[A-PAL] A-pal newsletter 10/24/01

[Alice Mead]

Albanian Prisoner Advocacy
October 24, 2001



                           A-PAL STATEMENT

Despite recent opinion polls which show 70 per cent of Serbs in 
Serbia willing to give Kosova independence, Serb politicians continue 
to block the enactment of the transfer agreement (9/12/01) which 
would return the remaining 220 Albanian prisoners to UNMIK's 
jurisdiction. Now these politicians are trying to block the transfer 
by insisting that 40 Serb war criminals now on trial in Kosova be 
given amnesty and sent to Serbia.
The internationals, rightly, refuse to link other conditions/issues 
to the transfer of the prisoners. So far, issues used to block 
progress on the Albanian prisoner problem have been--
1.a demand for more money to revise the Serb courts(this is the 
objection given to embassy officials and foreign affairs staff),
2.a demand for the return of bodies of missing Serbs in Kosova (this 
is the objection used when mass graves are excavated in Serbia 
revealing hundreds of Albanian citizens buried there)
3. a demand for the release of the 40 war criminals under 
investigation according to international standards in Kosova (a 
demand given to the Serb media and to UN)
4. the excuse of chaos within the Serb government --Kostunica, Covic, 
and Djndic use every Kosova problem as a forum for self-promotion in 
the media instead of giving their attention to solving the problems 
of both Serbs and Albanians in everyday life.

The result is the continued detention and abuse of Albanians held in 
Serbia. At this point, they are clearly being held as bargaining 
chips, their release continually blocked only by the inaction of 
several Serb goverment officials. The Serb officials are clearly 
wrong in doing this. How is it then that they have the nerve to make 
any objections at all in supporting the artificial court system 
created by Milosevic in June, 1999--when the Kosovars were forcibly 
brought into Serbia to be tried and sentenced by courts with no legal 
jurisdiction or lawful existence?

*******************************************************************
PLEASE HELP--Notify your leaders that the transfer agreement is being 
blocked. LET THE PRISONERS GO HOME and VOTE IN THE FIRST ELECTIONS IN 
KOSOVA.
*********************************************************************

Below are two impassioned statements from those directly affected by 
this prolonged and unjust situation. One is from a prisoner in 
Sremska Mitrovica and the other from a family member--who documents 
the ongoing problems that the released prisoners face when returning 
to the chaos in Kosova---pointing out the lack of medical care, job 
training, or rehabilitation for this special needs population.

____________________________________________________________


Dear  ------,                    10.10.2001
I am writing to you from the prison of  Sremska Mitrovica. First of 
all I would like to greet you and now IÅfll get to the point.
Me and my Albanian brothers are still being held war hostages in 
Serbian barracks. We have suffered considerable physical and psychic 
traumas. In the peroid from 27.06.1999 until 20.12.1999 I underwent 7 
operations, none of which were successful. Now, I am waiting for 
three plastic operations, two of them in the face and one in the 
right eye. I sought help from the Serb minister to transferr me to 
the hospital because the deadline for my operations ended 3 months 
ago, but in vain. According to Serb politicians, me and my fellow 
prisoners are war hostages and we are not elligible to any help. My 
life is in danager and I donÅft know where to seek help from, or 
whether I shall die here in lack of any medical aid. Therefore, IÅfm 
asking you to tell me whom  am I suppossed to address to, or am  I 
suppossed to die here just like this.

I will end this letter now in hopes you will help me and IÅfll remind 
you that you have greetings from all Albanian prisoners  being held 
as war hostages in Serb barracks, without any legal justice.

Kindest regards,  Bedri K------

***********************************************************************
>10/21/01
>                   The Biggest Irony:
>
>One of the greatest problems for our society is the bleeding wound 
>of post war Kosova: the prisoners (especially the political ones) 
>imprisoned and kidnapped before and during the war, by the Serbian 
>Milosheviq’s paramilitary troops and his regime. Contrary to all 
>International Human Rights Conventions and beyond any kind of human 
>logic, they are being kept in prisons   within the territory of 
>Serbia.
>
>No matter the freedom, Kosova is still facing many problems, but of 
>a new character. It could not bear all these problems alone, without 
>the great help of the International Community, particularly in the 
>fields of post war reconstruction; infrastructure, economy and 
>education. These tangible, important contributions are not the 
>priority for the many families that are still thinking and longing 
>for the missing loved ones. Still, there is a large group of people 
>especially women and children hoping that their spiritual freedom 
>will happen some day very soon, when they see their loved fathers, 
>husbands, and brothers coming out of Serbian prisons.
>
>Members of their families have lost almost everything; some lost 
>their loved ones and the property while some have lost all the 
>property they possessed before and during the war but happily joined 
>the loved ones who came out from Serbian prisons.
>This is only a part of the Ferizaj view. What about Kosova wide? 
>Gjakova is still shivering in its anxiety (not knowing where are 
>nowhere like many others.
>Let us only remember some famous names such as Fehmi Agani, without 
>the Ramboulliet and Bajram Kelmendi, a representative in political 
>prisoners and a great Humanist and activist on Human Rights (killed 
>together with his two sons) miserably lost their lives. And many 
>others.
>
>All the released ones are the category of people to whom entire 
>society owes so much, and yet there is still little hope for help 
>and assistance. They lost their jobs and their houses. They have no 
>means for reintegration into the real post war life –they have 
>difficulties reintegrating into the society because of the traumas 
>they have undergone during the time they were in prisons. Worse than 
>that, the returning prisoners welcomed as heroes, and later, they 
>were somehow forgotten by the society. They have to live on their 
>own. There is no possibility for their family members to help them, 
>and there is no possibility for them to help their vulnerable 
>families. This makes the situation for them even more difficult. 
>This leaves them fall in a great depression, seeing that nothing 
>good happens to them and all around them, normal people are 
>rebuilding and reconstructing while growing richer every day. The 
>children of this growing middle class now rest at the best beaches, 
>in Monte Negro or Albania .The children of the prisoners have to 
>stay home and look at their fathers, lost somewhere deep in their 
>thoughts 

>
>Their family members had to undergo great expenses while visiting 
>them at the Serbian prisons. They became beggars asking for money or 
>clothes .Some of them had too many expenses, but all in vein: 
>Seeking and asking for the loved ones, not knowing if they are still 
>alive (such as in the case of Alishefik Spahiu) and many others. 
>Their families sold everything to pay the mediators.
>
>The member of imprisoned individuals had to undertake the risk when 
>they went to Serbia to visit the loved ones, and thus carry out not 
>only the financial expenses, but the traumatic situations as well.
>
>As mentioned before, all these people are back but within a short 
>period are hopeless (local government is still not able to find a 
>solution for them) no matter their educational background (at least 
>high educational level, and various good skills) or previous 
>lifestyle. Some are physically wounded and most of have “spiritual 
>wounds”. People from all around the world care about children, old 
>people, vulnerable ones, people in need of social assistance and 
>physically handicapped ones (there are institutions for them at 
>least), but what for the above mentioned categories and the members 
>of their families? They do not belong to any of the above mentioned 
>categories, but yet at the same time they are a part of all these 
>categories: they sometime behave like little children when someone 
>offers something to them, they feel too old to start a new life, 
>they are in vulnerable needs, they need social assistance but they 
>are still too proud to go and wait for that kind of help. They are 
>not only physically but also spiritually handicapped.
>Local communities build huge lapidaries for the martyrs who honestly 
>fell in the battlefield, its OK to remember them, but who cares for 
>their wives, parents and children? They have to live with the pain 
>in their hearts for the lost ones and have to suffer for elementary 
>things they need to be kept alive. Question to all: why did they 
>fight: to see their graves marble covered like Pharaohs and their 
>children coming to kneel at their graves with a piece of bread in 
>their hands and in tattered clothes!!!
>Or, to see the war prisoners released and on to the streets selling 
>cigarettes to help their families? No, there must be some way to 
>assist them.
>
>If not, they will be forced to do everything or, even worse, 
>nothing
it is not good leaving them alone and later blaming them for 
>being radicals towards the society. There is a saying “You love me 
>once, I’ll love you thrice” and/or
>“You hate me thrice, I’ll hate you once”
.
>
>Do not forget them. Help them because they have shown that they 
>could help, and will help in the future. Do not let them, and/or 
>their family members fall into depression, pessimism and 
>hopelessness. Help them to live decently to provide for their 
>children, as others live .Let us try to help them. Let us run 
>firstly towards the living ones because the dead will wait
help them!
>
>			Thanks for your attention.
>
>
>
>
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