[A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 002

[kosova at jps.net]

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

Prishtinë - 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 Demaçi, 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

Prishtinë - 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 Krasniçi, Zeçir 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

###