Mr Bokshi, the arrest of this most moderate figure is a particular outrage. He is one of the rare individuals who inhabits the increasingly narrow common ground where Serbs and Albanians come together to fight for human rights. Greying, mild-mannered Mr Bokshi worked side by side with colleagues from all ethnic groups. He was instrumental in winning the release last month of 19 Kosovo Albanian children, aged 13-17, being held in Serbian prisons. He was due to defend 28 Kosovars being held in President Milosevic's home town, Pozarevac, tomorrow. According to Ms Kandic, the 28 were taken by Serbian police from a convoy of refugees trying to flee the province during Nato air strikes. "We had expected them to be released since they were all taken from a civilian refugee column," Ms Kandic said. "But now that Bokshi has been arrested, we don't know." The trial of the prominent Kosovo pediatrician, leader of the Kosovar League of Women and human rights activist Flora Brovina is also due to resume tomorrow in the southern Serbian city of Nis. Ms Brovina's trial, which began last month, has helped to raise international attention to the issue of the thousands of Kosovo Albanians being held in Serbian jails, many of whom have not been charged. Some 300 Kosovo Albanians have been released from Serb jails since June, but almost 2,000 are still confirmed as held. A Western official said it appeared that hundreds more were being held by "non-state actors", who were demanding ransom money of up to $50,000 (?30,000) per head for their release. The Western official confirmed that a "prisoners market" was active north-east of Podujevo, near Kosovo's provincial border with Serbia. Ethnic Albanians were encouraged to pay middle men to secure the release of Kosovo Albanians, who were often not released after the payment. ? 1999 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd. ========================================== WASHINGTON POST FOREIGN SERVICE Kosovo's Youth Blamed For Brutal Ethnic Crimes By R. Jeffrey Smith Monday, December 6, 1999 VIENNA, Dec. 5-When President Clinton visited Kosovo two weeks ago to speak to a hand-picked audience of parents and schoolchildren, he made a special plea for ethnic tolerance by the province's youths. They should, he said, be spared the burden of their parents' blind ethnic hatred. But on the streets of Kosovo's major cities, human rights monitors have discovered that children are already caught up in the cycle of enmity. Many of the worst acts of ethnic violence in the Serbian province are being committed by children and teenagers, with the resulting burden of tensions and disorder falling on adults, according to a comprehensive study released here today. The report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe cited numerous cases of violence by youths, including 30 grenade attacks on Serbian homes in the city of Lipljan in July and August by a gang of youths between 14 and 20; the stabbing of an elderly Serbian man by a 17-year-old on Sept. 14 in the same city; and the beating of a Serb on the main street of the capital Pristina by five boys aged 10 to 12 on Oct. 26. "The future of Kosovo lies with its children," said Bernard Kouchner, the top U.N. official in Kosovo, in a statement accompanying the report. "Yet one of the most alarming trends documented in the report is the increasing participation of juveniles in human rights violations. We read . . . of case after case of young people, some only 10 or 12 years old, harassing, beating, and threatening people, especially defenseless elderly victims, solely because of their ethnicity." The targeting of elderly Serbs by ethnic Albanians is another troubling trend identified by the OSCE, which employed 75 people to collect witness's accounts of human rights abuses since NATO forces entered the province and Yugoslav troops began to withdraw on June 14. The study represents the most comprehensive survey of the subject to date, and in many cases contains far more detailed and candid accounts of individual incidents of violence than officials of the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo have been willing to disclose. The overall picture provided by the 332-page report is of a territory filled with "lawlessness that has left violence unchecked . . . [in which] impunity has reigned instead of justice." The fault lies with the inability of relevant institutions in Kosovo to follow up reports of human rights abuses with credible investigations that can assign responsibility, the report states. "For anyone who wants to engage in kidnapping," it says for example, "the chances of detection and arrest are remote." Great pains were taken by the OSCE--a group of 55 nations, including European countries, the United States, Canada and the former republics of the Soviet Union--to distinguish between postwar human rights abuses in Kosovo and what it described as the more serious, sustained and systematic abuses perpetrated by the Yugoslav government in Kosovo over a long period before the war ended. The Yugoslav abuses are documented in a separate 433-page report with chapters describing what the OSCE calls the frequent and often arbitrary use of torture, rape, kidnapping, arson, pillaging and other forms of persecution as instruments of Yugoslav government policy. Serbia is the dominant republic of Yugoslavia. Among the frequent victims of this "extreme and appalling" violence were children, young men, women, the wealthy, the elderly and the handicapped, the report states. "For at least a decade, there was a systematic policy of apartheid . . . for Albanians in Kosovo," Kouchner said. The crimes now being committed by ethnic Albanians against Serbs, he added, "are the acts of individuals." Moreover, the report alleges that Yugoslav government abuses are continuing, noting the reported detention of as many as 5,000 ethnic Albanian residents of Kosovo in unheated and unsanitary prisons in northern Serbia. Most were bused from Kosovo near the end of the war and are facing trials on charges related to the war. But OSCE officials also found what they called "a disturbing pattern of involvement" in acts of ethnically motivated violence by men dressed in uniforms of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), known in Albanian as the UCK, who identified themselves as members of the group. Before the war, the rebel group targeted policemen and other Yugoslav security forces in a guerrilla war meant to secure Kosovo's independence from Yugoslavia; during the war, the rebels staged raids against Yugoslav forces with advice from the West. After the war, the rebel group was officially disbanded, and a substantial portion of its members registered to join a Kosovo national guard. "The report is littered with witness statements testifying to UCK involvement" in kidnappings, detentions and interrogations after the war, the OSCE said. In some cases, the rebels blamed impostors, but in others, witnesses who knew the assailants testified to involvement by the rebels in kidnappings, illicit tax collection and intimidation or eviction of Serbs and Gypsies in western Kosovo. The motivation for some of the violence appears to be political. The report "reveals that opposition to the new order, particularly the former UCK's dominance . . . or simply a perceived lack of commitment [by citizens] to the UCK cause, has led to intimidation and harassment," the OSCE said. Officials of the Democratic League of Kosovo, the rebel group's principal political rival, have been kidnapped, murdered, targeted in grenade attacks, accused of disloyalty or told bluntly to withdraw from politics in at least half a dozen cities--in some cases by men who claimed to be members of the rebel group. The motives behind other violence documented in the report are simply criminal. The robbery of Serbs by armed ethnic Albanians is becoming commonplace, just as it was commonplace for Yugoslav troops to stop and rob ethnic Albanians. But ethnic Albanian shopkeepers and restaurants "appear to be blackmailed on a regular basis," the report states. Ethnic Albanians have also sought to extort ransom fees from relatives of some Serbs who disappeared, even though those kidnapped had already been slain. Businessmen have been ordered to pay illegal taxes to a provisional ethnic Albanian government led by the KLA, and virtually all of the province's operating factories have been brought under KLA control to ensure jobs and profits for supporters of the provisional government. But much of the remaining violence has been motivated by revenge for Serbian atrocities during NATO's 11-week campaign of bombing in Yugoslavia last spring, which drove hundreds of thousands of people out of the province. The report notes that violence motivated by revenge has moved through three phases. During the first stage, violence was mostly directed at suspected participants in atrocities. Next, suspected collaborators, such as gravediggers or those who stayed in Kosovo without being persecuted during the war, were targeted. Now, virtually all Serbs and ethnic Albanians who stayed behind are likely targets of violence and retribution, due to a widespread presumption of collective guilt. For instance, ethnic Albanians who found their power lines cut and many of their schools destroyed in the war are now denying electric power to Serbian enclaves and blocking access to schooling for Serbian children. In explaining the involvement of youths in human rights abuses, some schoolteachers and psychologists working in Kosovo have noted that many schoolchildren have reacted to atrocities they witnessed during the war by becoming preternaturally aggressive, a common phenomenon in such instances. "Many were witnesses as their parents were killed, or they watched other people being killed," the OSCE report states. "It may take years for the children who lived through the conflict to overcome the traumas they have undergone." One of the more compelling indications of some centralized planning and organization behind at least some of the postwar murders can be found in a shallow grave near the village of Podgradje, near Gnjilane in the sector policed by U.S. troops, the OSCE said. Fourteen bodies were discovered in or near the grave in July, August and October. All are thought to be Serbs who were kidnapped in small groups from at least three villages and killed elsewhere before being dumped in Podgradje, a scenario that suggests careful planning and considerable freedom of action by a well-organized and centrally directed group, according to OSCE officials. ? Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company ========================================== Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 001 ### From kosova at jps.net Mon Dec 20 21:12:33 1999 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 18:12:33 -0800 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 002 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No.002, December 20, 1999 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week of December 12, 1999. ========================================== A-PAL STATEMENT: ========================================== Despite massive demonstrations in Prishtina last week, a European Summit on Human Rights, an OSCE Conference on Human Rights in Kosova, repeated statements from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch about the legal violations and political control of trials, and an outpouring of international outrage over the Flora Brovina sentencing to 12 years in prison, no major organization such as the UN, NATO, OSCE, or European Parliament has yet to make a public statement, nor set a course of action for resolving the issue of the 1,900 Kosovar prisoners in Serb prisons, who have now been detained for over seven months. ========================================== THIS WEEKS TOPICS: ========================================== Women in Black: Words of Flora Brovina KosovaPress: The International Human Rights Conference in Kosova has ended its sessions KosovaPress: Protest in Kamenica, demanding the release of Albanian Political Prisoners Radio 21: U.S. Official Interviewed in Pristina The Balkan Action Council: Week in Review Laura Kay Rozen: Teki Bokshi Released HRW: Belgrade Tries Ethnic Albanian Students for ?Terrorism?, Defendants Allege Torture AFP: Trial resumes of six Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism Recommended Action: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), London ========================================== QUOTES OF THE WEEK: ========================================== Mr. Kouchner , December 16, 1999, also appealed for extra police to investigate the disappearance of an estimated 4,000 to 7,000 missing Kosovo Albanians, some of whom he said had been "kidnapped" from their beds by the Serb secret police. His "hundreds of letters" to Belgrade on their fate remained unanswered..."Where are they?" he demanded. Human Rights Watch executive director Holly Cartner, December 16, 1999, on the trial of 5 Albanian students charged with terrorism. ?Allegations of torture and a lack of evidence have marred a political trial against five ethnic Albanian students in Belgrade.? Holly Cartner, Dec. 16, 1999 -- "This trial is proceeding at the whim of Serbian political authorities, not the facts of the case. This is the pattern we've seen again and again in such trials against ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. We will call on the court to resist political pressure and to judge this case on the basis of facts. This is an opportunity to re-impose the rule of law in Serbia's judicial system." ========================================== WEEK?S REQUESTED ACTION: ========================================== Contact your country?s secretary of state to bring resolution to this intolerable issue of the illegally detained Kosovar Political Prisoners. For those in the United States, please send your letters to: secretary at state.gov ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== WORDS OF FLORA BROVIINA, TRIAL IN NIS December 09, 1999 On this trial Flora Brovina, Albanian poet and medical doctor, was sentenced to 12 years of inprisonment by serbian authorities. This is what she said: "I dedicated my whole life to children and children do not choose their ethnicity, children do not know what ethnicity they are if their parents do not tell them. With my patients, I have never divided them according to their ethnicity, according to religion or the ideological choice of their parents. I feel proud because of this and even if I was not an Albanian woman I would have done the same thing. I am one of the persons most involved in humanitarian work in Kosovo; I have sacrificed my health in order to help women and children. If I were free, I would have had much work, I would help those that are suffering more now; now it is not Albanian s that are suffering the most, now it is others, and I would work with all my strength in order to help them, Serb, Roma people. My duty has been to dedicate myself also as a woman, as a doctor, as a poet to the emancipation of the Albanian woman, to her consciousness, to women's human rights, to help them fight for their freedom, to understand that without independence economics cannot succeed nor can freedom. In the League for Albanian Women, I have created bridges of friendship in the country and in the whole world. We have cooperated the most with Serbian women. Serbian women have given me the strongest support, perhaps they knew our problems best, and they have presented our problems best. The Albanian women of Kosovo should never forget this. I am very sorry that the court underestimates the role of women in the world. It is very important that women enjoy the same equality as men. I will never renounce the right to fight for the rights of women. I will always fight for women's rights. What the court has accused me of having fought for the secession of Kosovo and the annexation of Albania, I repeat: My country is where my friends are and where my poems are read. My poems are read in Switzerland, India, Brazil, Poland, in each of these countries it is as if I am in their own house. My poems have been published in the Encyclopedia of Poets of Yugoslavia (ex-Yugoslavia) and it is something very important for Albanian women. The Albanian community has never behaved in this manner with their neighbors, women, and children. Right now in Kosovo, they have gone back to revenge at the end of the twentieth century. I am very sorry for not being free, for being in jail, for not being able to influence more what is happening now in Kosovo, for not being able to do more to lend a hand, to help those that are expelled, displaced. I believe that they will do it as if I were with them; I hope that they will make it because they are women, I hope that they behave in a just manner. I would do anything for them so that they could return to their houses, I would do anything so that the Serbian community and the Albanians reconcile. The intellectuals of Kosovo should give their support to reconciliation, other communities have also fought, they have made even larger wars between each other and now they have reconciled." Flora left the court walking slowly; the police showed with harsh and arrogant words to the family and friends of Flora that they were not permitted to have any contact with her. Flora's two sisters that arrived from Kosovo, the poet Radmila Lazic, and I went to accompany Flora up to the police car. For a moment, we succeeded in putting the palms of our hands on the window of the police car. At that moment one of the policemen said with an insolent voice, "She's in safe hands. . ." Two policemen were in the front seat of the vehicle. Before my eyes surged imprisoned women: Leyla Zana, Kurdish, imprisoned in Turkey, Rigoberta Menchu, Aung Suun Ki . .. . . We waved goodbye to Flora until the police vehicle was gone, while we could see it. I was in a state of "black shame," as Ana Ahmatova says, because each one of us could have been on her place. Stasa Zajovic Women in Black Belgrade, 14. December 99 ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS The International Human Rights Conference in Kosova has ended its sessions December 12, 1999 Prishtin? - The International Human Rights Conference in Kosova, last night has ended its two- day sessions. In the last part of the Conference, in the special sections have been discussed about the Albanian Political prisoners who are still kept in the Serb Jails throughout Serbia. During the discussions, it was appealed in the International Community to do more for the release of the Albanian prisoners, to end the tortures and the maltreatment towards them. The participants said that the International mechanisms must do more pressure to the Serb Regime in Belgrade to release the hostages that are kept in the jails. One mother from the city of Gjakova demanded from the UNMIK KFOR and OSCE to do something for the release of the political prisoners because as she said that now when the war is ended, instead the photos of her sons, she wants to see her sons alive. The participants also discussed about the women's rights, as they contain 50% of the general population in the society. In the end of the Conference Mr. Dan Evers said that the conference has ended its sessions in a very positive way particularly, because in the conference have taken part all the Albanian Political leaders of the parties in Kosova and after such devastated experience. The Conference ended the work with the final speech of the symbol of the resistance of the Albanian people, Mr. Adem Dema?i, who has suffered the sentence in the Serb prison for 28 years. ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Protest in Kamenica, demanding the release of Albanian Political Prisoners December 13, 1999 Prishtin? - At least 7000 Albanian Political Prisoners are being held in the Serb jails, so for that in the city of Kamenica, about 1500 citizen took part in the protest to demand the release of the Albanian prisoners. They appealed with the strong voice to the International Community to do something for the release of the hostages who are kept in the Serb prisons throughout Serbia. To the protestors have spoken the young student Mrs. Pashie Ramabaja and Mr. Shefik Sadiku, the head of the Political Prisoner Association and Mr. Ismet Shabani, the head of the Organizing Protest Council in Kamenica. The protestors have held in their hands the transparences in which have been written " Release the baby who was born in prison! ", " Release the humanist Flora Brovina!", " Release Shpejtim Krasni?i, Ze?ir Lenjani, Nait Hasani, Avni Klinaku etc." "NATO, UN, OSCE, UNMIK, release our brothers and sisters" ========================================== Transcript: U.S. Official Interviewed in Pristina by Radio 21 13 December 1999 (Chief of Mission Rossin on ethnic crime, street crime, other issues) (4550) (...) Q: (phone in): This is Aurita from Pristina. I have a question for your guest. How much work is being done for the release of prisoners who are still in Serbian jails? And is anything known about professor Ukshin Hoti? And what is happening to Dr. Flora Brovina and Albin Kurti and many, many others? A: Thank you very much, Aurita, for that question. It's one that preoccupies us every day as well. As you might imagine, with the state of relations between Washington and Belgrade, our own access to information and influence in Belgrade is limited. Nevertheless, we have undertaken various diplomatic efforts with other countries and with the International Red Cross, to find out about the fate of these people and press for their release. Certainly from the United States' perspective there could be no consideration of lifting sanctions against Belgrade, or anything else as long as this situation has not been resolved. The International Red Cross has done valuable work in trying to identify many of the people and I think that they've identified almost 2,000 people being held in prisons in Serbia. At the same time that leaves questions about the fate of many other people completely unanswered, and nobody has been able until now to answer those questions. That includes obviously people like Professor Hoti, and the other people that you mentioned, Albin Kurti and Flora Brovina. We understand there may be a trial in Serbia of Flora Brovina. Such a trial has no legitimacy in our viewpoint. Again, our influence is limited. But let me assure you that we'll continue to work with all the means at our disposal to find out the fate of these people and to try and bring them back to Kosovo, safe and sound. (...) The entire transcript may be found: http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/geog/eu &f=99121307.wwe&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml ========================================== BALKAN WATCH ? WEEK IN REVIEW The Balkan Action Council December 7 - 14, 1999 (...) KOSOVO VIOLENCE. On Monday UNMIK head Bernard Kouchner and KFOR commander Gen. Klaus Reinhardt revealed a new package of law enforcement measures designed to curtail lawlessness and establish a functioning legal system. Measures included the appointment of 400 new judges and prosecutors, as well as increased numbers of KFOR patrols. International police announced Thursday that they are investigating the execution style murder of an Albanian citizen near Belopoje. A previously unknown group called the National Eagles claimed responsibility for the execution, alleging the man had confessed to involvement in 42 kidnappings. Wednesday a mob of 100 Serbs stormed a prison in Zubin Potok and freed a captive Serb. The U.N. reported a similar incident in Gracanica on December 3. The State Department released a report on ethnic cleansing Thursday estimating that Serbian forces killed 10,000 Kosovo Albanians during the conflict. The report stated that 1.5 million Albanians were driven from their homes and that 2,000 remain in Serbian prisons. The findings correspond with the estimates given by other international investigations. Aconvention of human rights organizations met in Pristina on Friday under OSCE auspices and condemned violence against Kosovo Serbs and Roma, while thousands of Albanians marched outside the meeting, calling for the release of Kosovo Albanians held in Serb prisons. Canadian soldiers confiscated a cache of KLA weapons near Komorane on Thursday. A Polish officer was killed and four others were wounded when a grenade exploded after a weapons search near the Macedonian border on Saturday. (...) Full review may be found at: http://www.balkanaction.org/bw/bw2-49.html ========================================== LAURA KAY ROZEN Teki Bokshi Released December 16, 1999 Teki Bokshi was released today by five kidnappers, after Bokshi's family paid 100,000 DM. The Belgrade attorney Tomas Stojkovic, formerly of Pristina, arranged the deal, he said to save Bokshi's life. Bokshi said he had five kidnappers, some seemed to him to be Bosnian Serbs, one was an official policeman, but was thought to be working in a "private capacity." Bokshi was kept for ten days on the floor of a bathroom in a private flat in Serbia, with his hands tied, and was fed every other day or so. He is said to be physically okay. Now he'd like to return to Gjakova and be with his family. The attorney Stojkovic told Natasa *not* to inform the police about the ransom payment, but she informed both the Serbian police and the international police. International police accompanied Teki's wife when she paid the ransom. Why was Teki arrested and not the other two? Still, Kandic thinks because he is from Gjakova, where people are believed to have a lot of money. ========================================== HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Belgrade Tries Ethnic Albanian Students for ?Terrorism?, Defendants Allege Torture December 16, 1999 (New York, December 16, 1999)?Allegations of torture and a lack of evidence have marred a political trial against five ethnic Albanian students that resumed today in Belgrade, Human Rights Watch said. The five male defendants, all of them students at Belgrade University, are charged with terrorism and anti-state activities due to their alleged involvement with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). They testified in court that they had been tortured to extract confessions. The trial in Belgrade District Court, under way since late November, has failed to produce any credible evidence against the accused, said Human Rights Watch, which has been monitoring the proceedings. "This trial is proceeding at the whim of the Serbian political authorities, not on the facts of the case," said Holly Cartner, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "This is the pattern we've seen again and again in such trials against ethnic Albanians from Kosovo." Petrit Berisha (age 30), his brother Driton Berisha (age 27), Driton Meqa (age 28), Shkodran Derguti (age 32), and Isam Abdulahu (age 32) were arrested by Serbian police between April 29 and May 11, 1999, in Belgrade, and held incommunicado until the beginning of July, when they were brought before an investigating judge. They face possible prison terms ranging from ten to twenty years. All of them testified that they had been forced to sign confessions?which were then broadcast on the state-run television?after undergoing physical abuse. In response to the students' complaints, presiding judge Dragisa Slijepcevic said: "I would like to ask the journalists and the public in the courtroom: Do you think the police in European countries act differently?" In a positive development, however, today the court refused to accept as evidence self-accusatory statements made by Petrit Berisha in pre-trial proceedings. Yugoslavia has ratified the Convention against Torture, and the Yugoslav Constitution and Penal Code expressly forbid the use of force to obtain a statement or a confession from the accused. Article 233 of the Yugoslav Criminal Procedure Code states that court decisions cannot be based solely on a defendant's confession. The defendants face charges of conspiracy for enemy activities. Between February 1998 and April 1999, they are alleged to have collected money from ethnic Albanians in Belgrade to purchase weapons, ammunition, and propagandistic material for the KLA. The indictment also charges them with planning terrorist acts in Belgrade during the NATO military intervention against Yugoslavia. Petrit Berisha is also accused of having fought with the KLA in Kosovo in July and August 1998, and of having killed a number of policemen. In the first part of the trial, held on November 23, 25, and 26, the defendants rejected all charges in the indictment. The trial continued today with witness testimonies, and the court's decision is likely to be rendered next January. At the beginning of the trial in November, Judge Slijepcevic, president of the five-member chamber, made several remarks suggesting that a guilty verdict will be rendered regardless of the facts. He told defense attorneys that they were free to complain about any procedural decisions by the court "in the appeal against the judgment," thus implying that the verdict would be against the students. The prosecutor based his case on the fact that several bombs were allegedly discovered by police on May 11 in the apartment of Shkodran Derguti's Serbian girlfriend. In his defense, Derguti explained that four hours had passed between the moment when the police took the apartment keys and the time when the bombs were reportedly discovered. Derguti requested that his fingerprints be taken on the spot, but the police rejected his request. Another piece of evidence offered by the prosecution?a notebook with lists of Albanian names and military instructions?is even more questionable. In court, Petrit Berisha and Shkodran Derguti separately testified that their names were written in the book with a different pen from the one used in the rest of the notebook. They also noted that their names were written improperly, with the Serbian rather than Albanian spelling. "We call on the court to resist political pressure, and to judge this case on the basis of the facts," said Holly Cartner. "This is an opportunity to reimpose the rule of law in Serbia's judicial system." At least 1,700 other ethnic Albanians from Kosovo are currently being held in Serbian prisons, having been transferred out of Kosovo jails just before NATO entered the province. Trials and convictions have been taking place on a regular basis throughout the fall. On December 9, a prominent doctor and women's rights activist, Dr. Flora Brovina, was sentenced to twelve years in prison for anti-state activities. In related news, a well-known human rights lawyer from Kosovo, Teki Bokshi, was released today after thirteen days in police detention. Bokshi was arrested by plain-clothes policemen on December 3, about ten miles outside of Belgrade, as he returned from visiting his ethnic Albanian clients in prison. For more information about political prisoners in Serbia, see the Human Rights Website: http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/kosovo98/index.shtml. See also the website of the Kosova Association of Political Prisoners: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm ========================================== AFP Trial resumes of six Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism December 17, 1999 BELGRADE, Dec 16 (AFP) - The trial of six Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism resumed in a Belgrade court Thursday, with a hearing of witnesses to the police search for evidence, Beta news agency reported. The six defendants are charged with "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and sabotage during a state of war," including setting off explosive devices in public places" in Belgrade, as well as collecting data on police movements." Five of the accused denied the charges at the start of the trial in November, accusing police of forcing a confession from them during questioning. Five defendants, all students at Belgrade University, are appearing in court, while a sixth, Zef Palluca, a silversmith, is being tried in abstentia. If found guilty, they each face up to 20 years' imprisonment. Salko Vujic, a witness who lived in Palluca's flat, told the court Thursday that the police had found several explosive devices during the search, but insisted that this was the first time he had seen them. "The policemen told me they found explosives in the toilet boiler and washing machine, which we have been using every day without incident," Vujic told the court. Another witness, Dragoslava Aleksic, whose flatmate was a friend of one of the defendants, said ten policemen in plain clothes conducted the search, together with two other men described as witnesses. "A man who was presented as witness, came out from the room with two bombs in his bare hands, saying they were found in a vase," Aleksic said. She added that she had cleaned this room in the days before the trial and moved the vase numerous times before. The trial is scheduled to continue on Friday, the agency said, with hearing of another witnesses. The five are among 2,050 ethnic Albanians arrested by Yugoslav authorities. Many are accused of being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, considered a terrorist organisation by Belgrade and officially demilitarised in September. The Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre said that about 150 ethnic Albanians were convicted in October and November and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. Last week, Kosovo Albanian human rights activist Flora Brovina was sentenced to 12 years in prison for "terrorist activities," in a trial condemned by the United States and international human rights groups. Copyright ? 1999 AFP. ========================================== ACTIONS TO TAKE: ========================================== ACTION ALERT UPDATE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA Poet sentenced to twelve years in prison 15 December 1999 SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London **Updates IFEX alerts of 11 November, 9 November, 30 August, 23 June and 30 April 1999** (WiPC/IFEX) - On 9 December 1999, Flora Brovina, an ethnic Albanian poet, pediatrician and women's rights activist, was sentenced to twelve years in prison in a court in Nis, Serbia. International PEN considers Brovina to be convicted solely for her condemnation of Serb human rights abuses in Kosovo, and for her humanitarian work in Pristina before and during the NATO bombardment of Serb forces in the region. It is calling for her release. Brovina was convicted of "terrorism", the key accusation being that she provided medical attention to members of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA). She was also accused of providing uniforms to the KLA. Amnesty International referred to the trial evidence being extremely weak based mainly on statements made by Brovina under duress. On 9 December, she claimed in court that she had been subjected to eighteen sessions of interrogation that lasted from early morning to 5pm, without breaks or food. She said that she was so exhausted that she would have signed anything. She added that her statement made under interrogation had not been read out to her before she signed it. Even a prosecution witness giving evidence at the court admitted that medical material confiscated from Brovina's clinic could have been used in peace-time as well as war, and added that KLA officials had sought and received treatment in Pristina Hospital. The trial has led to widespread condemnation both inside and outside Serbia. Amnesty International condemns the decision as "outrageous" and considers that Brovina is being made an example of by the Serb authorities. The Serbian PEN Centre, which was among a number of local non-governmental organisations and international observers to Brovina's trial, issued a public statement which was carried in the Belgrade daily newspapers "Glas" and "Danas". It referred to the continuing tensions within Kosovo where attacks are being carried out against the remaining Serb population, most notably the murder in late November of Serb professor Dragoslav Basic. Professor Basic was travelling in his car in Pristina with his wife and mother-in-law when he was stopped by a group of ethnic Albanians who dragged him from the vehicle and shot him dead. The two women were also pulled from the car and beaten as ethnic-Albanians stood by. Serbian PEN sees Brovina's conviction as exacerbating the "increasingly difficult position of Serb inhabitants" in Kosovo. It stated that "[Dr Brovina] should not be convicted for carrying out her duty as a doctor. The conviction will not prevent the further persecution of the Serbs in Kosovo but will aggravate their position even more". The Centre called for good will to be put in practice by both sides towards an end to "the spreading of hatred and revenge". It called on the Serb authorities to order Brovina's release. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Send appeals to authorities: - condemning outright the twelve-year sentence against Brovina who is held solely because of her legitimate and non-violent humanitarian activities and for her long-running campaign against Serb abuses in Kosovo - calling for her immediate and unconditional release APPEALS TO: His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic President of Yugoslavia Savezna Skupstina 11000 Belgrade Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Fax: + 381 11 636 775 For those meeting difficulties with this contact number, try: Zivadin Jovanovic Minister of Foreign Affairs Fax: + 381 11 367 2954 PEN also recommends that letters of protest be sent to the Serb embassies in your own countries. Please copy appeals to the source if possible. For further information, contact Sara Whyatt at the WiPC, International PEN, 9/10 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AT, U.K., tel: +44 171 253 3226, fax: +44 171 253 5711, e-mail: intpen at gn.apc.org The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility of WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WiPC. ========================================== Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 002 ### From kosova at jps.net Mon Dec 27 14:56:18 1999 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Mon, 27 Dec 1999 11:56:18 -0800 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 003 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No.003, December 27, 1999 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week of December 19, 1999. ========================================== A-PAL STATEMENT: ========================================== The international community should press harder for the release of Albanian prisoners still detained in Serbia and the arrest of all indicted war criminals throughout the former Yugoslavia. Western governments should also urge members of the Serbian opposition in the FRY, in the interests of peace, justice, and a clean slate for a new, untainted government, to commit to, and even to advocate openly for, the prisoners? release and the arrest of all indictees. The release of all Albanian political prisoners should be among the criteria that must be met before any elections in Serbia or the FRY can be deemed ?free and fair.? " [ICG Balkan Report, No. 83] ========================================== THIS WEEKS TOPICS: ========================================== * Independent Digital (UK) Ltd.: Belgrade's jailing of activist sparks international protest * ICG: Starting from Scratch in Kosovo * Group 484: Serbia, public platform for Brovina's amnesty in Belgrade * KosovaPress: The advocate Teki Bokshi has been released for 100. 000 DM * Reuters: Bitic Says 15 Taken From Homes, Refugee Columns * Reuters: Kosovo Albanians' trial in Serbia a ?farce? -lawyer * HLC: Charges Against Ethnic Albanians Students Not Substantiated By Witness Testimony * The Balkan Action Council: Week in Review * Belgrade Centre For Human Rights: The Association Of Judges Of Serbia * Belgrade Centre For Human Rights: Dismissal of Three Eminent Judges in Serbia * KosovaPress: Four Albanian prisoners were released by serb jails * Gordana Mihajlovic, Judge of the Second Municipal Court in Belgrade: An open letter to Mr. Balsa Govedarica, president of the Supreme Court of Serbia * Associated Press: Kosovo Missing Mire Hopes of Peace * Amnesty International: Six months on, Climate of Violence and Fear flies in the face of UN Mission * Petition by a Belgrade-based NGO: "Going Home ? Idemo Kuci" ========================================== QUOTES OF THE WEEK: ========================================== Natasha Kandic, head of the Humanitarian Law Centre, said: "The sentence against Flora Brovina is a political measure against her [and] clearly has nothing to do with the alleged crime Brovina has committed." Gradimir Nalic, of the Yugoslav Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, said Dr Brovina was "a scapegoat". "The whole process against her," he added, "showed the arrogance of the regime. There was also a message in that for the first time it was not an anonymous, simple ethnic Albanian on trial, but an intellectual, a physician, a human rights activist." Baton Haxhiu, editor of Koha Ditore, said, "Milosevic can say: 'This is how we deal with separatists and terrorists on our soil.' It is also useful in his dealings with the international community - Flora and the rest of the Albanians held in Serbia can be used as bargaining chips as he tries to escape isolation." Nikola Barovic, a Belgrade lawyer, put it: "In Stalin's time one got 10 years for nothing. Here one gets 12." Gordana Mihajlovic, Judge of the Second Municipal Court in Belgrade, said, ?You have put our profession, once respected and admired, in service of daily politics, and deprived it of independence, which it was granted by Constitution and Law.? ========================================== WEEK?S REQUESTED ACTION: ========================================== Voice your concern to the United States Secretary of State, Mrs. Albright at: secretary at state.gov to bring resolution to this intolerable issue of the illegally detained Kosovar Political Prisoners. Attach a copy of the ICG Recommendation with any correspondence. ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== INDEPENDENT DIGITAL (UK) LTD. Belgrade's jailing of activist sparks international protest By Vesna Peric Zimonjic In Belgrade And Raymond Whitaker In Pristina December 19, 1999 The jailing in Serbia of Flora Brovina, an Albanian paediatrician, writer and women's activist, has attracted international protest and highlighted one of the unresolved issues of the Kosovo war ? the estimated 1,500 Albanian political prisoners still held by the Belgrade regime. Dr Brovina, 50, was arrested in Pristina in April and has now been sentenced to 12 years by a court in the Serbian city of Nis for "conspiring to commit hostile acts" and "terrorism" aimed at promoting the independence of Kosovo. The evidence against her included possession of wool donated by Oxfam, which she distributed to displaced Albanian women to knit sweaters. The British-based aid organisation also has projects in Serbia, but as Nikola Barovic, a Belgrade lawyer, put it: "In Stalin's time one got 10 years for nothing. Here one gets 12." Another Serbian legal figure, Natasha Kandic, head of the Humanitarian Law Centre, said: "The sentence against Flora Brovina is a political measure against her [and] clearly has nothing to do with the alleged crime Brovina has committed." Other Serbian opposition groups described her imprisonment as "ethnic revenge", especially after it emerged that both the judge in Dr Brovina's trial, Marina Milanovic, and the prosecutor, Miodrag Surla,come from Kosovo. Both worked in the district court of Pristina, which hurriedly moved to Nis when the Serbian administration withdrew from the province in June. Serbian judges are named by parliament and are considered part of the regime. Although she suffers from health problems - she has high blood pressure and slight paralysis on her left side - Dr Brovina is reported to have refused to lodge an appeal against her sentence. Married to Ajri Begu, who is now an economic adviser to the United Nations administration in Kosovo, she supported herself during her medical studies by writing for magazines, and has published several books of poetry. She is unusual in her generation of Albanian women for her involvement in public affairs - in 1992 she founded the League of Albanian Women in Kosovo to protest against Serbian rule and to provide humanitarian assistance to Albanian women and children. Although she insisted the organisation was non-political, she organised numerous protests. When Serbian forces staged bloody reprisals in the Drenica region early in 1998, she led 20,000 women in a march through Pristina. The Serbian authorities had probably marked Dr Brovina out as an opponent much earlier, however. Her PhD thesis was on a spate of mysterious poisonings in Kosovo in 1990, when thousands of Albanian schoolchildren were sent to hospital with head and stomach pains and vomiting. Some experts blamed mass hysteria, but a UN toxicologist who analysed the victims' blood and urine samples found signs of sarin poisoning. Several years later it emerged that the Yugoslav army had produced the deadly nerve gas. Gradimir Nalic, of the Yugoslav Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, said Dr Brovina was "a scapegoat". "The whole process against her," he added, "showed the arrogance of the regime. There was also a message in that for the first time it was not an anonymous, simple ethnic Albanian on trial, but an intellectual, a physician, a human rights activist." Baton Haxhiu, editor of Koha Ditore, Kosovo's most prominent Albanian-language newspaper, described Dr Brovina as a "hostage" of Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic. "Her imprisonment, with the Serbian elections coming up, helps him to show his people that Kosovo is not lost," he said. "Milosevic can say: 'This is how we deal with separatists and terrorists on our soil.' It is also useful in his dealings with the international community - Flora and the rest of the Albanians held in Serbia can be used as bargaining chips as he tries to escape isolation." ? 1999 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd. ========================================== ICG Balkans Report N? 83: Starting from Scratch in Kosovo December 13, 1999 (Page 10) "Nearly two thousand Albanians are known to be in Serbian prisons, while thousands more have been reported missing;40" "39 As of 15 November 1999, after the release of 343 prisoners, 1,760 Albanian prisoners listed by the Serbian ministries of justice and interior remained in Serbian prisons, according to International Committee for the Red Cross officials in Prishtin?/Pri?tina." "40 Estimates of the numbers of missing range from 2,000 (Humanitarian Law Center) to 5,000 (Association of Political Prisoners, Prishtin?; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva). The Humanitarian Law Center, ICRC officials, and many Albanians believe that most of these people are likely to be dead, rather than in Serbian prisons." -- ICG Balkans Report N? 83, (Page 13/14 /16) "The same issue appears to have dampened the will for ardent international advocacy on another justice matter, that is, the thousands of Albanian prisoners who remain in detention in Serbia proper. In fact the international community has very little leverage over Belgrade on this issue, as it was left out of the 9 June military-technical agreement that ended NATO's air campaign. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that, with almost every Kosovar somehow personally connected to someone who is missing or known to be in prison, many insist that until the prisoners are freed and the missing accounted for, they will not be able to move on, either to develop civil society structures, hold ?free and fair elections,? or work toward any sort of reconciliation.53 However, to hold the re-establishment of Kosovo?s civil society hostage to Belgrade?s release of the prisoners would be a mistake that would in fact return to Milo?evi some of the control over Kosovo?s future which he lost in the war." "53 ICG interviews with ex-prisoners, families of prisoners, officials at the Association of Political Prisoners, human rights attorneys, Council for Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms director Pajazit Nushi, and officials from the International Committee for the Red Cross, late October-early November 1999. The missing persons/prisoner issue and the international community's handling of it will be the subject of a forthcoming ICG paper." "VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS (...) The international community should press harder for the release of Albanian prisoners still detained in Serbia and the arrest of all indicted war criminals throughout the former Yugoslavia. Western governments should also urge members of the Serbian opposition in the FRY, in the interests of peace, justice, and a clean slate for a new, untainted government, to commit to, and even to advocate openly for, the prisoners? release and the arrest of all indictees. The release of all Albanian political prisoners should be among the criteria that must be met before any elections in Serbia or the FRY can be deemed ?free and fair.? " http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/sbalkans/reports/kos31main.htm http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/sbalkans/reports/83_31Starting.pdf http://www.lchr.org/media/kosovo1099.htm ========================================== GROUP 484 Serbia, public platform for Brovina's amnesty in Belgrade December 20, 1999 Dear friends, A public platform against the verdict to dr Flora Brovina was held in Belgrade, in Center for Cultural Decontamination, on Saturday, December 18th. The speakers were: Ajri Begu, Brovina's husband, Husnija Bitici,Brovina's attorney, Barbara Davis, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Natasa Kandic, Humanitarian Law Center, Radmila Lazic, PEN Yugoslavia, Gradimir Nalic, Yugoslav Committee for Human Rights, Stanislava Zajovic, Woman in Black, and Jelena Santic, Group 484. All participants of the platform explained who Flora Brovina is, what was she doing in Kosovo as director of League of Albanian women, what was her "crime", how this shameful trial looked like. Barbara Davis brought from Kosovo "an evidence" of her terrorism - little pullover for babies, knitted by activists of League. Ajri Begu said that there were 2 announcements from the government of Republic of Kosovo, which said that Brovina was never a Minister for health in their government, Radmila Lazic read one of Brovina's poems, Stanislava Zajovic spoke about how she met Brovina, as a leader of women's liberation, Jelena Santic said that a true humanist was sent to prison only because of her nationality and that she is a true symbol of the fight for freedom, Gradimir Nalic announced that there is going to be an article in daily newspaper Danas about her trial named "Flora and Fauna", explaining that the people who sent her to jail were animals. After the public platform all participants and audience signed the petition for her amnesty, which was first addressed to President of FRY Slobodan Milosevic, but Natasa Kandic stated that he is not the right addressee because he is on trial in Hague for war crimes, and that it should be addressed to Justice department of FRY and to all courts. Best wishes, for Jelena Santic Dragana Gavrilovic ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS The advocate Teki Bokshi has been released for 100. 000 DM December 20, 1999 Gjakov?, December 20 (Kosovapress): The Albanian advocate Teki Bokshi from Gjakova has been kidnapped by the Serb Security forces near Belgrade city, on December 3, 1999. He has been released on December 18, when Teki's family has delivered 100.000 DM as exchange. Mr. Teki Bokshi claims that the kidnapers at the beginning have required from his family 500.000 DM for his release. He claims that he has stayed 12 days in a dark bathroom with the irons in his hands. All the time he does not know where he was. During all this time, he has been maltreated physically and psychologically. In the Moment of his arrest the advocate Teki Bokshi has been on his trip to visit the Albanian prisoners who are still kept in the Serb Jails. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/dhjetor/20_12_99_1.htm ========================================== REUTERS Bitic Says 15 Taken From Homes, Refugee Columns December 21, 1999 The Nis indictment says the 15 participated ``in creation of terrorist gangs in their villages in late 1998 and early 1999 and, after that, as ordered by their headquarters, observed and reported the movements of the (Serbian) police force'' in Kosovo. Some are charged with shooting at police and others with digging trenches for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas. If found guilty, the accused face from two to 20 years in jail, the maximum sentence under the Yugoslav Penal code, depending on whether they committed the alleged crimes before or during a state of war. Yugoslavia declared the state of war on March 24 when NATO begun 11 weeks of air strikes against the country to stop its repression of the ethnic Albanian majority in the southern province of Kosovo. Yugoslav armed forces and the KLA had fought each other for more than a year before an agreement between the Yugoslav army and NATO cleared the way for the Alliance-led peacekeepers to enter Kosovo after Yugoslav forces had withdrawn. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited ========================================== REUTERS Kosovo Albanians' trial in Serbia a ?farce? -lawyer By Dragan Stankovic December 21, 1999 NIS, Serbia, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A defence lawyer for 15 Kosovo Albanians charged with terrorism said on Tuesday the opening of their trial in Nis, south-eastern Serbia, was ``not a trial but a court farce.'' Husnija Bitic told Reuters that at Monday's opening of the trial in the Nis District Court ``the court interviewed only four out of the 15 accused, and that lasted only an hour and a half.'' All four pleaded not guilty to all charges, denying they had ever belonged to ethnic Albanian guerrilla groups in Kosovo. Some said the guerrillas had not been even present in their or surrounding villages. The next hearing for the remaining 11 defendants is set for January 17. ?The prosecutor did not give any evidence on any of the charges...The only thing he submitted as evidence was that these people were sitting and waiting for police,'' Bitic said, adding the case was ``unique in my practice.? ?These people are absolutely innocent, they have been taken from their homes or (refugee) columns. I fear such trials,? Bitic said. Slavko Stevanovic, the district prosecutor, told Reuters: ?According to the evidence, we have gathered sufficient ground to press charges.? The Nis trial followed a number of similar ones in nearby Leskovac and in the capital Belgrade, all of which have been based on more or less the same charges. On November 22, a trial of six ethnic Albanians opened in the Belgrade District Court. The latest hearings were held last week and the trial is expected to resume soon. In Leskovac, on December 10, 11 Kosovo Albanians were sentenced up to a maximum of 3-1/2 years in jail and two from the same group were released. Another group of 14 ethnic Albanians are waiting for their trial to resume in Leskovac. http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a1224LBY463reulb-19991221&qt=Kosovo&sv=IS &lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE Charges Against Ethnic Albanians Students Not Substantiated By Witness Testimony December 21, 1999 The trial of a group of ethnic Albanian students of Belgrade University resumed on 16-17 December 1999. The Court heard the testimonies of three witnesses and denied a motion by the prosecution to have read out the statements made by defendant Petrit Berisha and witnesses to State Security inspectors in the pre-trial proceedings. The trial is scheduled to continue on 25 January next year. The testimony given by the witnesses did not substantiate the prosecution's charges that the defendants were planning to carry out acts of terrorism in Belgrade. Valentina Petrovic and her aunt, Dragoslava Aleksic, in whose apartment the police allegedly found hand grenades, stated that during the search of the apartment one of the police officers entered Valentina Petrovic's room alone and came out carrying two grenades. Another two grenades were found in the living room by officers who went directly to a cabinet containing toys and a vase, and extracted the grenades from the vase. The rest of the room was not searched. Witness Salko Vujic told the Court he had no knowledge of the students' meeting in order to organize collection of funds for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In denying the prosecutor's motion for reading out of the statements made by Petrit Berisha and witnesses to the police, the Court acted in accordance with Article 83 of the Criminal Procedure Code under which such statements must be removed from the trial record. The indictment against Petrit and Driton Berisha, Driton Mega, Shkodran Derguti and Abdulah Isam, all students, and Zef Paljuca, a jeweler who is being tried in absentia, contains two counts: conspiracy for the purpose of subversive activity and conspiracy to perpetrate terrorist actions, for which the law prescribes up to twenty years in prison. The students told the Court they were questioned for three weeks and constantly beaten, tortured and threatened with death by State Security inspectors unless they confessed to the charges against them. Petrit Berisha said that on one occasion the inspectors took him to a riverbank where there was a large hole in the ground with a coffin and spades beside it. The inspectors threatened to kill him and his brother Driton, he said, and showed the Court the marks of cigarettes burns on his arms. Under Article 84 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Court may again consider use of the police reports. If it finds that the evidence presented during trial is insufficient for a decision, the Court can admit as new evidence the self-incriminating statement made by Petrit Berisha to the police which, he alleges, was extracted from him by physical abuse and threats against his life and the life of his brother. The article envisages use of police reports only in exceptional circumstances, when required to clarify issues essential to the trial in cases where criminal offenses carrying 20 years imprisonment are involved. The defense may appeal to a superior court against such a ruling. In connection with trials of Kosovo Albanians, Natasa Kandic, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Law Center, points to the practice of courts in Serbia when faced with insufficient evidence to admit confessions made by defendants to the police and to base their decisions on them. With regard to the proceedings initiated against 155 Albanians from the Kosovo town of Djakovica who were arrested as civilians during the NATO military intervention, Natasa Kandic expects the charges against them to be dropped. When questioned for the first time after seven months in custody, the defendants stated that they were arrested on the way from their homes to the town center, where they were ordered to go by the Yugoslav Army. The police separated men, in particular younger ones, from their families. ========================================== BALKAN WATCH ? WEEK IN REVIEW The Balkan Action Council December 22, 1999 (...) HUMAN RIGHTS. Husnija Bitic, defense counsel for 15 Kosovo Albanians being tried on charges of terrorism in Nis, called the proceedings "not a trial but a court farce." Bitic said those accused are "absolutely innocent, they have been taken from their homes or from [refugee columns]." Five Kosovo Albanian students held by Serbian authorities are being tried for "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and sabotage during a state of war." All five deny the charges and claim that prior confessions were forced. One other student is being tried in absentia. Flora Brovina, the prominent Kosovo Albanian human rights activist and physician sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for "terrorism," has refused to appeal her sentence. According to Radio B2-92, Kosovo Albanian lawyer Teki Bokshi has been released by kidnappers, reportedly after a ransom of 100,000 German marks was paid. Natasa Kandic, head of the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade, said Bokshi's abductors "included Bosnian Serbs and a professional policeman." Full review may be found at: http://www.balkanaction.org/bw/bw2-50.html ========================================== BELGRADE CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS The Association Of Judges Of Serbia The Association of Judges of Serbia was established as a reaction to the manipulations performed by the Serbian courts after the local elections in November 1996. It is estimated that nowadays almost a quarter of the total number of judges in Serbia belongs to this association. However, most of its members are reluctant to admit their membership for the fear of possible consequences from the authorities personified in presidents of courts, appointed by the government and persons of significant powers. Although the Association is of a professional kind, comprised of judges committed to the promotion of the rule of law, it has been exposed to incessant attacks by the authorities ever since it had been founded. The latest one presents the denial by the administration of its registration as a legal entity, a dubious decision according to the very constitutions of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia, which guarantee the freedom of political, trade union and other kind of association without preliminary permission, by simple registration with the competent authority. Regrettably, instead of ordering the Ministry of Interior to register the Association, the Supreme Court of Serbia upheld this unconstitutional administrative decision. The Association of Judges at present functions as part of the Association of Jurists of Serbia, an organization which enjoys the status of a registered legal entity and hosts sixteen different societies, also not registered as separate legal entities. Apparently, this situation does not satisfy the president of the Supreme Court of Serbia, Mr. Balsa Govedarica, who recently openly threatened the members of the Association of Judges with removal from their functions as judges only if their membership in this association would be detected. It is not known what legal grounds could the Serbian Parliament find dismiss the judges, since this is the body with the authority in law to initiate the procedure for a judge's removal. The only personal restriction of the freedom of association applicable to judges, according to the Serbian Courts Act, relates to their exercise of political functions, as well as the commission of deeds incompatible with their role of judges. As the Association of Judges is by no means a political party, it remains yet to be seen how the authorities would interpret the membership in a non-governmental organization promoting the rule of law as being unbecoming of a judge. Unfortunately, the Serbian Parliament is a rubber stamp body originating in the 1997 elections, boycotted by most parties of the democratic opposition. Following the orders of Mr. Govedarica, the presidents of courts have recently started to summon judges to a peculiar inquisition-kind-of-meetings in order to investigate their membership in the Association of Judges. Judges were ordered to admit to their membership and were openly threatened with removal from their office if the suspicion was to be proved. The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights issued a protest reminding those responsible that such activities amounted to serious violations of the right to freedom of association and the right to privacy according inter alia to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which FR Yugoslavia is a party. BELGRADE CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Mlatisumina 26/I, 11000 Belgrade tel./fax. 011- 432 572, 344 1203 E-mail: bgcentar at EUnet.yu www.bgcentar.org.yu ========================================== BELGRADE CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Dismissal of Three Eminent Judges in Serbia December 21, 1999 On 21 December, 1999, the Serbian National Assembly, acting upon an urgent proposal of its Committee for the Judiciary, dismissed Slobodan Vucetic, judge of the Constitutional Court of Serbia, Zoran Ivosevic, judge of the Supreme Court of Serbia and Bozo Prelevic, judge of the Fifth Municipal Court in Belgrade. The procedure and the grounds for the dismissal of the three judges violated the Constitution of Serbia. As announced by the president of the Committee for the Judiciary, Goran Percevic, MP (Socialist Party of Serbia), the Committee found that the positions the judges occupy in the Association of Judges of Serbia - judge Vucetic is a member of the Board of the Association of Judges, judge Ivosevic is president of the Board of the Association and judge Prelevic is the spokesperson for the Association - disqualified them as judges. In addition, judge Vucetic was denounced for his membership in a professional group of prominent independent experts, "G-17 Plus", found, according to Percevic, to be aiming to "topple the legal authorities". The phrase comes from the letter of the original proposal for the dismissal of Vucetic, signed by the President of the Constitutional Court of Serbia, Ratko Butulija, a non-jurist. None of the three judges belongs to any political party. All three judges are prominent legal experts with a longstanding background both in theory and practice of law. Judge Ivosevic holds a Dr juris degree, and has published numerous legal studies and other publications, the most recent one being the book "I Do Not Give In", a compilation of published articles, mostly on the destruction of the independent judiciary in Serbia. Judge Vucetic, also Dr juris, has publicly criticized some of the notorious decisions handed down by the Constitutional Court of Serbia, as well as many of the acts which were enacted by the Parliament in breach of the Constitution. He has also published numerous articles and authored three books, "Democracy Without Proof", "The Privatized State" and "The Fatal Government", where he critically analyzed the deformities in the establishment of the constitutional and political system in Serbia and the FRY. Judge Prelevic is among the most competent criminal judges in Belgrade. All the three dismissed judges have publicly criticized on numerous occasions the unconstitutional and illegal performance of the authorities and stood against the electoral fraud committed by courts and electoral committees in numerous municipalities and cities in Serbia, following the 1996 municipal elections. This latest event stands for yet another offensive in the war launched by the regime against every spark of opposition and everyone who dares criticize. It is obvious that the regime now intends to secure a propitious environment for new manipulation of elections by the elimination of embarrassing witnesses and frightening all other judges who might not perform according to instructions from above. As the press was told today by judge Ivosevic, a clear reason for avoiding the constitutional procedure, which entails convoking the general session of the Supreme Court judges to decide on the validity of grounds for a proposed dismissal of every judge, was the attitude the Supreme Court judges have shown while deliberating on the similar proposal, some 20 days ago. On that occasion, 26 judges of this court voted against the initiative for the dismissal of a judge, finding it as based on unsubstantiated grounds, whereas 21 judges voted in favor and 4 abstained. "When it became obvious that the general session of the Supreme Court may not be abused, it was decided that it should be avoided altogether", said judge Ivosevic, himself a (former) judge of the Supreme Court of Serbia. Both Serbian and Yugoslav constitutions guarantee the immovability of judges and, accordingly, prescribe a strict procedure and restricted grounds for the dismissal of a judge. Whereas the Serbian constitution states that judges cannot simultaneously perform other public duties (Art. 100), it clearly stipulates that a judge may be dismissed, contrary to his/her own will, only if it is established that he/she was sentenced by imprisonment for a criminal act, or if the judge is found to be permanently incapacitated to perform his/her function (Art. 101). Even if the "other public duties performed by the judge" was to be found as sufficient ground for dismissal, the general session of the Supreme Court would have to decide that such particular duties, even membership in a professional association, are unbecoming of a judge. At the same time, the identical constitutional prohibition applies to both the ministers and presidents of Serbia and Yugoslavia, who at the same time hold several other functions, including the highest positions in the ruling political parties. No initiative regarding the latter has been recorded. PERSECUTION CONTINUES: Judicial committees held in courts throughout Serbia examining membership in the proscribed Association of Judges. Judge Sasa Obradovic of the Valjevo Municipal Court requested to be relieved due to the shameful treatment of the judicial profession by the authorities. Grave breach of the constitution by the Serbian parliament: dismissal of judges Marjanovic, Baltic and Cucic. The first judges to feel the purge were the municipal and district courts judges of Novi Pazar. After some thirty judges of these courts openly announced their membership in the Association of Judges, the presidents of courts answered by a clear warning that such membership would be interpreted as a ground for their dismissal from office. Following the warning, on a joint session of the judicial committee of these two courts, one judge had, nevertheless, stood up expressing his pride with his membership in the organization. In the South Serbian city of Nis, judges of the municipal court have on constitutional grounds jointly protested against such an enquiry. Although under constant threats of dismissal and material penalties those judges on the outset rejected to answer the question, which they found to be violating their constitutional right to privacy. Several judges in various courts throughout Serbia stood up and admitted to their membership in the Association in an atmosphere of extreme tension. It came as quite a surprise that some of the Supreme Court of Serbia judges whose membership in the Association had not previously been known reacted in the same way at the general session of this Court's civil chamber. The Belgrade Centre decided not to divulge the names of all those brave people out of concern that someone might be omitted. Judge Sasa Obradovic of the Valjevo municipal court has addressed an open letter to the Serbian Parliament announcing his wish to be dismissed from office on personal grounds. As he himself stated: "The status of a judge in today's Serbia probably represents the unique phenomenon in the contemporary judiciary systems of the world. The grave social crisis that Serbia has been suffering from for the past years involving wars, isolation from Europe, poverty and discrimination, the collapse of all moral standards and basic social values, subordination of all state institutions to the narrow interests of the ruling political parties, shamefully low income of a judge, whereas an ordinary policeman earns more ... placed our judiciary in an absurd and disgraceful position. Although I have been doing my best to resist this downfall over the past years, I have not been able to change the actual reality: on our judgments, only the poor were sent to prison. Therefore, as I lack prerequisites to perform my function in the best manner, and since I do not wish to accept any other standard, I consider myself unfit to continue to be a judge" (taken from the letter published in the independent weekly, Vreme, 16 October). At the very beginning of its regular yearly session the Serbian parliament removed three members of the Association of Judges from their office, on the grounds of incompetent and unprofessional performance. The striking and frightening fact about this venture was the complete disregard of legal procedure, which the constitution of Serbia (Art. 101, para. 4) and the Serbian Courts Act (Art. 27) prescribe. Namely, when the proposal for the dismissal of a judge is initiated by the president of the court where the judge sits, it should be directed to the general session of the Supreme Court of Serbia, which then deliberates on the merits of the concrete proposal. After the Supreme Court has heard the testimony of the judge in question and after it is found that the reasonable grounds for his removal from office exist, the Court initiates the procedure before the parliament, whose members than vote on the matter. In this case, neither was the general session of the Supreme Court ever summoned, nor did the Court ever determinate the relevant facts or hear the testimony of the three judges before they were relieved by the parliament. Such arbitrariness, apart from showing inexcusable disrespect of law, totally undermines the constitutional principle of the permanence and immovability of judges, which is elementary for an independent judiciary. The dismissed judges are now left with no further legal remedies at their disposal whilst the others are intimidated by the new pattern of repression. The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights joins the Association of Judges in their legitimate fear that the campaign against this Association is primarily aimed at complete submission, primarily of the municipal courts, to the will of the regime before the coming elections. Namely, according to the newly amended Local Self-Government Act, which governs local elections, the municipal courts will decide in the final instance on the results of the elections and on related complaints. Bearing in mind the unfortunate experience with manipulations performed by judges close to the ruling parties after the local elections in November 1996, the government's aim becomes much clearer. If the persecution of the independent judges is not stopped by increased pressure both from the international and domestic spheres, the chances for Serbia ever to have fair elections and genuine democracy will be diminished for at least another four years. THE BELGRADE CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Mlati?umina 26, 11000 Beograd, FR Yugoslavia Tel/fax (+381 11) 432 572 or 344 1203. E-mail: bgcentar at eunet.yu www.bgcentar.org.yu ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Four Albanian prisoners were released by serb jails December 22, 1999 Pej?, December 22 (Kosovapress): According to some reports by information office in Peja, yesterday, by the serb jail in Leskovc were released another four albanian prisoners: Agron Ibrahim Koll?aku from Peja, Beqir Tahir Hoxha, Xhevdet Ram? Bajrami and Vllaznim Brahim P?rgjegjaj from Vitomirica near Peja. The prisoners have been hostage at the Leskovci prison for seven months, they know very well how they have survived their tortures. Their stories are awful, more worse are to the others who are still in jail. The prisoners over mentioned detained the prison since the first days of NATO bombarding. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/dhjetor/22_12_99_1.htm ========================================== PROUD OF THE ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES OF SERBIA An open letter to Mr. Balsa Govedarica, president of the Supreme Court of Serbia, published in the Belgrade independent daily Danas December 14, 1999 Mr. president, Being struck as a professional and human being with what had been done to the Serbian judiciary, including your illegal and unprincipled policy of inquisition with regard to members of the Association of Judges of Serbia through the presidents of courts, which was recently exercised in my (Second Municipal) court on a session of the college of judges, I am addressing you with this open letter. Let me remind you of our acquaintance when I was the Second Municipal Court Deputy President, the position I left at the time of the founding of the Association of Judges. I am still sitting in the Second Court without being promoted regardless of my long carrier, responsible performance, and, I dare say, expertise, but, on the contrary, in the last couple of months, I lived through being unprofessionally and quite theatrically transferred from and into various departments, together with my desk. At the moment, I am sitting in the department of non-contentious procedure. Both of us followed one's own path: yours led you to serve the regime and mine led me to struggle for preservation of the profession in the Association of Judges, together with the people of an outstanding honor and professionalism, who are, by now, my dear friends. Both of us did it following our own beliefs. My belief lies in preserving the profession and my children's future and the future of all the youth lost at this time in these parts. I admit that I have been selfish, as well, to protect some of this soul left in me after all I had lived through in this country during the past ten years. You have put our profession, once respected and admired, in service of daily politics, and deprived it of independence, which it was granted by Constitution and Law. As far as the financial status is concerned, we (the judges) became a socially deprived category. As far as the expertise and efficacy of the courts and the work results are concerned, let the parties and lawyers be the ones to evaluate. I am of the opinion that the result of such evaluation would be very poor and entirely different from the one you have been using to praise yourself, in the Report on the work of court, but then again, you yourself are also very much aware of that fact. The Association of Judges strives for independence, legality, improvement of financial status, dignity and respect of judges, who would not be subjects but distinguished administrators of justice. It is probably for this reason that the Association bothers you so much. In conclusion, I will, hereby, answer to your question, for the summoned college of judges was neither a proper place, nor did I have anyone there to answer to: I am a member of the Association of Judges and I do stand proud of it! Awaiting your response, Mrs. Gordana Mihajlovic, Judge of the Second Municipal Court in Belgrade ========================================== ASSOCIATED PRESS Kosovo Missing Mire Hopes of Peace By Danica Kirka December 22, 1999 KORENICA, Yugoslavia -- Six months after the end of the Kosovo conflict, not a single man between the ages of 16 and 60 from this ethnic Albanian village, which had a prewar population of 600, has been accounted for, residents and human rights activists say. "We don't know if they are alive or dead," said Hateme Kameri, whose husband Rrustem was last seen being beaten by Serb paramilitaries when they raided the village April 27. "We still have hope that the men are in prisons." The uncertainty about the men - and the thousands of other people missing in Kosovo - is hampering reconstruction and clouding hopes of reconciliation between ethnic Albanians and Serbs. Serb authorities have told the International Committee of the Red Cross that they are holding about 1,700 ethnic Albanians - men and women ranging in age from 13 to 73 - arrested during the conflict and transported out of the province before NATO-led peacekeepers arrived in June. Many Kosovo Albanians believe many more people are being held and that Yugoslavia is keeping them as "bargaining chips" for future negotiations on the status of Kosovo. Serb paramilitary forces swept into Korenica, a village of some 70 houses, about a month after NATO began its 78-day air campaign to halt Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has documented 89 missing people in Korenica and 30 others from a village a few miles away. All told, an estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians died in the 18-month crackdown and 1.5 million were expelled from their homes, the State Department reported this month. "People are very frustrated here," said Kosovare Kelmendi of the Humanitarian Law Center, a non-governmental organization. "We are talking about people who have lost everything." The Red Cross is still trying to compile a list of the missing, said spokesman Urs Boegli. The work has been stymied because the agreement that ended the Kosovo fighting did not compel the parties to offer any accounting. "The key to the solution is the warring parties themselves," Boegli said. "They know what their soldiers have done ... They can take the skeletons out of the closet, quite literally." In the highly charged postwar atmosphere, there's no goodwill between Albanians and Serbs and few answers for those trying to find out if their relatives are dead or alive. International officials admit they don't even have a good guess on how many people are missing. There's also no system to centralize information on bodies that have been found. International war crimes tribunal investigators already are overwhelmed by the number of sites to examine. Frustrated residents aren't waiting for investigators to verify their claims of massacres and have been exhuming bodies on their own. Individuals like Hateme Kameri, 32, and her cousin, Bekrije Kameri, 26 - whose husband, Besim, is also missing - are largely on their own. The women visited the Red Cross offices and scanned the lists of prisoners known to be held in Serbia. When that proved fruitless, they began watching mass grave excavations, hoping to find a familiar shoe or a recognizable jacket. "Whatever it is, I would like to have the truth," Hateme said. "Even if it is very bad, I would rather have the truth than not knowing anything at all." Unsure of whether to wait or to grieve, Hateme choses to hope, both for herself and her four children. Without other options, she and Bekrije are taking on the tasks their husbands once performed ? chopping wood, cleaning cow stalls, building fires. The work helps them keep going during the day. It is only at night that things get really tough. "The children cry every night because they call for their father to come back." Bekrije said. "We cry with them." ? Copyright 1999 The Associated Press ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Kosovo: Six months on, climate of violence and fear flies in the face of UN mission December 23, 1999 Violence against Serbs, Roma, Muslim Slavs and moderate Albanians in Kosovo has increased dramatically over the past month pointing to a failure by the United Nations (UN) mission to protect human rights, Amnesty International said today. Murder, abductions, violent attacks, intimidation, and house burning are being perpetrated on a daily basis at a rate which is almost as high as it was in June when the international UN civilian and security presence (KFOR) were initially deployed. In the first week of December, 24 murders were reported. Amnesty International is particularly concerned about reports of abductions of young children and women which have reached an alarming rate in recent weeks. Two Serb women who were abducted and reportedly tortured and raped in October escaped and an investigation is under way. Serbs and Roma are now almost all living in enclaves protected by KFOR troops and Serbs in Pristina (Prishtina) and other mixed communities require a military KFOR escort to leave their homes and conduct daily tasks such as buying food. On 7 December, an elderly Serb woman and her son were found murdered in their home in a central area of Pristina. Their home was not guarded by KFOR troops. Identity-based human rights abuses are coupled with abuses which appear to be part of an organized campaign to silence moderate voices in ethnic Albanian society. Last month, Kontakt, a multi-ethnic radio station based in Pristina had its offices ransacked and equipment stolen. Members of Kosovo's Democratic League of Kosovo party have also increasingly become the target of attacks and intimidation. The UN is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in Kosovo. The mission is required to take active steps to ensure safety and accountability but it is currently ill-equipped to do so. The Secretary-General of the UN stated several months ago that 6,000 international police officers were required to effectively police Kosovo, however to date only 1,890 have been deployed. This has led to a law and order vacuum. "Violent human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate with impunity. Unless the remaining international police officers are deployed, this situation will continue and a system of law and order will not be established in Kosovo," Amnesty International said. "The law and order vacuum also results from the fact that the UN has thus far failed to establish a functioning, independent and impartial judicial system," Amnesty International said. Amnesty International is also concerned that the UN mission and KFOR appears reluctant to take steps to bring to justice members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and the Kosovo Protection Corps who commit human rights abuses such as unlawful detentions, beatings or evictions. At present there is no effective sanction for crimes committed in Kosovo. "The campaign for human rights in Kosovo is far from over. In the spring of this year the international community intervened in Kosovo with the declared aim of preventing a human rights catastrophe. However, at the closing of the year human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated on a daily basis." "In order to bring about a significant improvement, the international community should live up to its promises and redouble its efforts to ensure respect for human rights for everyone in Kosovo," Amnesty International urged. ========================================== THIS IS A PETITION LAUNCHED BY A BELGRADE-BASED NGO "Going Home ? Idemo Kuci" December 21, 1999 BACKGROUND: During the Nato intervention in Serbia, 3 humanitarian workers of CARE have been arrested, sentenced and imprisoned by the Serbian authorities on the basis of espionage. Two of them, Australian nationals, were let go, but not acquited, after the Australian government, society and the rest of the free world stood by them. The third person, Mr. Branko Jelen, even though an employee of CARE, but unfortunately not being an Australian national, is still in prison. The latest information we have obtained is that he is preparing to go on a hunger strike as a sign of his protest. His family is really desperate. Forgotten and abandoned by a large chunk of the public. They are getting fewer and fewer visits. Can you imagine how hard it is for them? Who will stand by him? By them? The governments of Serbia and Yugoslavia are the ones who put him in prison in the first place. This is a campaign by "Going Home" for the immediate or very soon release of Branko Jelen and his return to his family, his children. STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of Branko Jelen and many others like him, particularly political prisoners and free media personnel of all nationalities in Yugoslavia is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves attention and action by the United Nations and the world. This is not a small issue. Political prisoners, mistreatment of humanitarian workers, repressive measures against NGOs and the free media and their extremely difficult position are completely UNACCEPTABLE. It is indeed the humanitarian workers who first clean up the mess left behind by the politicians. It is their devotion and desire to help other fellow human beings what makes them hunted targets of repressive regimes. Equality and human decency is a RIGHT not a freedom, whether one lives in Yugoslavia or elsewhere. So, when will Branko Jelen and others like him be GOING HOME? We feel that the release of Branko Jelen will ease up the work of humanitarian organizations, which are already having enough of a burden on their backs, because all people of Yugoslavia are in desperate need. It is THE moment for citizens of Yugoslavia to feel at home in their own country. What to do? PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and forward it to everyone on your distribution lists. We are kindly asking every person on the list to also please send the message to: hocukuci at idemokuci.org.yu THIS ACTION IS CONDUCTED BY "GOING HOME" YUGOSLAVIA. WE APPRECIATE YOUR HELP. THANK YOU. ========================================== Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 003 ###