[A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 018

[kosova at jps.net]

Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter,
No. 018, April 10, 2000

This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week
of April 02, 2000.

==========================================
A-PAL STATEMENT:
==========================================
	With over 600 prisoners now released from Serb prisons, the Association of
Political Prisoners has been able to begin to document the circumstances of
the round-ups, arrests, interrogations, detentions, trials, and ransoms.
>From this information, we believe that the round-up, near starvation,
torture, abuse, and deprivation of liberty suffered by these people, aged 13
to 73, warrants an in-depth investigation, independent of ICRC and UNHCHR,
to determine violations not only of the Geneva Conventions, but for many
other humanitarian law violations, violations of the Yugoslav Constitution,
and of the Security Council Charter for Kosova. (Full Anniversary Report
below)
	As the anniversary of the arrests is now underway, contact your foreign
ministry officers or congressperson, to request The Hague pursue an
investigation of the Serb Ministry of Justice for the torture, detention,
and trials of these prisoners.

		    ONE YEAR IS ENOUGH!

	Canada is still president of the Security Council this month. Please email
their office at {canada at un.int} and insist that they move ahead with the
naming of a special investigator, send a copy of this email to your foreign
affairs ministry. In the US, send copies to Rep. Engel's office (Chairman of
the Albanian Caucus at: {jason.steinbaum at mail.house.gov}) and to the
National Albanian American Council {naacdc at aol.com}.

==========================================
WEEK OF APRIL 02, 2000 TOPICS:
==========================================
* ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS: Anniversary Report
* Letter addressed to the United States Ambassador Hon. Richard Holbroooke
* REUTERS: Serbia Delays Sensitive Kosovo Albanian Trial
* BBC WORLD SERVICE: Yugoslavia starts trial of Kosovo Albanians
* REUTERS: Kosovo Albanians Say Were Tortured, Drugged
* KOSOVAPRESS: Thirteen prisoners are released from Serbia jails
* KOSOVAPRESS: It is released the young prisoner Elmi Hoti
* KOSOVAPRESS: The protests continue for the prisoners
* KOSOVAPRESS: Seven prisoners released

==========================================
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
==========================================
       "I'd be ready to sign my death penalty if I was ever a KLA member,"
Bekim Mazreku told a five-member judge panel. April 6, 2000
	"I reject all charges, everything has been rigged," Luan Mazreku told a
court in the southern town of Nis. April 6, 2000

==========================================
FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE:
==========================================

ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
SHOQATA BURGOSI POLITIK
Anniversary Report


Shukrie Rexha: Prishtina
Alice Mead: United States
APRIL 04, 2000

ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS REQUESTS INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS OF
THE ALBANIAN HOSTAGES IN SERBIA

	"Serbs hold hundreds of Kosovo hostages," is the title of an article by
Vesna Zimonjic in Belgrade. "A year after NATO began its bombing campaign to
"liberate" Kosovo,  more than 1,400 ethnic Albanians remain incarcerated in
prisons in Serbia, many of them facing trumped-up charges of
"terrorism."Š.The judges are, as a rule, Serbs who once worked in Kosovo but
left when their administration did in June."
	With over 600 prisoners now released from Serb prisons, the Association of
Political Prisoners has been able to begin to document the circumstances of
the round-ups, arrests, interrogations,  detentions, trials, and ransoms.
>From this information, we believe that the round-up, near starvation,
torture, abuse, and deprivation of liberty suffered by these people, aged 13
to 73, warrants an in-depth investigation, independent of ICRC and UNHCHR,
to determine violations not only of the Geneva Conventions, but for many
other humanitarian law violations, violations of the Yugoslav Constitution,
and of the Security Council Charter for Kosova.
	Furthermore, international organizations and human rights groups should
note that various members of the Yugoslav Ministry of Justice have received
so far over 6,000,000 DM in ransom money from Albanian families to free
their relatives. That amount is from 600 cases. There are 950 cases pending,
which will  bring in another 9,500,000 DM if the ransoms are paid. For this
reason, it is useful to think of these persons deprived of liberty not just
as prisoners but also as hostages.
	It is not just the prisoners, but their lawyers who are in danger.
Recently, Albanian lawyer Husnija Bitici and his wife were severely beaten
for speaking out about the ransom problem, in particular against a Serb
lawyer from Kosova, who is involved in taking bribes. Mr. Bitici's skull was
broken. We are informed by Grupa 484 in Belgrade that the Law Society of
Serbia and Belgrade did not express outrage at this brutality. Earlier, in
late 1999, Albanian lawyer Teki Bokshi was kidnapped and held for 80,000 DM
ransom.
	The prisoners' families have suffered for months not knowing where their
loved ones are, unable to visit them, and fearing for their lives. This
anguish, experienced by thousands of Albanians during the past year, is in
itself a crime.
	On March 15, 2000, the Kosova Transition Council repeated its demand,
expressed in an appeal to the Security Council, that all Kosovar prisoners
detained in Serbia be immediately released. The KTC also joined other
organizations in requesting a UN appointed special investigator with
jurisdiction in both Belgrade and Kosova to investigate the prisoners'
on-going detention. In neither case, has the UN given a public response to
this urgent request.

WE REQUEST ALL PRISONERS RELEASED BY JUNE 9, 2000.
        ONE YEAR IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.

THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL MUST ENACT LEGISLATION PROVIDING FOR THEIR RELEASE
OR FAIL IN ITS KOSOVA MISSION OF BRINGING EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS TO THE
REGION.

	A recent increase of diplomatic pressure on the Serb regime has caused a
flurry of allegations regarding internment prisons in Kosova where allegedly
Serbs are being held. However, KFOR stated  publicly that all allegations
have been checked and no camps or prisoners found. Of course, NATO and UNMIK
should continue to check for such camps, but this should in no way prevent
or delay the release of the prisoners.
	Linking these two problems is not productive and only increases ethnic
tensions and mistrust. Implications that Kosovars must produce Serb bodies
as a good will gesture in order for release negotiations to proceed is also
poor practice. It also implies that a crime committed by a regime against a
large group, flaunting human rights, is the same as individual crimes,
carried out by individuals against international and governmental norms.
While we deplore ethnic violence in any form, we also protest the idea of
"linking" these two situations. Each deserves an independent investigation.
Serb officials should be allowed to inspect alleged prison sites in Kosova,
while Albanian and internationals should be allowed access to the Serb
prisons.

ARRESTS

	In most cases, no normal law enforcement procedures were used in the
round-ups and arrests of the ethnic Albanians, most of which took place
during the 11 week bombing campaign in spring, 1999. The men were arrested
based solely on their ethnicity and gender. Individuals were taken from
their homes or off the streets. They were not charged or taken before a
judge for a hearing. They had no access to a lawyer, doctor, or family
members. Instead, they were handcuffed and taken by force to the nearest
police station. There for the first three to five days, they were
extensively tortured.

INTERROGATIONS

	Usually the detainee would first be put in an extremely over-crowded cell,
without food or water, unable to sit or lie down. One prisoner reported 300
people were in the basement of the Prishtina police station the day he was
brought in for interrogation. They were then taken to "offices" for
interrogation by inspectors. There they were routinely, savagely tortured
for hours, told to confess to violations of laws 125 and/or 136--acts of
terrorism or acts against the state of Yugoslavia.
	For those who refused to sign, they were threatened with execution. One old
man had a bomb placed in his mouth several times. The police stuffed
newspapers in their mouths to stop the sound of the screams. At other times,
a younger relative might be brought in and the prisoner forced to watch the
torture of a son or younger brother.
	Methods of torture that were widespread include-- kicking, clubbing,
electric shock, beating with gun barrels and stocks, being hung upside down
and kicked, being forced to eat dirt. If the prisoner refused to sign a
confession, the guards and interrogators told him that he was guilty anyway
because the "Albanians called for NATO in their demonstrations." So they
were held guilty collectively, held responsible simply as Albanians for the
NATO bombing campaign.
	Round-ups of prisoners seem to co-incide with NATO bombing raids. For
example, when NATO finally bombed downtown Belgrade during a five day period
in early May, the police rounded up  over a thousand men from Gjakova and
Peje, many hundreds of whom have completely disappeared.

HUMANITARIAN LAW--RIGHTS AND STANDARDS

	At this time, the director of both Prishtina Prison and Lipjan Prison was
Lubomir Cimburovic. He was transferred following the war and is now at both
Sremska Mitrovica Prison in northern Serbia and Pozharevac Prison near
Belgrade. The investigating judge for the Prishtina district was Danica
Marinkovic, now a judge in Nis. Prisoners state that the prison directors
knew what was going on in Lipjan but did nothing to stop it, a clear
violation of international code of conduct law, ICCPR, currently in effect
in Yugoslavia. This law is also in effect for the NATO allies and the UN
Security Council. All officials of these organizations are aware of what is
going on in these prisons.
	During investigations, even those conducted during armed conflict, this law
prohibits the use of torture, or inhuman and degrading treatment. It says no
one can be forced to testify against himself. Everyone has the right to a
fair trial. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, arbitrary and
intrusive investigatory activities are prohibited.
	During arrest, the law states anyone arrested must be informed at that time
the reason for his arrest and the charges against him. He shall be brought
promptly to a judicial authority, Detention pending trial is the exception.
A detailed record of every arrest made shall include: the reason for the
arrest, the time of transfer to a jail, the place of custody, the time of
judicial appearance, the identity of the officers involved, details of the
interrogation.
	The Association of Political Prisoners demands that these records be given
to the Ministers of Justice in Kosova. International observers such as
UNHCHR and human rights groups have written reports on these sham trials.
They should be collected and perpetrators of these injustices prosecuted.
Prison directors stated in mid-June at Pozharevac, for example,  that out of
the 600 prisoners who arrived, over 530 did not have court documents of any
kind. This included Halil Matoshi and Albin Kurti. Court evidence in the
case of Dr. Brovina included a forced confession and a bag of pink and
yellow yarn. Based on that evidence, she was sentenced to 12  years for acts
of terrorism.
	Kurti was sentenced to 15 years based on no evidence at all, and Matoshi's
family paid a large amount of ransom money to obtain his release.
      Other prisoners have been convicted for acts of terrorism even when
Serb police state that the individual is innocent. Some were already in
prison when the Serb they allegedly killed actually died. An old man who
voluntarily went to the Prishtina prison when some students were arrested,
solely to accompany and reassure them. When he arrived, the police informed
him he was a KLA commander who had killed four Serbs. To obtain a
confession, they placed a bomb in his mouth. One elderly man was sentenced
to 20 years, then re-interrogated, his family paid a bribe of 20,000 DM paid
and he was released. We want to see these records. Why has ICRC been refused
prison documents when prisoners are released? Why were no court documents
brought when the detainees were transferred to Serbia?
	Furthermore, humanitarian law states that the family of the arrested person
shall be notified promptly of his arrest and the place of detention. The
prisoners report being held in houses, garages, basements, and barns before
being taken to Lipjan. Once in Serbia, their families had no idea where they
were. Even now, when they are transferred, the families are not notified,
nor is ICRC. Detainees  have the right to contact the outside world. They
shall be kept in humane conditions with adequate food, water, shelter,
clothing, medical care, exercise and personal hygiene. Nearly all prisoners
have been deprived of humane conditions for  nearly one year. There are two
more infants serving time in Pozharevac.  There are amputees with no legs,
old men with terminal tuberculosis, men with shrapnel in their spines,
hundreds of men pulled off refugee lines outside Gjakova.

HUMANITARIAN LAW APPLIES IN ALL SITUATIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT
	Persons suffering the effects or injuries of war must be protected and
cared for without discrimination. Acts prohibited include: murder, torture,
corporal punishment, mutilation, insults of personal dignity,
hostage-taking, collective punishment, cruel and degrading treatment.
	Reprisals against the wounded, sick, doctors, prisoners of war, and
civilians are prohibited. Surely the survivors of the Dubrava massacre, a
war crime that is going to be prosecuted by the Hague, deserve to be
released from Serb prisons!

CONDITIONS IN LIPJAN/DUBRAVA  MARCH 24-JUNE 9, 1999

	At the entrance to Lipjan Prison, prisoners were greeted with the infamous
corridor of guards armed with clubs, usually about twenty to thirty men. The
prisoners had to pass through the corridor, sustaining up to fifty wounds,
their whole bodies black and blue. They were given hardly any bread at all
and dirty water to drink. The cells were overcrowded, with up to 54 men in
one cell, packed in so tightly they could hardly move. One boy, age 14, was
beaten on the head with a Kalishnikov because he sat down. He now has
permanent head trauma.
	Around 350 men were put in the Lipjan gym, along with the Dubrava massacre
survivors. The narratives about the gym resemble descriptions of Bosnian
death camps. There was no bathroom or place to sleep. They ate only one
small 1" cube of bread per day and were beaten randomly and often. If you
spoke, you were beaten. To get your piece of bread, you had to say "Long
live Serbia." Men in the gym report that everyone had been extensively
tortured. They could hear the screams of men being tortured in the hallways
near the gym. The guards said that they would massacre everyone, as they had
in Dubrava on May 21 and 22.

DUBRAVA MILITARY CENTER

	As separate articles and reports have shown, the massacre at Dubrava was
pre-arranged. Albanian prisoners arrested from 1998 and before were bused
there from prisons in both Serbia and Kosova. It was a military center, and
everyone seemed to know that it would be bombed by NATO. It was bombed on
May 19 and 21. But not all the prisoners died in the bombing. So the guards
opened fire with machine guns and staged a massacre. According to one
released prisoner, he was  wounded from the bombing in the neck and head. He
was shot in the elbow during the massacre. Then he was loaded onto a truck
and taken to Lipjan, A doctor cleaned his wounds once. Then he was tortured
very much.
	He states that the conditions in Lipjan were very bad. He was placed in the
gym with 350 others. He became "disassociated" from the lack of food and
water, his wounds, the hours of torture, and the emotional trauma of the
Dubrava massacre.

TRANSPORT TO SERBIA:  June 10, 1999

	Many of the prisoners report that they didn't know that the war had ended.
On the night of June 9th, they heard a lot of shooting as the guards shot
their rifles in the air. The guards said, "Tomorrow we will kill you. There
will be a massacre here." The prisoners were handcuffed and pushed into
over-crowded cells in groups of 40 or 50, where they stood all night without
food or water. They have scars from where the handcuffs cut into their
wrists.
	In the morning the prisoners were taken outside and beaten again by the
corridor of guards with clubs. Then they got on the many buses. On the bus,
they were beaten constantly. They had to keep their heads down and not look
up. There was no food or water that day and it was very hot.
	Everyone thought they were going to be taken to Serbia and executed. The
younger prisoners cried a lot. When they got to Nis prison, the crowd threw
rocks and vegetables at the bus. The prisoners were placed in eight
different prisons. All report this day as the worst day in their lives. They
reached Sremska Mitrovica around 11:30 p.m.

SERB PRISONS:  Nis, Pozhrevac, Sremska Mitrovica

PRISON CONDITIONS

	Compared to conditions in Lipjan and Dubrava, the conditions in Serbia were
better, although Sremska Mitrovica, which is run by a radical nationalist,
is the worst. The ICRC has not visited Sr. Mitrovica since August, 1999,
because the director refuses to let them meet prisoners alone. But families
in Kosova are gravely concerned that the Albanian prisoners there may starve
to death.
	Released prisoners say they were given two 1"cubes of bread  per day and
water. They say without packages from home, they would die there. They had
only one blanket and slept on 1/4 inch thick mats. They said they were very
cold and hungry all winter. Frequently prisoners were put in isolation. Many
Dubrava survivors are in Sr. Mitrovica and have had disfiguring amputations
of feet, legs, etc. Requests to see a doctor are met with "therapy."
Standard therapy for infractions is being hit 80 times with a club. They are
kept in isolation, without newspapers, books or radios. They have no contact
with family. The officials from Lipjan came and re-interrogated some
prisoners.
	One prisoner reports, "There were 70 people in my room. It was very cold.
The ICRC came once in the summer, but they didn't even give us toothbrushes
or soap or newspapers and they never came back. No one in that prison did
anything. At least ninety per cent are there for no reason. But I am worried
about a young man, B.M. He is from Malishevo, arrested in 1998, and accused
of massacring Serbs. They say he is a war criminal. They beat him
constantly. But he says he is innocent. He is hoping someone will come and
take him to The Hague so he can prove his innocence. Now he has been in
isolation for five months. It is terrible.
	I saw the prison director say to some journalists, "I am afraid of the
Hague or I would kill this guy myself." I don't think he can survive much
longer.
	Conditions in Pozharevac and Nis are a little better. There you get one
small loaf of bread per day and water. You can walk outside for one hour and
you can read. The guards refer to all prisoners as KLA or terrorists who
kill Serbs.

RELEASES/TRIALS

	What happens to these prisoners next varies somewhat. Most are released
when a lawyer contacts the family and asks for between 8,000 DM and 45,000
DM for more prestigious prisoners. These negotiations are worked out in the
no-man's land between Kosova and Serbia or simply by phone.
	Some prisoners then have hasty trials where they are convicted and
sentenced to the amount of time already served. Some are simply dismissed.
Here are some examples:

* In early January 2000, a Serb lawyer called the prisoner's family, and
asked for 12,000 DM. On January 28, he was released, but he was given no
prison documents, even though ICRC went back and tried to get them. The ICRC
brought jeeps and drove him home with 25 others released from Pozharevac.

* On January 27, a guy named Misha came and said, "you can go home  in ten
days because your family paid 8,000 DM." When the prisoner left, he had no
prison documents, although ICRC tried to get them.

* On November 17, twenty minor boys were taken to isolation cells in
Pozharevac. They thought they were going to be executed and cried a lot.
Another day the guards gave them clothes to put on. They were taken to a
bus. They thought the bus would drive them someplace where they would be
killed. They got to the border. The guards insulted them and told them to
get off and walk. They thought they would be shot in the back. Then they saw
a bus from ICRC and they went home.

* On December 13, he was transfered from Sremska Mitrovica to Nis for trial
because the Prishtina judge is there. On February 7 and 8th was his trial.
He had a lawyer named Zarko Gajic. His family paid 15,000 DM to the lawyer.
The whole group of eight was released without charges. The lawyer drove him
to the border and he went home.

	Serb Ministry of Justice claims that these are Serb citizens and therefore
must be "tried" within Serbia are meaningless. They claim the prisoners were
taken into Serbia for greater security, for their own good, to be "in a
safer place." In fact, the trials are a sham, conducted solely for the
purpose of collecting ransom money for lawyers, go-betweens, and judges.
Ministry of Justice officials, judges and wardens are all involved in this
large-scale abuse of the law and
on-going war crime.
	The UN Security Council has allowed this situation to continue for a year,
ignoring the pleas of desperate and anxious Albanian family members, who
want their loved ones freed from torture, starvation, and abuse and allowed
to come home. This is an unjust peace.
	These criminal abuses that have been inflicted on this group of detainees
is ethnically based discrimination and  warrants a full investigation both
by the ICTY, the Security Council, and independent human rights researchers
and analysts. The prisoners are persecuted and deprived of their liberty
solely because they are Albanian, and therefore are being held collectively
responsible for the NATO bombing.
	The NATO allies have let this deplorable situation continue without
comment. The refusal of the co-signers of the Geneva Conventions to take
public steps to secure the release of these prisoners is inexcusable. It
leads one to think--what if the Kosovars were torturing and selling Serb
citizens for thousands of Deutschmarks? Or if Germans were ransoming 1,900
Jews? Instead, implications are that the Albanians are the ones causing this
problem because they won't exchange Serb bodies (as yet in unidentified
locations) and/or prisoners (again in unknown locations and of unknown
identity).
	As the careful transfer of judges from Prishtina and other courts to Serb
courts shows, this situation of transporting the Albanians the day after the
war was planned by the Ministry of Justice. They know full well what was and
is going on, that the persecution is ethnically based, and the trial system
for these individuals is entirely corrupt. This needs to  be documented and
the perpetrators of this abuse need to be prosecuted. The Serb Ministers of
Justice, the ICRC, and UNHCHR leaders are bound by laws that are in effect
in Yugoslavia, both now and throughout the bombing.

     * These laws protect and guarantee their immediate release.
     * The laws are not conditional, i.e. enforceable only when there is a
trade of prisoners,
     * The laws are not optional, i.e. since their release terms were not
stated in the Kumanovo Agreement, then these individuals have lost all
rights to fair, humane treatment and to release following the cessation of
hostilities.
     * As stated earlier, humanitarian law is in effect during armed
conflict. These laws give victims the following rights, which have not been
explained at all to the released prisoners by an UN organization:
     * The right to seek redress, access to justice, the right to present
their views and feeling, the right to receive all necessary legal, medical,
and social assistance available.
     * Governments should make restitution where public officials are at
fault.
     * Financial compensation should be made available from the offender or
from the state.

Regarding the Serb officials involved in this, the law states:
	* Law enforcement officials shall respect and protect human dignity and the
human rights of all persons.
	* Officials who believe that a violation has occurred shall report this
matter
	* Obedience to superior orders shall not be a defense for violations
committed by police

Furthermore, the victims deserve:
	* A prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation into these abuses
	* An investigation that seeks to identify witnesses, discover cause,
manner, location, and time of the violation, and to identify and apprehend
the perpetrators
	* Provisions shall be made for the processing of all complaints against law
enforcement officials by members ofthe public and the existence of these
provisions shall be publicized

     SO FAR, THE SECURITY COUNCIL HAS APPOINTED A SPECIAL ENVOY AUTHORIZED
TO INVESTIGATE THIS PROBLEM. BUT UNMIK, ICRC, AND OSCE IN PRISHTINA HAVE
DONE NOTHING TO ORGANIZE AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE GROSS VIOLATIONS THE
PRISONERS ARE SUFFERING FROM.
     THUS THEY ARE WEAKENING THEIR POSITION IN KOSOVA, NOT ONLY BY FAILING
TO DEMAND A MEANINGFUL PLAN OF ACTION TO FREE THE PRISONERS, BUT BY FAILING
TO DOCUMENT THE NUMEROUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS THESE FAMILIES AND THEIR
LOVED ONES HAVE SUSTAINED DURING THE PAST YEAR.
     YOU SHOULDN¹T HAVE TO BE DEAD TO HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS.

     WE REQUEST THAT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, OSCE, HELSINKI WATCH, UNHCHR,
ICRC, AND THE UNMIK MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AS WELL AS THE HAGUE AND THE UN
SPECIAL ENVOY BEGIN IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATIONS INTO THIS DEPLORABLE AND
INHUMANE SITUATION.

==========================================

Letter addressed to the United States Ambassador
Hon. Richard Holbroooke

Amnesty International
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
Humanitarian Law Center
International League for Human Rights
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
Physicians for Human Rights

March 30, 2000

Dear Ambassador,

	We understand that in the March 6 Security Council briefing on the
situation in Kosovo, Dr. Bernard Kouchner proposed the appointment of a
special envoy to investigate the situation of missing and detained persons
in Kosovo and Serbia. We write to urge you to pursue that important
proposal.
	In Resolution 1244, the Security Council expressed its determination to
resolve the grave humanitarian situation in Kosovo, Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, and committed itself to bringing about peace and security in the
region. Currently, between two and three thousand ethnic Albanians have
"disappeared" after alleged detention by Yugoslav and Serb forces during the
conflict; approximately 600 Serbs, Roma and Muslims have gone missing after
alleged abduction by Albanian groups during and after the conflict; and an
estimated 1,500 ethnic Albanian detainees and prisoners taken by retreating
forces to Serbia remain in detention, some serving sentences after unfair
trials. The fundamental rights of all these people continue to be violated.
	The unresolved situation of such large numbers of missing and detained
persons poses a serious threat to achieving the Council¹s commitment to
resolve the grave humanitarian situation in Kosovo and to bring about
international peace and security. We believe that the safety and well-being
of this core group of "disappeared", missing and detained persons is not
only an important humanitarian and human rights issue but is also central to
the process of reconciliation between the Kosovar and Serbian ethnic groups
and therefore a vital element of the overall success of the UN¹s operation
in Kosovo.
	An important step towards resolving this grave situation would be to
appoint a special envoy with the mandate to investigate the situation of
prisoners, detainees and persons missing in connection with the conflict,
wherever they may be, and with powers to respond effectively to any breaches
of international law as concerns such persons.
	We urge you to take the necessary steps for the appointment, by the United
Nations, of a special envoy for prisoners, detainees and missing persons
from Kosovo and would appreciate your personal attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie Farrior
Director, Legal and International Organizations Program
Amnesty International

Sonja Biserko
Executive Director
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

Natasa Kandic
Executive Director
Humanitarian Law Center

Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Executive Director,
International League for Human Rights

Robert O. Varenik
Director, Protection Program
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights

Leonard S. Rubenstein
Executive Director
Physicians for Human Rights

==========================================

REUTERS
Serbia Delays Sensitive Kosovo Albanian Trial

April 03, 2000
By Dragan Stankovic

NIS, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - A defense lawyer's request for more time
prompted a Serbian court Monday to postpone a sensitive trial of two ethnic
Albanians on charges linked to an alleged massacre of Serbs in Kosovo in
1998.
     The trial, based on accusations which Belgrade has said proved its
crackdown in the province was justified, is now due to open Thursday in the
southern city of Nis.
     The defendants, Luan Mazreku and Bekim Mazreku, are among a total of 20
people alleged to have taken part in the kidnapping, torture and killing of
Serbs in the village of Klecka, southwest of Kosovo's capital Pristina.
     Luan Mazreku's new attorney, Boro Nikolic, said Monday he needed more
time to prepare the defense as he had only taken on the case Sunday.
     In 1998, Serbian police said they found a brick-made furnace where
bodies were allegedly burned with quicklime after they captured the village
from separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas several months into
the conflict.
     Police took reporters to the scene shortly after the capture, in
August, and stood by while Bekim Mazreku confessed he took part in a firing
squad executing 10 people he said he had thought were Serbs.
     A Kosovo Albanian human rights group called for an international
investigation, saying there was no proof. A Finnish team of forensic
investigators visited the site in late 1998. Their findings have not been
made public.
     Belgrade called on the international community to condemn the incident
and have ever since complained that it, and another two cases of alleged
mass murder of Serbs, were not treated with the same gravity as alleged
killings of Albanians by police.

"BEKIM WILL TELL THE TRUTH"

	"Bekim told me he would defend himself by telling the truth," Bekim
Mazreku's lawyer, Cedomir Nikolic, told Reuters, adding the defense would
deny the prosecution on all accounts. "Bekim is going to deny he committed
the crimes."
     Monday's trial postponement was the second since mid-March, when the
court said it had had to delay the trial after the two accused had given
conflicting statements and had to be given separate defense lawyers.
     A Belgrade lawyer monitoring the case said Bekim Mazreku and his
namesake -- the two are apparently not closely related -- were not charged
with actual execution, but with crimes against a Serb boy and girl among the
Klecka group.
     They are also charged with killing two compatriots in a different
incident and attacks on Serbian police.
     "The charge sheet says the defendants, both born in 1978, killed two
ethnic Albanians, raped and tortured a Serb girl age between 12 and 15 and
cut off an ear of an eight-year-old Serb boy," said the lawyer, who declined
to be named.
     The lawyer said the indictment did not mention Bekim's confession, but
added that all evidence and statements would be heard in the trial. The
lawyer said the defendants could change statements given in police custody.
     In previous trials of Kosovo Albanians, the accused have rejected
previous confessions, saying the had been given under duress.
     If found guilty on all counts, the two defendants would face up to 20
years in jail.
     Kosovo Albanians and the international community have accused Serbian
forces of massacres and ethnic cleansing of the province's Albanian
majority, especially during NATO bombings that forced Belgrade to let
international peacekeepers in.
     Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four of his closest allies
were indicted last May by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for atrocities their
forces committed in the province.

© 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
http://news.excite.com/news/r/000403/06/international-yugoslavia-kosovo

==========================================

BBC WORLD SERVICE
Yugoslavia starts trial of Kosovo Albanians

April 03, 2000

	The trial of two Kosovo Albanians accused of committing atrocities against
Serb civilians opens today in the Yugoslav city of Nis.
     The two men the twins, Ljuan and Vekim Mazreku are alleged to have
murdered tortured, kidnapped and raped Serbs in the village of Klecka in
1998.
     They are also accused of membership of the Kosovo Liberation Army,
which the Yugoslav authorities describe as a terrorist organisation.
     A BBC correspondent in Belgrade says the case is an important one for
the Yugoslav government, which has always maintained that Serbs were the
victims rather than the perpetrators of violence in Kosovo.
     But human rights groups say that there are irregularities in the case
and question whether the men will receive a fair trial. The two accused were
arrested together with at least two-thousand other Kosovo Albanians, and
transferred to prisons in Serbia before the Yugoslav forces withdrew from
Kosovo last July.

>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_699000/699552.stm

==========================================

REUTERS
Kosovo Albanians Say Were Tortured, Drugged

By Dragan Stankovic
April 06, 2000

NIS, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Two ethnic Albanians denied charges linking them
to an alleged massacre of Serbs in Kosovo in 1998 when they appeared before
a court in southern Serbia Thursday.
     The sensitive trial of Luan Mazreku and Bekim Mazreku, based on charges
which Belgrade has said proved its crackdown in the province as justified,
was postponed in March and again on Monday when defense lawyers had asked
for more time to prepare.
     "I reject all charges, everything has been rigged," Luan Mazreku told a
court in the southern town of Nis.
     His cousin Bekim also denied the charges, including accusations he had
been a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) separatist guerrillas.
     "I'd be ready to sign my death penalty if I was ever a KLA member,"
Bekim told a five-member judge panel.

CONFESSIONS GIVEN UNDER DURESS

Both defendants said their confessions were given under duress and alleged
they had been drugged before confessing to the charges. They also gave a
detailed account of police torture.
     The Mazrekus were accused of being among 20 people alleged to have
taken part in the kidnapping, torture and killing of Serbs in the village of
Klecka, southwest of Kosovo's capital Pristina.
     Both defendants, born in 1978, were accused of having raped and
tortured a Serb girl aged between 12 and 15 and of cutting off the ear of an
eight-year-old Serb boy.
     The two were also charged with killing two ethnic Albanians in a
separate incident.
     In 1998, Serbian police said they found a brick-made furnace where
bodies were allegedly burned with quicklime after they captured Klecka from
KLA guerrillas.
     Police took reporters to the scene shortly after the capture, in
August, and stood by while Bekim Mazreku confessed he took part in a firing
squad executing 10 people he said he had thought were Serbs.
     Belgrade called on the international community to condemn the incident
and have ever since complained that it, and another two cases of alleged
mass murders of Serbs, were not treated with the same gravity as alleged
killings of Albanians by police.
     Thursday, Bekim told the court he could not recall ever being filmed.
"I heard about that when some other Albanians were arrested. They said they
had seen me on television," he said.
     "Before I was to see the (investigative) judge, I was offered a coffee
though I was crushed by beatings... After the coffee, I suddenly started
feeling happy and I confessed," Bekim said.
     The prosecution said it was impossible that Bekim had forgotten he
testified, because he was clearly advised what he was doing and that is
testimony would be filmed.
     Bekim Mazreku added a policeman had "stabbed me twice with a wire and
then passed electric current through it."
     The trial resumes Friday.

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000406/12/international-yugoslavia-trial

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
Thirteen prisoners are released from Serbia jails

April 06, 2000

Prishtinë, April 6 (Kosovapress) - The Defense Council for the human rights
in Drenas has announced that yesterday from the prison Pozharevc have been
released 13 Albanian prisoners. Among them are and 7 persons from municipal
of Drenica. Among these prisoners was released and professor Avdi Zeqir
Gashi from Llapushtiku, he was arrested last year on May 21 by the Serb
forces at the village Hajvali of Prishtina.

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/prill/6_4_2000_2.htm

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
It is released the young prisoner Elmi Hoti

April 06, 2000

Malishevë, April 6 (Kosovapress) - After eleven month prison in Serbia,
yesterday was released the young prisoner Elmi Hoti 20 years old. He was
arrested last year by the Serb military forces in Hajvalia on May 21, with
him was arrested and his cousin Osman Isuf Hoti born in 1974.
	Elmi Hoti one time was at the prison of Lipjani and then transferred at the
prison of Pozharevci.

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
The protests continue for the prisoners

April 07, 2000

Gjakovë, April 7 (Kosovapress) - And today, like every other Fridays in
Gjakova were held the protests for the release of prisoners and to find the
missing persons. On supports of these protests, it is expected more
sensibilization by the international opinion, and to make more pressure on
the Belgrade regime, to release all the prisoners, who are innocently held
on the Serbia jails. Usually the protests start at 1 p.m. in front of the
sport center, and to continue through the main roads in the town.
	They were stopped for a while in front of the Italian command, UNMIK
administer, and Communal Council. On the protests took part more than 4.000
citizens.

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/prill/7_4_2000_1.htm

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
Seven prisoners released

April 07, 2000

Drenas, April 7 (Kosovapress) - Accompanied by the International Red Cross,
yesterday were brought to Kosova seven released prisoners were from Drenas,
they were among the 13 prisoners who were released on the same day from the
prison Pozharevci.
	Among them we managed to find out some of their names such as: Avdi Gashi
from Llapushniku, Vesel Istogu from Palluzha, Muharrem Elshani from Çikatova
e Re, Sokol Spahiu from Tërsteniku, Osman Mulaj also from Tërsteniku, but
the other two names we could not get learn.

==========================================

Additional updates of the Kosovar political prisoners, including those
sentenced, missing and released, may be found at:
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-database.htm
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0037.htm
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0038.htm
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0041.htm

Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova
can be found at:
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db
df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument

Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at:
http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm

Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 018