From amead at mail.maine.rr.com Thu Feb 8 17:42:49 2001 From: amead at mail.maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 17:42:49 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] NEWSLETTER, FEB. 8, 2001 Message-ID: A-PAL NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 8, 2001________ PLEASE SIGN OUR ONLINE PETITION AT WWW.KHAO.ORG/APPKOSOVA.HTM WE ARE PREPARING THE INTERNATIONAL LIST OF SIGNATURES FOR DELIVERY TO THE FRY GOVERNMENT AS WELL AS THE EU PRESIDENCY. In October, 2000, President Kostunica promised international leaders that the Albanian prisoners would be released. In January, 2001, Mr. Goran Svilanovic promised U.S. officials in Washington that the prisoners would be released "very soon." Approximately 670 Albanian prisoners remain deprived of liberty and human rights. Today the FRY Parliament delayed a vote on the amnesty law which has been prepared since last November. Yet even when this law finally passes, only a fraction of the Albanians will be released. We have delayed our public pressure campaign since early January out of courtesy and respect for the new FRY Parliament. But further delays in freeing the Albanian prisoners means that we once again must redouble our efforts. WE URGE EVERYONE TO TAKE UP THE CAUSE OF FRY REFORM AGAIN ! SUPPORT THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REQUEST TO TIE FINANCIAL AID TO YUGOSLAVIA TO COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS OF JUSTICE, BEGINNING WITH THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS ---- THE U.S. DEADLINE FOR THIS REGARDING THE ARREST OF MILOSEVIC IS APRIL 1, 2001. UNFORTUNATELY, ONCE AGAIN, THE PRISONERS' FATE HAS BEEN OMITTED FROM THESE ULTIMATUMS. THEIR 670 LIVES MEAN MORE THAN THAT. THEY CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN. PRESSURE YOUR LOCAL REPS. TO SUPP0RT RESTRICTED FUNDING, REINSTATEMENT OF SANCTIONS, IF THE PRISONERS ARE NOT RELEASED AS PROMISED REPEATEDLY. ********************************************************* from European A-PAL: YOU CAN HELP US----JOIN OUR ACTION CAMPAIGN!! ODMAH OSLOBODITE ALBANSKE ZATVORENIKE! RELEASE THE ALBANIAN PRISONERS NOW! T? LIROHEN MENJ?HER? T? BURGOSURIT! LASST JETZT DIE GEFANGENEN FREI!! VISIT US AT http://www.kosova-info-line.de/APP/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________________________ http://www.b92.net/archive/e/index.phtml?Y=2001&M=02&D=07 FreeB92 Last update: Feb 8, 2001 00:36 CET Serbian parliament demands Amnesty bill revision 20:30 BELGRADE, Wednesday - The Serbian parliament's judicial committee has returned the draft Amnesty bill to the government after members raised objections to several points within it. However, the committee approved the broad outline of the bill, which proposes sentence reductions of either 15 or 25 per cent depending on the gravity of the offence committed. Most objections were raised by Democratic Opposition of Serbia MPs, who said the bill was being pushed through parliament under pressure from the prison rioters. The fiercest debate revolved around the proposal from DOS MP Leila Ruzdic that those convicted of rape or intercourse with children or defenceless people be exempted from the amnesty. ______________ ----Original Message----- From: Human Rights Watch [mailto:HRWpress at hrw.org] Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 6:26 AM To: hrwpress at hrw.org Subject: Yugoslavia: International Justice Required FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE YUGOSLAVIA: INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE REQUIRED Link E.U. Aid to Cooperation with International Tribunal (Brussels, 7 February 2001)?As European Union officials prepared to travel to Belgrade, Human Rights Watch today urged that the E.U. insist on Yugoslav cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal. ?The end of the abusive Milosevic regime is a welcome development,? said Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch?s Europe and Central Asia Division. ?But there can be little hope of a clean break with the past unless the indicted architects of ethnic cleansing are brought to justice.? In a letter sent to all E.U. foreign ministers, the human rights monitoring group urged them to tell their counterparts in Belgrade that future E.U. funding to the Yugoslav government will require cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, including the arrest and transfer of indicted war criminals living in Serbia. ?In the early weeks after the October revolution, President Kostunica could plausibly argue that he needed time,? said Cartner. ?But the honeymoon is now over and the international community should make clear to Yugoslav officials that it demands cooperation with the Tribunal.? Human Rights Watch also urged the E.U. to adopt a common position on aid to Yugoslavia that would make E.U. assistance conditioned on cooperation with the Tribunal and other reform measures. Although Prime Minister Goran Persson of Sweden, which currently holds the rotating E.U. Presidency, is reported to have told Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica last week that continued E.U. funds require cooperation with the Tribunal, the E.U. has not formally adopted this position as binding policy. The United States government has set 1 April as the deadline by which Yugoslav authorities must be cooperating with the Tribunal, including the arrest and transfer of indictees, or else face a funding cut-off. Human Rights Watch made the appeal after the Tribunal prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, recently received a chilly welcome in Belgrade from President Kostunica. Questioning the legality and procedures of the Tribunal, Kostunica reportedly told Del Ponte that his government would not cooperate in the apprehension of indicted war crimes suspects for trial by the Tribunal in the Hague. Yugoslav government officials have said that they intend to try former President Slobodan Milosevic in a local court. Rights groups and Tribunal officials insist that any trials for war crimes must take place before the international tribunal. ?According to United Nations resolutions, which are binding on Yugoslavia, the Tribunal must have the first opportunity to try war criminals,? explained Cartner. ?In this case, it?s hard to imagine that a Serbian court could do justice for Croatian, Bosnian and Kosovar victims of Serb war-time abuses. Only an international forum can guarantee accountability in an even-handed way.? A copy of the Human Rights Watch letter to E.U. foreign ministers can be found at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/02/icty0207.htm. For further information, please contact: In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +32-2-732-2009 In New York, Holly Cartner: +1-212-216-1277 _________________________________________ February 6, 2001 (From Kosova e Lire - February 3, 2001) To: Wolfgang Plarre From: Raif Emini This is a letter written by one of 670 Albanian prisoners addressed to their families... that they are still hoping that their loved ones will be released from serbian prisons.Its writer achieved to send it from a jail in order to inform , as you may know that THE RED CROSS does not inform everyone about true situation of Albanians in Serbian jails. -I am a political prisoner sentenced to 14 years. I address this letter to all Albanians wherever they are, writing it from the cold floor of a Serbian prison. Last week, through the media and through visits of concerned lawyers, we were informed that Federal Government here ( of Yugoslavia) accepted a draft of a law proposal for amnesty, which will be suggested for the approval at the Federal Assembly of this country within a short time. Unfortunately this law is foreseen to release only a part of imprisoned Albanians for which we have some joyful emotions,whereas another number of them will remain in intolerable prisons of Serbia including my self. We have to encouter the nightmare of insecurity for the future. With good will from International Community. Serbian regime, Albanian political factor and up to a point because of the lack of people's insistence, we hostages will remain further mice for testing. I, personally, unfortunately, see that that the will of a afore-mentioned parties about our destiny is an agreement, which it seems only you being members of our families you do not understand it, and it seems that those cruel and vicious persons of international offices convince you that we are going to be released from prisons regardless of articles and indictments. This fact cannot be understood by most people?.. However we wait. By this I'm not saying that our hearts are broken, but the truth is that now we use only our will to overcome our bad situation and let's not talk about our physical injuries ?.. _************************************************* From: "Olivier Dupuis" Subject: KOSOVARIAN HOSTAGES HELD IN SERBIA: OPEN LETTER TO THE EUROPEAN UNION TROIKA Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2001 03:04:05 -0800 To: odupuis at visto.com KOSOVARIAN HOSTAGES HELD IN SERBIA: OPEN LETTER TO THE EUROPEAN UNION TROIKA Brussels, February 7, 2001. The following newspapers, Le Matin (Brussels), Koha Ditore (Pristina) and L?Opinione (Rome), have published the open letter of Olivier Dupuis on the issues of the Kosovarian hostages and of international justice to Mrs Anna Lindh, Serving President of the Council, Mr Chris Patten, Commissioner for External Relations, Mr Javier Solana, High Representative for Foreign Policy and Common Security and for information to Mrs Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament and Mrs Doris Pack, President of the EP/South East Europe Delegation. Rt. Hon. Serving President, Rt. Hon. Commissioner, Rt. Hon. High Representative for Foreign Policy and Common Security, Unlike us, President Kostunica has evidently not watched the TV news over the past months and years, and has thus not witnessed the favourite pastime of Mladic?s military and paramilitary forces: shooting at children, old people, and unarmed civilians, from the hills around Sarajevo, for example. He evidently has no memory of those dignified, harmless civilians who every day would defy the Serbian heroes safe in their lookout posts. Just as he has no memory of Vukovar, of the prisoners killed and the sick murdered in their hospital beds. He probably knows nothing of the experience of the besieged, bombarded cities of Osijek, Sarajevo, Gorazde? he has no memory of the 7,000 defenders of Srebrenica who were killed ruthlessly. He knows nothing about the Serbs, like Momcilo Vukasinovic, a member of the Transnational Radical Party, who died during those dark days in the attempt to defend democracy and Croatia from the regime that was then in power, and would remain in power for a long time to come, in Belgrade. President Kostunica also has no memory - how could he? - of the death of my friend Izet Muhamedagic, the Vice-Minister of Justice in the Sarajevo government, he too a Radical and a supporter of the campaign for the International Court. Rescued from certain death in a field or a police station somewhere in the Republika Sprska thanks to the efforts of several Radical activists in the summer of 1994, he died a few weeks later in the helicopter that was trying to get him and his colleagues in the Sarajevo government out of Bihac, where they had gone to give moral support to their besieged fellow countrymen. Just as he cannot remember the concentration camps in Omarska, Prijedor? the starving faces of the Bosnians, pictures so similar to those that the world, the German people and the leaders of the Nazi regime discovered, sometimes with disbelief, in 1945. And how could he? He has never seen these pictures. Just as he has doubtless never seen the isolated building in Belgrade, its walls covered with slogans painted in black, which was the home of the great Serbian architect and democrat Bogdan Bogdanovic, the exiled ?Oustacha?. >From what he says, it seems that even the 1,000,000 Kosovans forced >at gunpoint to abandon everything and flee to exile in the atrocious >conditions that we all remember, even the hands that set fire to >their houses and stole their property, are not part of his country?s >history. And that the 200,000 victims in Bosnia, the civilians >driven into minefields, the thousands of summary executions, the >premeditated rapes, and the thousands of victims in Croatia and >Kosovo are nothing but NATO propaganda. President Kostunica, it seems, has only one memory. The one Milosevic left to him. The memory of authoritarian regimes. A selective memory. The memory of the leader?s speeches and deeds, the memory of the ?resistance? against the international conspiracy. President Kostunica?s speeches are nothing but a gigantic inversion of the truth. Given a regal welcome by the European Parliament last autumn, he did not say a single word about the last ten years, about the hundreds of thousands of victims, about the unnameable horrors committed for the ?defence? of his people. Just as he did not say a word about the 700 Kosovans still detained in Serbia. Only the Serbian victims of NATO bombing deserved his compassion. Some of us found President Kostunica?s selective memory and one-way compassion, and the amnesia of the enthusiastic Euro-MPs, to be distasteful: ?Never mind,? we were told. The monster is still alive. The Serbian opposition still has to go through the torture of legislative elections. Since 23 December this has no longer been true: the Serbian opposition has won hands down. Yet President Kostunica has still not changed his tune. Never mind, we are told. He is a stickler for legal procedures. Every decision must comply with the law and the constitution. Justice, the law?. Let?s talk about it. Resolution 827 of the United Nations could not be clearer: ?Yugoslavia must co-operate fully with the International Tribunal and comply with any order issued in line with Art. 29 of the Statute?. What we see, however, is President Kostunica giving a lesson in justice to the Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal. The Croatian and Bosnian authorities, who complied with the resolution in much more difficult circumstances, will be deeply impressed? As for the victims, the families of the dead?. Justice, the law?. For the 700 Albanian Kosovarians detained for over 20 months in Serbian prisons. There is talk of an amnesty in the near future for 200 of them? An amnesty that would be as illegal as the rounding-up and imprisonment they have suffered for the past 20 months. In terms of international law and Resolution 1244 of the United Nations, there can be no doubt that the 700 Kosovarians are hostages to all effects. Some of them have been sentenced by the Pristina courts, but these sentences, where they exist, are null and void. As the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations and Natasha Kandic have recalled, if it is confirmed that some of them have been indicted for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, only the UNMIK and the Tribunal in The Hague have the power to pronounce judgement on them. There can be no future without memory. And there can be no memory without knowledge. This knowledge, which we owe to the Serbian people, must be at the centre of any overture to Belgrade. And only the International Tribunal for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia can now bring about such knowledge, as well as some justice. As for the torment of the 700 Kosovarians, it has gone on far too long. The Belgrade authorities must hand them back immediately to the Special Representative Haekkerup. Otherwise the Tribunal in The Hague will have no alternative but to indict the Belgrade authorities - those in power now - for the illegal detention of civilians and for abetment in the taking of hostages. The European Union must convey this message, as clearly and firmly as possible, to the Belgrade authorities, first of all to President Kostunica and the Prime Minister Djindjic. The Council, the Commission and the Parliament can no longer allow Belgrade to respond to the injunctions of the United Nations with silence or arrogance. The dignity of the Union is at stake. Thank you for your attention. I trust that you will pursue the issue with determination, Yours sincerely, Olivier Dupuis Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party, Member of the European Parliament_________________________________________________ ----Original Message----- From: Human Rights Watch [mailto:HRWpress at hrw.org] Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 6:26 AM To: hrwpress at hrw.org Subject: Yugoslavia: International Justice Required FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE YUGOSLAVIA: INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE REQUIRED Link E.U. Aid to Cooperation with International Tribunal (Brussels, 7 February 2001)?As European Union officials prepared to travel to Belgrade, Human Rights Watch today urged that the E.U. insist on Yugoslav cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal. ?The end of the abusive Milosevic regime is a welcome development,? said Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch?s Europe and Central Asia Division. ?But there can be little hope of a clean break with the past unless the indicted architects of ethnic cleansing are brought to justice.? In a letter sent to all E.U. foreign ministers, the human rights monitoring group urged them to tell their counterparts in Belgrade that future E.U. funding to the Yugoslav government will require cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, including the arrest and transfer of indicted war criminals living in Serbia. ?In the early weeks after the October revolution, President Kostunica could plausibly argue that he needed time,? said Cartner. ?But the honeymoon is now over and the international community should make clear to Yugoslav officials that it demands cooperation with the Tribunal.? Human Rights Watch also urged the E.U. to adopt a common position on aid to Yugoslavia that would make E.U. assistance conditioned on cooperation with the Tribunal and other reform measures. Although Prime Minister Goran Persson of Sweden, which currently holds the rotating E.U. Presidency, is reported to have told Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica last week that continued E.U. funds require cooperation with the Tribunal, the E.U. has not formally adopted this position as binding policy. The United States government has set 1 April as the deadline by which Yugoslav authorities must be cooperating with the Tribunal, including the arrest and transfer of indictees, or else face a funding cut-off. Human Rights Watch made the appeal after the Tribunal prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, recently received a chilly welcome in Belgrade from President Kostunica. Questioning the legality and procedures of the Tribunal, Kostunica reportedly told Del Ponte that his government would not cooperate in the apprehension of indicted war crimes suspects for trial by the Tribunal in the Hague. Yugoslav government officials have said that they intend to try former President Slobodan Milosevic in a local court. Rights groups and Tribunal officials insist that any trials for war crimes must take place before the international tribunal. ?According to United Nations resolutions, which are binding on Yugoslavia, the Tribunal must have the first opportunity to try war criminals,? explained Cartner. ?In this case, it?s hard to imagine that a Serbian court could do justice for Croatian, Bosnian and Kosovar victims of Serb war-time abuses. Only an international forum can guarantee accountability in an even-handed way.? A copy of the Human Rights Watch letter to E.U. foreign ministers can be found at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/02/icty0207.htm. For further information, please contact: In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +32-2-732-2009 In New York, Holly Cartner: +1-212-216-1277 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 20384 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20010208/9e4dedd4/attachment.bin From amead at mail.maine.rr.com Sat Feb 17 21:43:32 2001 From: amead at mail.maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 21:43:32 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] Fwd: A-PAL NEWSLETTER Message-ID: > >> >>A-PAL ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY >>FEBRUARY 17, 2001 >> >> Statement on Ethnic Violence >> >>On the same day that the Serb Parliament was meeting to discuss the >>proposed amnesty law, the start of a review of the future of the >>remaining 650 Albanian prisoners--most of whom have been accused >>and sentenced for acts of "terrorism" they didn't commit- >>extremists in Kosova blew up a bus carrying Serb civilians. >> >>Kosova's apparently endless tolerance for gross acts of murder and >>outrage against its fellow citizens is deplorable. Rightly or >>wrongly, Kosovar Albanians have by now disgusted the international >>community during the past year and a half by refusing to take a >>stand against such brutal and cowardly acts. The moral cowardice of >>Kosova's political and community leaders in failing to lead Kosova >>toward a more lawful future is equally discouraging. >> >>Silence in the face of brutal violations of human rights is complicity. >> >>The repeated acts of ethnic violence have made international >>appeals on behalf of the remaining prisoners increasingly difficult >>and have, without doubt, played a role in the delay of their >>release during the past three months. >> >>Alice Mead >>A-PAL Coordinator -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 1446 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20010217/3492453b/attachment.bin From amead at mail.maine.rr.com Mon Feb 19 09:36:51 2001 From: amead at mail.maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 09:36:51 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER 2/19/01 Message-ID: A-PAL ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY FEBRUARY 19, 2001 STATEMENT ON CONDITION OF THE 650 REMAINING PRISONERS Today in Prishtina, the office of the Association of Prisoners is crowded with worried family members. According to some prisoners at Nis Prison, guards have entered the first and second floor and beaten the Albanians there in retaliation for the killings of Serbs in Kosova and Presevo during the past week. Sixteen family members who traveled with ICRC to Belgrade Prison were turned away, the director told them that the prisoners had the flu. Two prisoners recently released from Belgrade Prison said that conditions there were terrible-- that they don't have enough air to breathe, that prisoners are in weakened condition and talk openly of suicide, and are planning a hunger strike. While it still is impossible to know who, exactly, is responsible for the brutal bombing of the bus full of Serb civilians last Friday, three points remain consistently clear: 1. the rights and survival of the 650 prisoners are in constant jeopardy 2. the prisoners are political hostages whose survival and freedom is completely dependent on events in and around Kosova and Serbia 3. the stability of Kosova, and the survival of the prisoners, can be threatened by the violent criminal acts of a few people, Albanian or Serb. It is the criminal violence that is destabilizing, not the ethnicity of the perpetrator. While we deplore the recent bombings, we must continue to urge the FRY and Serb Parliament to continue its process with regard to the amnesty law. The plans for the release of the prisoners cannot be contingent upon criminal acts of violence by others. Consider this: if an Asian gang committed a string of murders in Atlanta, would the U.S. courts and prisons then be justified in prolonging and even torturing all Asian prisoners in Los Angeles and Washington, DC? As long as one member of an ethnic group is viewed not as an individual with inviolable rights but as a stand-in for an entire population, the future of both Serbia and Kosova (and therefore the NATO nations) will be hostage to ethnic violence. Detaining the 650 prisoners further will not halt this kind of violence. Further well-considered steps down the road to protection of human rights eventually will. We must urge the Serb Parliament to take this step forward towards justice and normalization and not backwards towards ethnic retaliation. Readers' comments are reassuring in showing that people all over the world are committed to establishing justice and human rights in both Kosova and Serbia. Our hope lies in their willingness to share their points of view for our consideration and in their, as well as our, persistence and belief in democratic principles in the face of difficulties and setbacks. ________________________________________________ READERS' COMMENTS: "please do not give up." ****************************** Dear friend(s) at A-Pal, Please acknowledge that there is a more than 50 - 50 chance that serbian interior/inteligence agents are still acting and carrying out missions in Kosova. I strongly believe that the bus attack might have, I repeat might have been the work of serbian espionage agents attempting to de-rail the fragile success that UNMIK has so far achieved. I do not think that these people in power today in serbia rate life very highly (even their own nationality), as we saw with milosevc and his human shields and another example was hilighted recently when we found out that he had put his own TV journalists in the serbian TV building (headquarters) during the NATO bombing campaign knowing full well it was a targeted building.What do you think??? Reguards Ilirian Australia. _________________________________________________________ Now when I hear on the news about the revenge attacks happening there, it makes me very sad. Insted of trying to build the future of Kosova, people there are attacking each other. Instead of trying to convince international community that the only solution for Kosova's future is Independence, they are doing the opposite. But, I am still hopeful that one day Kosova will be free, that people will live in harmony with each other, that children will be able to go to school happy and free. Thank you, Kujtim Princeton New Jersey ____________________________________________ "The violence has to stop immediately because that undermines all efforts made by the Kosovo people and the international community to build a tolerant and democratic society for all citizens," said a statement issued by Rugova's office in Pristina. Democratic Party of Kosovo, the second party derived from ex-KLA members, also strongly condemned the killings, calling it a "criminal act" and urged NATO's Kosovo Force and U.N. police to find and punish the criminals, whether they are Albanians or Serbs. "We strongly condemn this criminal act and ask the legal authorities to investigate as soon as possible so that the criminals face with justice. These criminals do not have (the protection of) a nationality, they are criminals and have to be sentenced," says Fatmir Limaj, a DP leader. Seven Serbs were killed, 10 critically injured and 33 others hurt by a remote control bomb exploded when a Serb convoy crossed Kosovo border close to Podujeva Friday. This is the second violent attack against Serbs within three days in Kosovo.A KFOR spokesman said they have arrested two people in connection with the bombings, and KFOR has increased security measures to avoid clashes between Serbs and Albanians. --AUGUSTE GUILLIAME EDMONTON, CANADA --_________________________________________ Dear A_PAL this morning - more brutal attacks in South Serbia, and presently there is a press conference holding in Bujanovac. My people down there is too sad to hate anybody today, as I felt talking to some of my friends from Bujanovac this morning. Yesterday my state proclaimed 18 February as The Day of Mourning for the dead in buss near Podujevo. And today?.This is beyond reasonable line of understanding, but knowing Albanian terrorists, they will keep doing it until their political leaders stop them, and they are not doing it at all. Blown up and killed at the spot near village of Lucane by Albanian terrorist mine when delivering food to the police positions there. Three dead policemen are from Belgrade, Vozdovac, their names are: Miomir Jeremic, Milenko Zivotic, Boban Mitic. Please mention their names in your prayer. Jovana, belgrade _________________________________________________ DEAR A-PAL, I TOTALY AGREE WITH YOUR OPINION ABOUT WHAT HAPPEND IN PODUJEVA (KOSOVA). I DO NOT SEE ANYTHING WORSE IN THIS WORLD THAN THESE ACTS. (BUT MILLOSEVIC-ES AKTS). HOWEVER, I SEE AND I KNOW, THAT, THERE ARE TO MANY PEOPLE IN KOSOVA WHO LOST A FAMILY MEMBERS, OR HAVE THEM STILL, IN SRBIAN PRISONERS, SO (I BELIVE) THAY DO NOT CARE ABOUT POLITICS,WRIGHTS, HUMAN WRIGHTS, OR ANYTHING ELSE. THAY CONSIDER THEMSELFS PEOPLE WITH NO FUTURE. IN THIS CASE I THINK, WE, YOU AND ALL HUMMAN WRIGHT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE WORLD, EROPIAN COUNTRYES NEED TO WORK LITTLE BIT MORE , TO DO MORE AND REAL PRESSURE TO KOSTUNICA TO FINALY AND URGENTLY BRING AMNESTY LAW AND RELISE ALBANIAN PRISONERS. I THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD STEP TO BRING EVERYBODY IN LEVEL, IN WHICH THAY CAN COUNT IN THEIR FUTURE. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT MOMENT. WE CAN NOT BUILD A REAL KOSOVA WITH THESE ACTS. SO, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP. LUIGI, Michigan, USA ____________________________________________________ Submitted by Mr. Bart Staes, Member of EP, Feb. 13, 2001 Brussels. Mr. Kinnock, E.C. : " The honourable Member is correct in stating that the proposed amnesty law, wich is still only a proposal before both the Serbian Parliament and the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, will not cover anyone convicted of offences considered to be acts of terrorism. The European Union has already repeatedly called for the release of all Kosovo Albanian prisoners. The EU ministerial troika which visited Belgrade on 8 February also expressed concern at the fact that the proposed amnesty law will not cover all those convicted of political offences by the Milosevic regime. The Commission has been fully involved in these initiatives, and the European Parliament's ad hoc delegation, which visited from 8 to 10 February, also raised this issue in the relevant quarters. The Serbian and federal authorities have indicated their intention to urgently re-examine the cases of those not covered by the law, particularly to ascertain whether the convictions are sound or not. As of today, the prisoners have still, regrettably, not been released. The EU will keep up the pressure to ensure that they are. " _______________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 9487 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20010219/0d2691df/attachment.bin From amead at mail.maine.rr.com Tue Feb 27 16:17:52 2001 From: amead at mail.maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:17:52 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] a-pal newsletter Message-ID: A-PAL ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY FEBRUARY 27, 2001 A-PAL STATEMENT This week, the Serb Parliament passed the amnesty law. It was announced yesterday the law will release only 108 of the remaining 580 prisoners. We have worked hard for the past twenty months to obtain justice for these people, nearly all convicted without proper evidence. But it won't release those charged with terrorism. Many Albanians were labeled 'terrorists" during the NATO war because they were considered pro-NATO. So this type of collective thinking, typical of the Milosevic regime, in effect still stands for over 300 remaining Albanian prisoners until further notice. The disappointment that 326 families waiting in Kosova must feel at this time must be overwhelming, and our thoughts are with them. They have been given no information as to what prospects for freedom their loved ones actually have. Last week, a group of 17 family members were turned away from the Belgrade Prison. Albanians continue to be sentenced every week. The lack of transparency throughout this whole process has been disappointing as well. The Yugoslav Ministry of Justice has promised a "speedy" review of cases that had no proper evidence. But this speedy review comes without a timetable of any kind. "Those convicted without any evidence will be pardoned," Momcilo Grubac said, adding that Mr. Kostunica was the one to make the final decision. Does that mean that those who confessed under torture will be released? Those with false paraffin tests will be released? Those whose legal and human rights were egregiously violated will be released? This process is becoming convoluted, without objectivity, more like a shell game than due process of law. ____________________________________________________________ 02/26/2001, Evening -- Minister of justice on amnesty and announcements of forthcoming Milosevic's arrest Batic: 108 Albanians will be pardoned Minister of justice Vladan Batic announced on Monday in Federal Parliament that currently there are 580 Albanians in Serbian prisons, and 108 of them will be pardoned. He said that 108 Albanians who would be pardoned had not been indicted for criminal acts from the group of terrorist crimes. He explained that out of 580 Albanians, 146 were convicted for classic crimes, so the Amnesty Act will not include them, nor 326 Albanians charged with or accused of terrorism. Batic estimated that announcements of some foreign media that former president of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic was going to be arrested even till the end of this week, were mere speculations. "We have not announced any arrest. Those who are guilty will stand in court and it will be when we collect enough evidence and arguments", said Batic. (Tanjug) ----------------------------------- February 27, 2001 Yugoslav Parliament Passes Amnesty for Jailed Kosovars By CARLOTTA GALL BELGRADE, Serbia, Feb. 26 - The Yugoslav Parliament passed a long-awaited amnesty law today that will free several hundred Kosovo Albanians held in Serbian prisons since the war in Kosovo in 1999 and will clear thousands of draft dodgers and deserters in Yugoslavia from prosecution by the army. It was the first major piece of legislation passed by the new Parliament and the first real gesture by the new government to reverse injustices suffered by Albanians from Kosovo under Slobodan Milosevic. United Nations officials in Kosovo and human rights organizations have long called for the release of the 650 Albanians still in Serbian prisons, most of whom they regard as political prisoners. The prisoners were among about 2,000 transferred to Serbia at the end of the war in 1999, when NATO-led peacekeepers took control of Kosovo. The status of those in prison is one of the most explosive issues in Kosovo today, and United Nations officials have repeatedly said their continued imprisonment is a major obstacle to peace and reconciliation. Despite protests from Mr. Milosevic's Socialist Party, and his wife's Yugoslav Left Party, the law was passed easily in both the upper and lower houses. It will give amnesty to all those charged with and convicted of conspiring against the state, but not to those convicted of terrorism. In addition to the prisoners, the main beneficiaries of the law will be an estimated 28,000 young Serbs and Montenegrins, many of whom fled abroad to avoid serving in the army during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and finally Kosovo, according to Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac. The amnesty, he noted today, was one of the election promises of the government that replaced Mr. Milosevic's. About 200 of the imprisoned Kosovo Albanians have been charged with terrorism, and their cases will be reviewed separately, he said. But he added that after reviewing the status of the prisoners, he had asked President Vojislav Kostunica to pardon some who had been convicted of terrorism on insufficient evidence. "Those convicted without any evidence will be pardoned," he said, adding that Mr. Kostunica was the one to make the final decision. In particular, he said, 143 men from the town of Djakovica were convicted as a group, apparently without evidence, after several police officers were killed. "The real terrorists escaped, and the citizens were tried without any evidence or proof that they committed this criminal offense," he told Parliament. Shortly after taking office as president in October, Mr. Kostunica pardoned the best known Albanian political prisoner, Flora Brovina, a pediatrician, along with a Serbian journalist convicted of spying. Since then, Mr. Kostunica has come under criticism for stalling on the release of the remaining 650 Kosovo Albanians. In a recent interview, Mr, Grubac said that there was no political agenda in the delay, but that it had been necessary to review all the cases. Case officers at the independent Humanitarian Law Center, who monitored virtually every trial at the time, suggested that Mr. Kostunica had sought to use the prisoners as leverage in negotiations with the West over Kosovo and over cooperation with the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Nevertheless, passing the law, without amendments, was clearly a success for Mr. Kostunica's ministers, who applauded when it was voted through. The Socialists and Yugoslav Left deputies staged a walkout for the vote, raising banners that read, "You are freeing the butchers and are arresting Serbian generals," and "Free Rade Markovic," a reference to Mr. Milosevic's former secret police chief, who was arrested by the new Serbian authorities over the weekend. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 7001 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20010227/c2a0507d/attachment.bin