[A-PAL] a-pal newsletter, 3/18/2001

[Alice Mead]

A-PAL NEWSLETTER: total prisoners released since amnesty law enacted: 179
MARCH 17, 2001	total  PRISONERS  remaining:   471
              March 31 is the deadline for arresting Milosevic.-------
_______________________________________
At present, four hundred and seventy one Albanian prisoners remain in 
Serbian prisons, despite repeated assurances that they would be 
released. According to the Humanitarian Law Center, two hundred and 
fifty of these cases should have been covered under the amnesty law. 
The rest should be transferred to Kosova or pardoned.
The UN has legal responsibility for these Albanian prisoners, to 
review their cases, their trials, the appalling conditions of the 
prisons, the grief of the families. What has the UN done to obtain 
justice for them?
The prisoners  have been wrongfully detained for twenty one months, 
tortured, tried unfairly, denied medical care and family visits. They 
were rounded up under the Milosevic campaign of ethnic cleansing 
during the NATO war. Their continued detention is not only unjust but 
fuels regional unrest, keeping anxieties high. Detaining them 
indefinitely is  an act of ethnic injustice by the Kostunica 
presidency. Apparently President Kostunica now sees these people as 
human bargaining chips, and continues to deprive them of liberty in 
retaliation for the violent acts of militants in South Serbia.
We condemn the destabilizing violence in Tetove and Presevo and urge 
dialog and cooperation to establish equality in all corners of the 
former Yugoslavia. But detaining prisoners three hundred miles away 
from the fighting means they are not seen as individuals but 
collectively used as political hostages. This is wrong.
  Should the Israeli's arbitrarily round up 2,000 Palestinians, 
torture them, kill some, imprison the rest? Should the USA take 2,000 
Arab prisoners because of the attack on the USS Cole and the 
embassies? Is this what democracies do? After a military agreement 
was signed, would we continue to hold these 2,000  prisoners hostage 
indefinitely? Where are the international laws that say this is what 
just societies do? Where are the international laws that say 
governments can hold thousands of prisoners and try them unfairly and 
brutalize them?  Sadly, outbreaks of ethnic hostility continue in the 
region---might not the blatant contradictions in Western policy and 
international refusal to apply even-handed norms to all violent 
actions play a role in  splinter groups using violence to get 
international attention? Instead of frantically pointing fingers, we 
should also look at the West's role in failing to insist  on equal 
treatment under the law.
At this moment, Serbia remains  a place where indicted war criminals 
(Milosevic, Karadzic, and Mladic among others) remain free and where 
"minorities" (ethnic Albanians) are brutalized and imprisoned with no 
access to normal standards of justice. The West continues to tolerate 
13 years of horrifying brutality  within  the last shreds of the FRY 
by going along with these two shameful situations, while reacting 
hysterically to violent extremists in other places. Well, we deplore 
brutality in all situations. Not just some of them. Why isn't the 
same level of Western hysteria  applied to President Kostunica, until 
he has the courage to normalize the corrupt justice system of his 
country and to condemn Milosevic's policies towards Albanians, 
Bosnians, Croats. This is the first step towards reconciliation. When 
will it happen?



A-PAL ACTION:
URGE YOUR REPS.  to uphold the  withholding financial assistance to 
the FYR until the Albanian prisoners are released and Milosevic and 
others are turned over to The Hague.
  March 31, 2001 is the deadline the West has set.
_________________________________________
  1,     Pristina, 16.03.2001
ICRC ACCOMPANIES MORE PRISONERS FROM SERBIAN JAILS

    Today the ICRC accompanied to Kosovo fifteen persons released by the
    authorities in Serbia. One was released from Cuprija prison, six from
    Vranje prison and eight from Nis prison.
    Seven persons come from Prishtinë/Pristina, three from Pejë/Pec, three
    from Gjakovë/Djakovica, one from Prizren and one from
    Mitrovicë/Mitrovica.
___________________________________________

2.  U.S. WARNING TO BELGRADE? The "New York Times" reported on
10 March that "the United States has told the...government
in Belgrade [in a three-page letter] that if it expects
American aid to continue, it should arrest and imprison
former President Slobodan Milosevic by the end of March,
and at the same time should assist in transferring to The
Hague at least one person indicted on war crimes charges,
senior Western officials said today." The report added that
"Washington is not insisting that Mr. Milosevic be
transferred immediately to The Hague, where he is under
indictment for war crimes for Serbian actions before and
during the 1999 Kosovo war. But its official policy remains
that Mr. Milosevic face charges in The Hague." The daily
noted that "for American aid to continue, President [George
W.] Bush must certify to Congress by 31 March that the
Belgrade government is cooperating with the Dayton
agreement, furthering human rights, and cooperating with
The Hague tribunal. Otherwise, nonrelief American aid of
$100 million this fiscal year will be cut off; about half
of it is not yet disbursed." ("RFE/RL Newsline," 12 March)
__________________________________________
3. Brovina Urges U.S. to Cut Off Aid to Serbia if prisoners not released

Meets with Members of Congress, Former Secretary Albright, Albanian 
Caucus Members  Eliot L. Engel, Sue W. Kelly, John W. Olver 
					Mark Steven
>	Washington,DC, March 15, 2001: Dr. Flora Brovina visited U.S. 
>government officials in Washington this week and asked for increased 
>pressure to force Serbia to release over 500 Albanian prisoners. The 
>National Albanian American Council organized her visits.
   Dr.Brovina is a pediatrician, a poet, and a women's rights activist
who formed the Albanian Women's League in 1992. During the war in
Kosova, she ran a health clinic in Prishtina that also served as a
shelter for orphaned children. In 1999, as Albanians were being
forcefully expelled from Kosova, Dr. Brovina was abducted by eight
masked Serb paramilitaries and taken to Serbia.
   After considerable international pressure, Dr. Brovina was released
last December. In February, an amnesty law was passed and over 100
prisoners where released. But over 500 still remain in Serb prisons and
are being held in very bad conditions. Many report being beaten and
starved.
   Appearing before the Congressional Albanian Issues Caucus on
Wednesday, Brovina expressed her frustration with the continued
imprisonment of innocent Albanians: "I can not enjoy my freedom while 
my friends, my people are being held hostage." Brovina also raised the
issue of whether the US should cut off aid to Serbia after March 31st.
Under law, aid to Serbia must be cut off unless President Bush
certifies, among other things, that Serbia is respecting the rule of law
and minority rights. Dr. Brovina urged that "if one Albanian prisoner
remains in a Serb jail, President Bush should not certify compliance and
the U.S. should cut off aid to Serbia."
   Congressman Eliot Engel, who chaired the hearing added, "the fact that
prisoners are still being held means that atrocities are still being
committed and that aid to Serbia should be halted." Ilir Zherka,
President of NAAC, shared that sentiment and added, "Serbia should
release the prisoners if it is at all interested in beginning to create
some good will between Serbs and Albanians." At the Caucus hearing 
Engel released a letter signed by over 20 Members of Congress to 
President Bush asking him to work hard for the release of the 
prisoners.
   During a meeting on Tuesday at the State Department, John Menzies,
Senior Coordinator for Kosovo Implementation, stated that they are
continuing to pressure Serbia on this issue and have not given up on
getting all the prisoners released by March 31st.
   Dr.Brovina also met with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline
Albright. The meeting was an emotional one for Brovina because she
credits Albright with being principally responsible for saving the
Albanian people of Kosova. She also feels a kinship with the former
Secretary, who was tried and sentenced in abstenia by a Serb court for
"terrorism." Albright called Brovina "a true hero for the job you did
and for whatyou are doing now."
   Albright expressed, however, her dismay over recent fighting in
Macedonia and Preshev, and her concern that Western support of 
Albanians is being undermined by the conflicts. Engel, during the 
caucus hearing, expressed a similar concern. Zherka responded to 
Albright that "most Albanians want to see a political solution to the 
problems in Preshev and Macedonia. It is critically important, 
however, that the Macedoniangovernment focus on resolving the 
underlying frustrations of the
Albanian people there and not try to solve the recent conflict by
military means."
_______________________________________
  TUE, 13 MAR 2001 22:34:59 GMT

4.  Kosovo's Missing Persons
Little or No Hope

According to the Association of Families of Missing and Abducted Persons
of Kosovo, 20 percent of the Serbs on their list went missing before the
1999 NATO bombing, five percent during the bombing, and 75 percent 
after the arrival of peacekeepers in the province

AIM Belgrade, February 26, 2001

One of the placards relatives of missing Kosovo Serbs regularly display
during their frequent protests says: "Fourteen Kostics have been
abducted -- Where are they?" The Kostics were a big family of workers
and farmers from the village of Retimlje, near Orahovac. During a
three-day operation of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Orahovac region
from July 17 to July 19, 1998, at the time the OSCE verification mission
was present there, farmer Andjelko Kostic, 62, was killed in front of
his home, and then all who were present -- men, women, and children --
were taken prisoner.
     Andjelko's son was given two hours to bury his father, and the men
where then herded into a truck and taken in the direction of the village
of Opterusa. They were never heard from again and nothing is known of
their fate. A total of 43 Serbs were abducted, among whom were the 14
Kostics. Pavle Kostic, the other son of the murdered Andjelko, could not
reach the village on the day his family disappeared because of the
fighting. Today he lives in the Belgrade suburb of Zeleznik with his
mother, his sister, and her three children. He has no job. Together with
other members of the Association of Families of Missing and Abducted
Persons of Kosovo he constantly calls on representatives of the new
authorities, foreign embassies, and international organizations. "They
tell us: 'We understand how you feel and we'll do what we can.' We don't
know whether they understand how we feel, but nothing has been done,"
says Pavle Kostic.
     A host of international organizations deals with the people of all
nationalities who went missing in Kosovo. Each one of them has its own
data, procedures, methodology, and priorities. Among them is, first of
all, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the most
active in the search for the missing persons, and followed by UNMIK,
that is, its office for human rights and joint tasks with which a bureau
for imprisoned and missing persons has been founded, as well as a police
unit for missing people. The OSCE is also there with its unit for
missing persons, as well as the Victim Recovery and Identification
Commission (VRIC), the non-government International Commission for
Missing Persons, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights, and a special High Commissioner envoy for human rights.
     Shortly after he took office, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica
formed a Commission for Missing and Displaced Persons and Refugees.
     A federal Commission for Kosovo, headed by Momcilo Trajkovic, was
also established and announced it will form a subcommittee for the
missing. After the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia ended, relatives of
missing people created several associations to deal with this issue. The
results of their endeavors, however, brought little comfort to families
searching for their beloved ones.
     According to the ICRC, the fate of over 3,500 people who went
missing in Kosovo since the beginning of 1998 is still unknown. In an
updated version of the book on the missing the ICRC is preparing, the
names of 2,700 missing ethnic Albanians and 830 non-Albanians (of whom,
according to UNMIK, about 550 are Serb and about 300 of other ethnic
groups) will be listed. The Association, however, has a list of 1,300
missing Serbs. ICRC representatives say that the difference is due to
the fact that not all families have approached them and that in many
cases, whole families have disappeared, leaving no one to fill out the
necessary paper work (the ICRC accepts applications only from close
relatives). The Association has numerous files on exactly such cases: in
June, 1999, the entire Sutakovic family was abducted: father, mother,
and their three sons, ages 20, 18 and 12; on July 17, 1988, on the
outskirts of Orahovac the Baljosevic family was abducted -- father,
mother, son, daughter-in-law and 13-month-old baby. According to the
Association -- and its data is not disputed by the International
Committee of the Red Cross -- 20 percent of the missing Serbs on their
list were abducted before the NATO bombing started on March 24, 1999,
five percent during the bombing, and 75 percent after the arrival of
peacekeepers in Kosovo.

     Most representatives of international organizations in charge of
missing persons are convinced that many of the victims are no longer
alive and that it will be hard to find their bodies. "We found the
majority of missing Albanians, some 1,000, in Serbian prisons," says
Francois Blanchi from the ICRC."The same, however, does not go for
non-Albanians. Missing Serbs, for instance, were not found in regular
prisons in Kosovo, neither in Bondsteel, nor in Pristina, nor in
Mitrovica. Stories of secret camps, especially in northern Albania,
persist, although they were never officially confirmed. Exhumation and
identification of the bodies are a story in their own right. The ICRC
has a list of 3,200 exhumed bodies, of which almost 1,300 have yet to be
identified. The organization says that there are 17 unexamined mass
graves (which the Hague Tribunal is not interested in). All clothes and
personal property found on the bodies exhumed from the graveyards in
Pristina, Gnjilane, Djakovica, Pec, Prizren, and villages near Kacanik
and Glogovac, were shown to the relatives of the missing persons on
three occasions -- Albanians and Serbs were separately invited for
identification. This helped to identify a number of people, but only the
body of monk Hariton (without the head because it could not be found)
was delivered to priests for burial. When the bodies of other people are
in question, the families were told there was no adequate "legal and
technical" cooperation, and that therefore they could not be given the
bodies to bury them in their graveyards in accordance with their
customs.
     Unofficially, international organization representatives thus define
the main problems: only the former embattled sides -- the KLA and the
Yugoslav army and Interior ministry -- can say in what currently unknown
locations the battles were waged and where additional bodies can be
found. But by doing that, however, they would incriminate themselves or
others close to them, and today all fear responsibility for war crimes.
Witnesses, when there are any, are afraid to speak.
     In Bosnia and Herzegovina, of 20,500 persons who went missing during
the war according to ICRC data, only 10 percent have been found.

Roksanda Nincic
(AIM)
___________________________________
5. PRESS RELEASE

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia
condemns the terorists activities on the teritory of the Republic of
Macedonia as a form of the most flagrant violation and limitation of the
basic rights and freedoms of people and form of breaking the democratic
order in which the exercise of these rights and freedoms is only possible.

The Helsinki Committee calls upon all non-governmental organization to
oppose activities aimed at breaching up any rights and freedoms of human
beings set forth in the Universal Declaration, to oppose the destruction of
acquisitions from the 10-year development of the civil society, and to
prevent civil society to be missused for political goals.

The Helsinki Committee appeals to the government authorities to carry out a
proper investigation and bring criminal charges against persons who are
responsible for any other forms of violence that flagrantly infringe the
human rights and freedoms.

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
Of the Republic of Macedonia
Mirjana Najcevska
____________________________________________
6. Subject: An Appeal from Sarajevo & Belgrade for Peace in Macedonia

To: Friends of Bosnia email distribution list
Re: Letter from Centre for Nonviolent Action - Sarajevo/Belgrade_
16 MARCH 2001

Dear Friends,
The latest news from The Republic of Macedonia make us very
worried. During the past decade we have witnessed similar news so
often and    they frighten us a lot causing fear of another war. And
we ask ourselves:    "Again? Again, after all those years of war,
atrocities, violence and madness    over here? War again?
Ten years of wars around here    have shown us that in the war
everybody, except the war profiteers   loses.

With this letter we want to articulate our
APPEAL AGAINST VIOLENCE AND WAR
FOR PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE

We address our appeal to all people in order to raise their voice against
another threatening war.
Citizens of Macedonia, see what the war has left behind in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo and do not let it
happen to you    as well. Do not allow yourself to become overtaken
by hatred against your    fellow citizens. Do not allow yourself to
take arms into your hands. Do not    allow yourself to be
overwhelmed with the feeling that "they are all the    same, because
they are not, do not forget that. Gather all your    courage and
raise your voice against the war, do not keep silent, because it
may be understood as approval. Do not divide people onto "us and
"them, because that is exactly what the war machinery wants you to
do.    Determine yourself for peace and nonviolence and raise your
voice against all    kinds of violence. You make up the majority. We
were also the majority in    Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and
Kosovo, but we were too silent,    silenced by the violent
explosion. Do not let it happen to you!
Give signs to your fellow citizens which are on the "other    side
that you want peace and believe that there are many of them on the
other    side who wish the same. Only together you can secure
sustainable peace and    constructive cooperation.
If you do not feel the    tension or here shooting in your place of
living, do not turn your head away    thinking that it is far enough
away from you.
Appeal    to all sides in the conflict to stop violence. It is your
human right to    live in peace. Demand it! Demand all your human
rights and realise    them.

Bear in mind that the way of violence can not be a legitimate
mean to achieve political goals and citizens rights. Be brave and
decide for    dialogue and cooperation, for the way of nonviolence.
We understand that it    takes lot more courage, strength and will,
but it is worth of trying to build    stabile relationship of mutual
interest. It is worth deciding for    peace.
We appeal to all military and paramilitary conscripts to    resist
conscription and mobilisation. We appeal to all people, in
particular    the governments to offer shelter and support to war
resisters and all other    refugees.
We deeply sympathise with victims of violence and their    closest ones.
In solidarity
Centar za nenasilnu akciju - Sarajevo/Beograd
Adnan Hasanbegovic
Iva    Zenzerovic
Ivana Franovic
Milan Colic
Nedzad    Horozovic
Nenad Vukosavljc
Centar za nenasilnu akciju - Sarajevo
Centre for Nonviolent Action -    Sarajevo

Bentbasa 31, 71000 Sarajevo, BiH
Tel/Fax: + 387 33 440-417
Email:    cna.sarajevo at gmx.net
www.soros.org.ba/~cna
________________________________________
########################################
Friends of Bosnia
85 Worcester St., #1
Boston, MA 02118
Tel: 617-424-6906
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