[A-PAL] newsletter 5/01

[Alice Mead]

A-PAL (ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY)
MAY 3, 2001

Free Bekim Kastrati: OSCE worker sentenced
To 14 years for terrorism.


          A-PAL STATEMENT ON MISSING and DETAINED FROM KOSOVA CONFLICT

Every week now, it seems a new crisis erupts in and around Kosova. 
Last week it was the bombs in Prishtina. This week it is another 
discouraging round of ethnic violence in Macedonia. Facts are hard to 
come by, but opinions and denunciations abound. It's hard in this 
kind of setting to maintain a narrow, human rights focus as A-PAL has 
done for the past 2 years. But I think it's important to reiterate 
the value in doing so. By focusing solely on the gross human rights 
violations that the 2,000 Albanian prisoners endured and are still 
enduring, we have separated human rights for all as an urgent 
regional priority, valued and separate from political or personal 
gain, from invalid use of facts for political gain. We have 
highlighted important goals regarding justice, court procedures, 
prison violations, torture, massacres, and human rights protocols in 
the region. BUT--Please remember that there are still 270 Albanian 
prisoners in Serbia, many with 20 year convictions for terrorism. So 
far, there is no information on how they will be released and/or 
returned to Kosova for judicial review. Our email action campaign in 
Germany has 533 active members. Our online petition has nearly 3,000 
signatures. We will not stop until justice and freedom reach all the 
prisoners-not just the ones in the public spotlight.
                                   *******************
Consider the case of Bekim Kastrati: 33 years old, arrested on March 
27, 1999 in Prishtina, where he worked for OSCE. Sentenced to 14 
years for terrorist acts against FRY. He is in Prokuplje Prison. 
Please write to him care of Prokuplje Zvator, Prokuplje, Serbia, YU. 
This is ludicrous. Does his sentencing mean that OSCE is a terrorist 
organization? Why has the OSCE never hired a lawyer to defend this 
man and work on his release? Does this mean that the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe does not provide for protection of 
Albanians from such blatantly political crimes? Write to the OSCE 
Secretariat and demand they provide a lawyer for Mr. Kastrati 
immediately-at info at osce.org and to their U.S. counterpart care of 
bob.hand at mail.house.gov. And once Mr. Kastrati has been freed, the 
OSCE should provide independent legal counsel for all the Albanian 
prisoners in Serbia.
                       A-PAL REGARDING MISSING
The subject of missing has been overshadowed for the past two years 
by the urgent needs of the 2,000 prisoners and their families.  After 
a war, it also takes time for basic information to be gathered, 
cross-checked, and published.
Now, however, it is time for A-PAL to join with other organizations 
in the region to support the families of those who still seek answers 
about missing family members. According to HLC director, Natasa 
Kandic, the crime of abducting individuals is a very serious crime 
with long-lasting implications.
                      Background Information:
The ICRC in Kosova began working on gathering information on missing 
in January, 1998 and has updated those records ever since. Their 
staff also cross-checks their information with other lists and tries 
their utmost to be accurate in their reports. Their list of missing 
from the Kosova conflict is on their web site. Their director is 
Valerie Brasey.
ICRC conducts region-wide information gathering on missing from all 
the Yugoslav wars. It is very important to understand that missing is 
a regional problem now in all parts of the former Yugoslavia.
UNMIK has a department for Missing and Detained. The human rights 
staff director there is Mary Ellen Andreotti. The missing persons 
staff member is Charlie Johnson. And now the Kosova Red Cross is 
beginning work on verification.
In addition, the Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade and Prishtina 
recently has published a book on non-Albanian missing with 
photographs and narrations. They also held a roundtable on missing in 
Belgrade in March, 2001, which  was attended by UNHCHR, UNMIK Human 
Rights staff, police, Serb UNMIK, and UN Envoy on Missing and 
Detained, Henrik Amneus.  The HLC has now completed a similar book of 
Albanian missing and hopes to have another Roundtable in Prishtina. 
Because of extreme hostility in Kosova between Serbs and Albanians, 
Kandic sees the first step happening at the "expert" level. Because 
people need to begin talking on both sides. But how to make this 
begin?

Both the HLC and the ICRC have previous experience working on the 
problem of missing in Bosnia. 5,000 people disappeared from Srebenica 
for example. There has been five years of discussion and few bodies 
have been found. But the families of missing in Bosnia now recognize 
the importance of beginning discussions among ethnic groups as the 
only way to provide answers.

So far, A-PAL has made every effort to be factual in our newsletters, 
sites, and action campaigns. So in future newsletters, we will only 
work with standardized groups, those that have experience in being 
objective in their reporting and gathering of information. It is a 
terrible thing to raise the hopes of these desperate families only to 
disappoint them later on when the information turns out to be untrue. 
To the best of our knowledge, there are no hidden detention camps on 
either side, Serb or Albanian. This is a region-wide problem as the 
result of the wars in the break-up of Yugoslavia.

According to ICRC director, Valerie Brasey, Families of Missing need 
real answers not false hopes. They need information, tragic or not, 
to finalize what happened, and to begin a peaceful start to a new 
life. Widows need legal information to begin new lives.
Groups such as the ONZA Detective Agency are active now in all areas 
of former Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Vojvodina, and Serbia. We urge 
families to deal directly with the ICRC, which is now located in all 
Kosova villages, rather than private groups that may seek financial 
gain in preying on hopes that in the end may be false.
In Bosnia, the work of the International Committee of Missing Persons 
has been very controversial as well. They have developed a huge DNA 
blood bank. This can be one method of verifying remains, but again, 
it often raises false hopes and creates a storehouse of difficult to 
manage precedents and procedures.

One little known fact of the greatest value is: the ICRC staff are 
protected from testifying in court cases involving missing. This 
means that their field staff throughout Kosova villages keep all 
information confidential. Their position is simply this: families 
need answers.
ICRC does not verify Information at burial sites. Instead they pass 
the information on to KFOR or SFOR or the UNMIK police. They cannot 
be forced to reveal the source of this information.

We urge everyone reading this newsletter-politicians, NGO workers, 
teachers, advocates, and family members as well as released prisoners-
Start talking about this problem with all those in positions or 
responsibility. Make sure the media provides this simple background 
information. Have the ICRC talk in villages about the role of 
confidentiality and the concrete process involved if they should 
receive information about a burial site.

RESOLVING THE ANGUISH OF THE FAMILIES OF DETAINED AND MISSING IS 
CRUCIAL TO ESTABLISHING SECURE HUMAN RIGHTS IN KOSOVA, SERBIA, 
MACEDONIA.            HELP START THE PROCESS.

          ICRC/KOSOVO- InfoDiss/PRI at mekoe.unicc.org
Communications specialist: "Caroline Michele Ma Douilliez" 
<cdouilliez.PRI at icrc.org>

----------------------------------------------------------
April 29, 2001
Dear Representative Engel

This past week, the 143 men from Gjakova were finally allowed to 
return home, thanks largely to sustained international pressure on 
the FRY justice system to abide by the rule of law. Yet, 270 (170 
political cases, 100 criminal) Albanian prisoners remain in Serbia, 
their fate still unclear.
In Belgrade Central Prison--87 Albanians remain, Nish Prison--51, 
Zajecar Prison--34, Vranje Prison--30, Cuprija Prison--12, Prokuplje 
Prison--9, Leskovac Prison--5, Pozharevac Prison--3 women, Zrenjanin 
Prison--29, Smederevo--10, Valjevo Prison--2, and Kragujevac Prison-1.
Why have they not also been dismissed? Why have their families in 
Kosova had to wait two years for them to come home? Imagine the 
mixture of joy and sadness these families felt as they saw others 
released, but still had no idea of what was going to happen with 
their sons and fathers.

It has now been 7 months since President Kostunica promised their 
speedy release. We urge you to support our grassroots efforts to link 
the release of the prisoners with sending financial aid to the FRY.

Sincerely,
A-PAL

***According to Rep Engel's office, who had already sent such a 
letter,  the Bush administration rejected this attempt to link aid to 
release of prisoners
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