From amead at maine.rr.com Sat Mar 2 11:04:10 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2002 11:04:10 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER 3/2/02 Message-ID: >MARCH 2, 2002 A-PAL(ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY) >JOIN OUR EMAIL ACTION at www.dbein.bndlg.de/APP/ > 167 ALBANIANS REMAIN ILLEGALLY DETAINED IN SERB PRISONS DESPITE A MARCH 31 DEADLINE ESTABLISHED BY US CONGRESS A-PAL STATEMENT >Despite intense pressure from foreign governments to transfer the >remaining Albanian prisoners to Kosova, President Kostunica and >Nebosja Covic have failed to cooperate. Since August, 2001, they >have claimed that court documents for the Albanians are not >available. Of the more than 2,000 prisoners who were released by >bribes, most were released without documents. This is not surprising >since nearly all of them arrived in Serbia without documents or >evidence in 1999. Documents or no documents, the March 31 deadline (text below) that will condition financial aid to Serbia is fast arriving. UNMIK officials have told families in Kosova that the prisoners will be released or transfered in March. Yet still, there is no reliable information that would indicate that this will occur. In addition to the US deadline on conditioning aid, many European foreign offices are stressing that FRY cannot be admitted to the Council of Europe until these people are returned to Kosova. The new UNMIK director, Michael Steiner, has told the UNSC that resolving this problem is his first priority. So far,the entire advocacy campaign to release the prisoners has been conducted non-violently. KosovaSweden Union has filed kidnapping charges against Vojislav Kostunica for the ongoing illegal detention of one of the prisoners. Euro A-PAL action campaign based in Germany has sent 23,000 letters to European, American, UN, and Serb leaders stressing that the prisoners be returned to Kosova. Ireland Kosova Solidarity has made countless phone calls on behalf of prisoners. Human Rights Watch, Humanitarian Law Center and others have observed the irregular trials. Families of prisoners have demonstrated, signed petitions, met with officials, paid bribes, and spent all their savings sending food to their loved ones. Serb leaders should appreciate the restraint, patience, and lawfulness demonstrated over the past 2 1/2 years by those whose loved ones are illegally held. We will accept the return of these people --to their human rights, liberties, and freedoms--with the apologies of those who have wronged them. At this point, we must add Kostunica, Djindic, and Covic to the list of those who have perpetrated this crime, the man at the top being Milosevic. ******************************************************************* Support the Congressional Resolution! Block FRY admittance to Council of Europe! JOIN A-PAL EMAIL ACTION AT: www.dbein.bndlg.de/APP/ *********************************************************************** > > TEXT OF DECEMBER 2001 RESOLUTION ON CONDITIONING >>FUNDING FOR SERBIA--sponsored by Senators Leahy,Helms,and McConnell >> >>SEC. 575. (a) Of funds made available in this Act, up to $115,000,000 may be >>made available for assistance for Serbia: Provided, That none of >>these funds may be made available for assistance for Serbia after >>March 31, 2002, unless the President has made the determination and >>certification contained in subsection (c). >> >>(b) After March 31, 2002, the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the >>United States executive directors to the international financial >>institutions to support loans and assistance to the Government of the >>Federal Republic of Yugoslavia subject to the conditions in subsection (c): >>Provided, That section 576 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and >>Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997, as amended, shall not apply to >>the provision of loans and assistance to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia >>through international financial institutions. >> >>(c) The determination and certification referred to in subsection (a) is a >>determination by the President and a certification to the Committees on >>Appropriations that the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia >>is-- >> >>(1) cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia >>including access for investigators, the provision of documents, and the >>surrender and transfer of indictees or assistance in their apprehension; >> >>(2) taking steps, additional to those undertaken in fiscal year 2001, that >>are consistent with the Dayton Accords to end Serbian financial, political, >>security and other support which has served to maintain separate Republika >>Srpska institutions; and >> >>(3) taking steps, additional to those undertaken in fiscal year 2001, to >>implement policies which reflect a respect for minority rights and the rule >>of law, including the release of all political prisoners from Serbian jails >>and prisons. >> >>(d) Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply to Montenegro, Kosovo, >>humanitarian assistance or assistance to promote democracy in >>municipalities. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 5247 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20020302/7ba67889/attachment.bin From amead at maine.rr.com Thu Mar 7 13:32:50 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 13:32:50 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL newsletter(urgent) 3/7/02 Message-ID: A-PAL (ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY) March 7, 2002 A-PAL URGENT UPDATE Three weeks before the deadline set by the US Congress last December there is still no official information about when the remaining 167 Albanian prisoners will return to Kosova. Even the number of prisoners remains unclear (200 according to ICRC, 155 according to the EU and UNMIK, and 175 according to Svilanovic). The implication in Foreign Minister Svilanovic's latest quote in B92 is that the conditioning of aid relates only to the war criminal extraditions to the Hague, saying that acceptance into Council of Europe will depend on the transfer of prisoners. This is not true. The conditioning of US aid includes the transfer of the Albanians to UNMIK by March 31, 2002. We are dismayed by evidence of further equivocation at this point, as once more Serbia/FRY officials try to downplay and delay cooperation on the prisoner issue. They all must be in Kosova by March 31, 2002. ******************************************************************************* on Kosovalive-website 06-Mar-2002 18:05 http://kosovalive.com/en/index_en.htm Steiner to Discuss Issue of Albanians Held in Serbia Prisons with Serbian Deputy PM PRISHTINA (KosovaLive) - Officials of the United Nations administration in Kosova said Tuesday that the Head of UNMIK, Michael Steiner will meet the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, Nebojsa Covic on Wednesday in Prishtina to discuss the return of ethnic Albanian prisoners from Serbia to Kosova by the end of March. more... _______________******************************************** >B92, 3/7/02 > >Foreign minister sees new extraditions by end of March >19:23 BELGRADE, Thursday ? Yugoslavia will extradite more war crimes >suspects to the tribunal in The Hague by the end of this month, Foreign >Minister Goran Svilanovic predicted today. > >Svilanovic told Radio Yugoslavia that Belgrade would cooperate with the >tribunal regardless of whether it succeeds in adopting legislation to >regulate the procedure, as preferred by President Vojislav Kostunica. > >"We have to meet our obligations, and the transfer of the indictees is the >only thing that our cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is being measured >on,? said Svilanovic. He urged those ?hindering? the process to heed this. > >The foreign minister warned that time was running out to meet the March 31 >deadline set by Congress in the US. Capitol Hill has threatened to withhold >much-needed aid to Yugoslavia if it fails to cooperate with the tribunal. > >Svilanovic repeated his aim to take Yugoslavia into the Council of Europe >but warned that the failure to release a number of Albanians held in Serbian >prisons could prove to be an obstacle ? albeit ?an inherited one.? > >According to the foreign minister, of the 2100 Albanian prisoners held in >Serbia before the fall of the former regime, 175 remain. The problem will be >sorted out between the UN administration in Kosovo and Belgrade?s >Coordinating Centre, said Svilanovic. > >As for the Partnership for Peace, ?personnel? remains the only obstacle to >the Yugoslav Army joining, he said. Svilanovic has made clear his >dissatisfaction with General Nebojsa Pavkovic?s continued tenure as chief of >staff. He predicted the issue would be ?overcome.? (Beta) -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 3397 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20020307/b0b6274e/attachment.bin From amead at maine.rr.com Fri Mar 8 15:28:23 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 15:28:23 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER March 8, 2002 Message-ID: A-PAL NEWSLETTER (ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY) MARCH 8, 2002 A-PAL STATEMENT ---- TWENTY THREE MORE DAYS UNTIL THE MARCH 31, 2002 DEADLINE---- ************************************************************** FROM THE NEW INTERNATIONAL CRISI GROUP REPORT ON JUSTICE in former Yugoslavia and the Albanian prisoners-- "UNMIK has now announced a transfer is likely before 31 March 2002, in time for the U.S. certification. It is difficult to tell whether this is wishful thinking, as Covic - who is also the lead Serbian and FRY negotiator for Kosovo - has complained that a deadline at such a "sensitive" moment is a bad idea. The federal authorities are acting as if they wish to hold the Albanians until such time as there is an exchange for all Serbs in Kosovo jails (none of whom are generally considered political prisoners). The international community should condemn any attempt to use the 78 Albanian prisoners as hostages and resist the temptation to equate them with ordinary convicted criminals. For its part, UNMIK disclosed in January 2002 that it had received some dossiers from the FRY, although they were incomplete. In the mean time, the issue remains another point of contention that aggravates relations not only with Kosovo's Albanian majority, but also with the substantial Albanian minority still residing within Serbia itself, including in southern Serbia. Although, the CoE omitted the issue in its October 2001 report, it has subsequently announced that release of the Albanians is a condition for FRY accession. The issue will likewise remain high on the list of NATO and EU conditions, as it should, and feature in the U.S. certification decision." http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/balkans/serbia/reports/A400568_07032002.pdf _______________________________________________________________________ on pages 10 to 11 of the report (without footnotes): B. Albanian Prisoners in Serbia Yugoslav prisons currently hold approximately 162 Kosovo Albanians, of whom 78 are widely considered political prisoners since they were captured before and during the Kosovo conflict, then convicted and sentenced on the basis of "dubious trials".36 They are not prisoners of conscience, and may in fact have committed the criminal acts with which they have been charged. However, the evidence presented in court was either extremely weak, missing altogether, or forcibly extracted. The FRY might have easily resolved these cases except that Yugoslav law does not recognise the concept of a mistrial. Therefore, a presidential pardon is required. However, President Kostunica - who often asserts his respect for the rule of law - has overlooked many of the legal discrepancies. He has overturned only two cases: those of the human rights activist and poet, Flora Brovina (immediately after 5 October 2000), and - following a direct intervention by French President Jacques Chirac - the student activist Albin Kurti. The FRY and the former head of UNMIK, Hans Haekkerup, signed a Common Document on 5 November 2001 in which the FRY committed itself to provide UNMIK with the prisoners' dossiers and to transfer the prisoners as soon as possible. However, at the second meeting of the joint working group established under the Common Document, the Ministry of Justice failed to provide the promised dossiers, offering instead a list of known names, with only incomplete descriptions of the charges. It is unclear whether Deputy Premier Covic, the MUP or the VJ is most to blame for this obstruction, or indeed whether it forms part of an overall strategy towards Kosovo. Recently UNMIK informed the Yugoslav Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija (chaired by Covic) that it would withdraw from the agreement if the FRY does not fulfil its bargain.37 UNMIK has now announced a transfer is likely before 31 March 2002, in time for the U.S. certification.38 It is difficult to tell whether this is wishful thinking, as Covic - who is also the lead Serbian and FRY negotiator for Kosovo - has complained that a deadline at such a "sensitive" moment is a bad idea.39 The federal authorities are acting as if they wish to hold the Albanians until such time as there is an exchange for all Serbs in Kosovo jails (none of whom are generally considered political prisoners). The international community should condemn any attempt to use the 78 Albanian prisoners as hostages and resist the temptation to equate them with ordinary convicted criminals. For its part, UNMIK disclosed in January 2002 that it had received some dossiers from the FRY, although they were incomplete.40 In the mean time, the issue remains another point of contention that aggravates relations not only with Kosovo's Albanian majority, but also with the substantial Albanian minority still residing within Serbia itself, including in southern Serbia. Although, the CoE omitted the issue in its October 2001 report, it has subsequently announced that release of the Albanians is a condition for FRY accession. The issue will likewise remain high on the list of NATO and EU conditions, as it should, and feature in the U.S. certification decision. ________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 5354 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20020308/692cba96/attachment.bin From amead at maine.rr.com Mon Mar 11 08:09:43 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 08:09:43 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER March 11, 2002 Message-ID: A-PAL (Albanian Prisoner Advocacy) March 11, 2002 RETURN THE REMAINING 167 ALBANIAN PRISONERS TO KOSOVA A-PAL STATEMENT We support the statement by Natasha Kandic regarding the need for an investigation into the murder of Fehmi Agani, but also mention, again, the need for an investigation into the "disappearance" of released prisoner, Ukshin Hoti. Someone gave the orders for these particular crimes. Someone gave orders for the prison massacre at Dubrava and the outrageous, brutal torture of the many hundreds of illegally detained people in Lipjan and the Prishtina police station. Judge Danica Marinkovic was the official in charge of these districts at this time. Later on, when Marinkovic became the investigating judge in Nis of the artificially created (and therefore illegal) court that reinterrogated, tortured, extracted forced confessions, and conducted trials against hundreds of Albanians without evidence, she was acting outside the framework of the constitution, the Geneva Conventions, UN 1244, and numerous ICCPR protocols on arrest and detention. All of these laws were violated repeatedly and flagrantly, with complete impunity- even now. IF THE REMAINING PRISONERS ARE NOT RELEASED BY MARCH 31, 2002, WE WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO BEGIN PRESSURE FOR PROSECUTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL SERB MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OFFICIALS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE MURDER, DISAPPEARANCES, TORTURE, FALSE TRIALS AND INHUMANE PRISON CONDITIONS THAT THE 2,300 ALBANIAN PRISONERS WERE SUBJECTED TO AND STILL ARE SUBJECTED TO. International laws mean nothing, or worse than nothing, if they are not enforced. This is A-pal's next responsiblity and we know it. We support Ms. Kandic's call for real justice. "Their concern is warranted: the wall of silence is cracking." ************************************************************ THE DISTURBING TRUTH Natasa Kandic Humanitarian Law Center 8 March 2002 Judge Danica Marinkovic, formerly investigating judge of the Pristina District Court, reacted to the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) press release on the murder of Kosovo Albanian politician Fehmi Agani by accusing the HLC and its executive director, Natasa Kandic, of lying. According to Judge Marinkovic, Predrag Nikolic and Zoran Dzeletovic, who were police officers in Kosovo and to whom I referred in connection with the murder, performed their duty "honorably" and Agani was killed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In her defense of these two ex-police officers, she asserted that members of the force once saved my life in a Kosovo village during the NATO bombing in spite of my working againstthem. In an effort to clarify the murder of Agani, I shall set out facts that will show beyond doubt just how "honorably" the cited policemen did their job in Kosovo. On 6 May 1999, the day of Agani's murder, Predrag Nikolic and Zoran Dzeletovic killed five members of the Blakqori family - Miradije (54), Fehmi (60), their son Labinot (14), Mahmut (56), and his wife Sabile (59) - on the rail track from Lipljan to Kosovo Polje. The Pristina Police Department filed criminal charges against Nikolic and Dzeletovic as well as Ivan Ivanov, their fellow-officer, on 27 May 1999 (Ku.br.546/99). The accompanying documentation, including the prosecutor's request for an investigation, decision to institute the investigation, and detention orders, were either removed to Serbia or destroyed. Judge Marinkovic sets herself up as a protector of Serb victims and the Serbian police but her attempts to manipulate public opinion are in vain. It is known within the police force who killed Fehmi Agani, who did what in Kosovo, who fired the guns, who removed the corpses, who looted by the truckload, who brought the orders from Belgrade and conveyed the president's commendations and expressions of support. These people, who were involved in the crimes or in shielding the perpetrators on the pretext of defending Serbia and its people from NATO, are now making lists of traitors in their own ranks and having them placed under surveillance. Judges who served on crisis teams are trying to obliterate the evidence of their presence at those meetings. Some judges, prosecutors and police chiefs are destroying any remaining papers that might implicate them, forging documents, and testing the strength of the wall of silence. Top officials of the former Kosovo police and the Socialist Party of Serbia are worried about what could happen if "traitors" among them started talking. Their concern is warranted: the wall of silence is cracking. More and more policemen are coming out with what really happened in Kosovo. It was from them that I first heard about the murder of Fehmi Agani. I also heard from them that liquidation orders were not given only by police and military commanders. They told me Danica Marinkovic personally ordered several wounded men of the Ahmeti family to be shot on 28 February 1998 in Likosane village. Then an investigating judge, she came to conduct an on-site investigation together with Jovica Jovanovic, the deputy district prosecutor, and a team of investigators. There was a pile of bodies outside the Ahmeti house in which some men were still giving signs of life. In the presence of about 30 members of the Special Anti-terrorist Units, Danica Marinkovic allegedly said: "I'm not taking them - kill them." The men were finished off with a Heckler weapon. There was no investigation and, on 1 March 1998, 14 corpses were taken to the Pristina hospital morgue. The investigating judge did not order autopsies to be performed and, after they were identified, the bodies were claimed by relatives. Members of the police force assigned to the Likosane operation said that rifles and grenades were placed next to the bodies, after which photographs were taken and used to "inform" the public about the incident. While in Kosovo during the NATO bombing, I was frightened most of all by the Serbian police, paramilitary units and such "protectors" of Serbs as Judge Danica Marinkovic. In the silence that prevailed in Serbia and Kosovo, anyone who tried to help Albanians was an enemy, a spy, a traitor. The police and the Kosovo Serbs were intoxicated with the official sanction to defend Serbia by any means. In such a climate, I was less afraid of crossing a bridge than of the policemen I saw behind refugee columns, standing around burnt houses, or at checkpoints on the roads. Every time I passed without having my papers scrutinized I felt very lucky. But, on 27 May 1999, the day the indictment against Milosevic was made public, I was on my way to Prizren to get out the wife and child of the editor of the Koha Ditore newspaper when the police stopped me at a checkpoint in Lipljan. They asked for my ID and searched the car in which they found HLC reports on human rights violations. They immediately contacted the State Security and took me to a house which served as their headquarters where two inspectors questioned me for hours. My driver was held separately and told he would be killed like everyone who spoke English. When I said where I was going and why, they started shouting that I was a spy and traitor and that they would not let me drive Albanians around. Threatening to charge me with espionage, they said I would disappear in the night and they would tell the public I went missing in KLA-controlled territory. I suggested that they consider the credibility of a report on the disappearance of a human rights activist on the very day the Milosevic indictment was made public. They told me to hand over my money. I refused and said they could take it by force like they were doing with Albanians. In the end, they did not take it though they could have. I told them openly I would not stay silent about what was happening in Kosovo, adding that I had already stated publicly that Fehmi Agani was killed by the police. At the mention of Agani, one of the inspectors said it was "a mistake." I do not know what he meant by that but he in effect admitted that Agani was murdered by Serbian police. In my mind, I had come to terms with the possibility of being "disappeared" like many others in Kosovo at the time, and I do not owe them a debt of gratitude for not killing me. They let me go late that evening when a third inspector appeared with word from Belgrade that I was not "their case." -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 8610 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20020311/cd44c1e2/attachment.bin From amead at maine.rr.com Wed Mar 20 08:23:54 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 08:23:54 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER, MARCH 20, 2002 Message-ID: A-PAL (ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY) March 20, 2002 A-PAL STATEMENT With only eleven days to the March 31 deadline for cooperation, Serb officials continue to ignore demands from EU, UNMIK, and American officials to return the Albanian prisoners to Kosova.156 Albanian prisoners remain. The one prisoner who was released was "retried," having paid a large ransom for his reduced sentence. Meanwhile, following the detention of an American diplomat in Belgrade,Secretary of State Colin Powell has at last spoken out about the lack of cooperation on the prisoner issue, saying- "The Bush administration has to rule by March 31 whether Belgrade has met conditions set by the U.S. Congress, including cooperation with the ICTY and releasing Kosovo Albanians from Serbian jails." "Asked if Belgrade would meet the conditions, he said: "The Albanian question is still out there and as I approach the end of the month ... I will examine the total situation." "If they are not deserving they (Serb govt.) won't get it. If they are, they will, and they know what they have to do and we'll keep the pressure on," he added. The looming deadline promises to create the same last-minute political drama in Yugoslavia as that which marked the handover of Milosevic last year, observers say." (see article below) According to EU officials, while they have set no deadline for resolving this, they have stated that the FRY will NOT be allowed into the Council of Europe until the Albanian prisoners go back to Kosova. *************************************** Our European Email Action Campaign now has over 1,600 advocates has sent well over 38,000 letters to European and American leaders, Serb NGO's and media, and Serb government officials. Have you sent mail today ? http://www.dbein.bndlg.de/APP/ *************************************************************** Betreff: HLC - PRESS - HLC URGES PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON COVIC AND SAVIC Datum: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 16:33:26 +0100 Von: humanitarian law center HLC URGES PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON COVIC AND SAVIC The Humanitarian Law Center has urged the Serbian Parliament to institute a debate on Serbian Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic and head of Serbian State Security Andrija Savic since the manner in which these two high officials are performing their duties constitutes a serious threat to fundamental human rights, national security, and the values of a democratic society. At a meeting of the Povratak (Return) Coalition in Zvecan, Kosovo, on 17 March, Nebojsa Covic "vetted" Serb deputies to the Kosovo Parliament by setting out information he obtained from the police on their movements, meetings with representatives of international organizations, and the alleged criminal activities of some Coalition members. This constitutes an impermissible way of conducting political and governmental affairs. By consenting to serve the new authorities in violation of the law and regulations, Andrija Savic, the new head of Serbian State Security, has demonstrated his inability to work in the interests of the state and community. ____ _________________________________________________ Betreff: Our Ref - DissCo/PRI02E124 : Press release Datum: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 17:46:51 +0100 Von: "Nada Doumani" ICRC INFORMATION Pristina, 18.03.2002 Yesterday (17.03.) the International Committee of the Red Cross accompanied back a detainee to Kosovo. The detainee, coming from Prizren area, was released from Nis prison. On the other hand, one person from Shtime/Stimlje Special Institute has been reunited today with her family in Serbia proper. __________________________________________________________________ "The Bush administration has to rule by March 31 whether Belgrade has met conditions set by the U.S. Congress, including cooperation with the ICTY and releasing Kosovo Albanians from Serbian jails." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020318/pl_nm/yugos lavia_usa_apology_dc_1 U.S. Accepts Yugoslav Apology, Pushes War Crimes Probe Mon Mar 18, 3:34 PM ET By Jonathan Wright WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday accepted a formal Yugoslav apology for the mistreatment and detention for 17 hours of a U.S. diplomat last week but slammed Belgrade for obstructing the Hague (news - web sites) war crimes probe. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) complained that Yugoslavia continues to obstruct the war crimes tribunal and said the United States had not yet decided whether Belgrade had met the terms for more U.S. aid. "We have received a formal apology from Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic. We've accepted that apology. We view it as a public acknowledgment of the military's inappropriate and excessive actions," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "We now consider this closed as a bilateral issue." Military police detained the diplomat, John David Neighbor, on Thursday night as he was having dinner in a Belgrade restaurant with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Momcilo Perisic. The Yugoslav army defended the operation and said it had evidence that Perisic had been handing over top secret military documents to the U.S. diplomat. Belgrade media speculated that they were evidence against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites), who is on trial in The Hague on war crimes charges. Boucher denied the diplomat had any documents. "The military authorities said there was something that he either had in his briefcase or put in his briefcase. And I'm saying there wasn't," he said. U.S. officials have been careful to pin the incident on the military authorities, absolving the elected civilian politicians of any responsibility Analysts in Belgrade said they saw evidence that the military, still packed with allies of the old regime and opposed to handing over war crimes suspects, was bent on thwarting reforms. By coincidence Secretary of State Colin Powell had a meeting in Washington on Monday with Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). "We noted the lack of progress on the part of the authorities in Belgrade with respect to the work of the tribunal," Powell told reporters. "I told her we would redouble our efforts to get the kind of cooperation we need with respect to access to archival material, with respect to turning over other officials and with respect to putting in place domestic internal law and all the other issues," he added. The Bush administration has to rule by March 31 whether Belgrade has met conditions set by the U.S. Congress, including cooperation with the ICTY and releasing Kosovo Albanians from Serbian jails. AID OF $40 MILLION AT STAKE A U.S. official said about $40 million was at stake, about half of the amount the United States is offering Yugoslavia. The United States could also withhold support for Yugoslavia in the World Bank (news - web sites) and International Monetary Fund (news - web sites). Asked if Belgrade would meet the conditions, he said: "The Albanian question is still out there and as I approach the end of the month ... I will examine the total situation." "If they are not deserving they won't get it. If they are, they will, and they know what they have to do and we'll keep the pressure on," he added. The looming deadline promises to create the same last-minute political drama in Yugoslavia as that which marked the handover of Milosevic last year, observers say. Diplomats said last week they expected Belgrade to turn in several indictees before March 31, even at the risk of offending nationalists and Serbs suspicion of the Hague court. Del Ponte said she was "very pleased" to discuss with Powell the ICTY's problems conducting investigations in Yugoslavia and obtaining the arrest of fugitives there. Powell said he and the prosecutor also talked about "the ultimate exit strategy" for the ICTY -- the U.S. term for its goal of having the war crimes trials end by 2008. But he added: "In due course, of course, she would expect her work to be finished but I can assure you that until her work is finished, the United States will be supporting her every step of the way." Del Ponte said she preferred the term "completion strategy", rather than "exit strategy". Copyright ? 2002 Reuters Limited _______________________________________________________________________ "But Congress will also demand proof that Kosovo Albanians are being released from Serbian jails - another condition of further aid." Monday, 18 March, 2002, 22:04 GMT US threatens to cut Yugoslav aid http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1880000/images/_1880137_300powell_carla_ap.jpg Del Ponte and Powell: United in criticism Yugoslavia could lose $40m in vital financial aid if it does not start to co-operate with the international war crimes tribunal, US Secretary of State Colin Powell has warned. A deadline looms at the end of this month for the United States Congress to on whether Yugoslavia has met the conditions for a new tranche of cash. "If they are not deserving they won't get it. If they are, they will, and they know what they have to do and we'll keep the pressure on," said Mr Powell after meeting the tribunal's Chief Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte. Diplomats have speculated that the 31 March cut-off date could provoke the last minute arrests of wanted war crimes suspects similar to that of Slobodan Milosevic this time last year. Divisions "We noted the lack of progress on the part of the authorities in Belgrade with respect to the work of the tribunal," said Mr Powell, following the talks with Ms Del Ponte. Yugoslavia has been criticised for failing to hand over several indicted war crimes suspects to the tribunal, some of whom remain in public life, such as Serbian President Milan Milutinovic. "I told [Ms Del Ponte] we would redouble our efforts to get the kind of co-operation we need," said Mr Powell. Ms Del Ponte is a long standing critic of what she considers to be Belgrade's obstruction of the tribunal's work. Co-operation with the tribunal is a divisive issue in Yugoslavia. It is opposed by President Vojislav Kostunica but supported by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. Arrests expected The dramatic arrest of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in April last year coincided with a deadline for international aid, which was subsequently granted. Now there is speculation that Yugoslav authorities will carry out other high-profile arrests to secure more funds. But Congress will also demand proof that Kosovo Albanians are being released from Serbian jails - another condition of further aid. Yugoslavia's economy has been devastated by years of mismanagement and by Nato's 1999 bombing campaign and is in desperate need of funds. __ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 11268 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/a-pal/attachments/20020320/e570b703/attachment.bin From amead at maine.rr.com Tue Mar 26 14:20:25 2002 From: amead at maine.rr.com (Alice Mead) Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 14:20:25 -0500 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER 3/26/02: KOSOVA PRISONERS TRANSFERRED Message-ID: A-PAL (ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY) March 26, 2002 A-PAL STATEMENT HOME AT LAST! At long last, the remaining Albanian prisoners crossed the border into Kosova today, ending nearly three years of intensive international advocacy on their behalf. We can only imagine the relief the remaining families must feel at this moment to finally have contact with their loved ones again. We want to thank all the families for their extraordinary patience during this period. *** THANKS TO EVERYONE EVERYWHERE WHO HELPED **** The European A-PAL email action campaign--run by Divi Beineke in Germany and her team of translators- sent over 38,000 emails to world leaders on the prisoners' behalf. Wolfgang Plarre compiled daily articles and reports on human rights, missing and detained. In the USA, Naida Dukaj set up the first A-PAL website and ran the mail list for two years. Mentor Cana set up the mail administration. In Washington, Richard Lukaj and Ilir Zherka met with State Department staff and Senate foreign affairs staff. In Ireland, Valerie Hughes was our most resourceful campaigner, calling members of EP and UK and Irish foreign offices and embassies. Brendan Moran of Ireland Foreign Office assisted in raising the issue with other foreign offices. Bernie Sullivan of UK followed the UK foreign office and NATO. Suzy Blaustein wrote the first comprehensive report for ICG in 1999. Laura Rozen wrote articles. Bob Hand. Jason Steinbaum, and Kelly Siekman staff members from the House and Senate, were supportive in raising the issue at OSCE and State Dept meetings. Albert Cevallos and Kurt Bassuener helped advance awareness both in DC. Eric Witte and Nina Bang-Jensen led the difficult effort to include the transfer of prisoners in the bill passed by the US Congress to condition future aid to the FRY. In Serbia, Natasa Kandic and Teki Bokshi of the Humanitarian Law Center visited prisoners, defended the 143 member Gjakova group, and monitored trials. Teki Bokshi also managed the arrangments in releasing nearly forty minor children in November, 1999. Fred Abrahams and Bogdan Ivanisevic of HR Watch monitored trials. Paul Miller and Sian Jones of Amnesty helped monitor trials. Jovana Krstic and Jelena Milic of Grupa 484 assisted A-PAL frequently. Patrick Gavigan of UNHCHR helped keep track of prisoner transfers and conditions. Stefano Valenti of Council of Europe helped forward information on trials. MP Bart Staes was our most dedicated EP member. MP Emma Bonino and Olivier Dupuis also forwarded resolutions and sent letters. In Sweden, Anders Wessman and Idriz Zogaj provided early support in Brussels, ran four hunger strikes, and filed suit for kidnapping against President Kostunica. Judge Richard Goldstone included the prisoner issue in his report on Kosova. Mary-Teresa Moran in Chris Patten's office followed the situation diligently and persistently. MP's Doris Pack and Elmar Brok passed a resolution on prisoner release in EP Brussels. In NY, lawyers Lisa LaPlante and Marko Maglich worked on the Albanian Prisoner Advocacy Guide and wrote the comments of Flora Brovina's trial. Also, Ambassador Ryan of Ireland and the Ambassador of Bangladesh raised the issue in the UN Security Council. In DC, Senators Smith, Leahy, Helms and McConnell repeatedly raised the issue in Congress and coordinated the effort to condition aid if the prisoners were not transfered by March 31, 2002, as did Reps. Engel and Cardin. At the US office in Prishtina, Julie Winn, Karen Levine, Laurie Dundon,and John Menzies offered support along the way. At the UK office, Victoria Whitford coordinated efforts in Belgrade and Prishtina. US A-PAL advocates Jane Stevenson and Trish Porter wrote to prisoners in Sremska Mitrovica and assisted in advocating the release of Bedri Kukalaj. Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell of the US State Dept. supported our efforts at crucial moments. In Kosova, we want to thank Rizah Xhakali, Gani Krasniqi, Avni Klinaku, and Nexhmi Kelmendi of the APP office, and Ibrahim Makolli, Payazit Nushi, and Adem Demaci of the CDHRF office, as well as Shukrie Rexha who represented the prisoner issue on KTC. At UNMIK, Elizabeth Presse, John Christian Cady, and Clint Williamson were negotiators. Sarah Bascheti and Mary Elena Andreotti were helpful to families in need and to the Dubrava hunger strikers. Albin Kurti wrote letters to foreign governments and met with foreign office officials. Liburn Aliu helped ill prisoners who had returned home. Enver Dugolli met with UNMIK officials. The Gjakova Families petitioned internationally and did a lot to raise awareness. The Released Dubrava Prisoners insisted on the creation of an UNMIK department of Missing and Detained and the repair of the mass grave at Dubrava. Blerim Shala, Isuf Hajrizi and Halil Matoshi kept the prisoner issue alive and in the news. Over 75,000 Albanians signed the first petition we delivered to NATO. Thousands demonstrated in rain, heat, and snow. Six prisoners died in detention. But the other 2,000 plus have now returned home. Best wishes to this last group, Your A-PAL Coordinators-- Alice Mead Mentor Cana Anders Wessman Divi Beineke Valerie Hughes Naida Dukaj Wolfgang Plarre > ***************************************** > Agence France Presse March 26, 2002 Tuesday > Belgrade turns over Kosovo prisoners, meeting US condition for aid > > DATELINE: NIS, Yugoslavia, March 26 > > Serbian authorities on Tuesday began a transfer of ethnic Albanian > prisoners held in Serbian jails to Kosovo, meeting a key US demand for > extending aid to Yugoslavia. > > A convoy of four buses, escorted by two UN vehicles and Serbian police > cars, was seen leaving a prison in the southern Serbian town of Nis > around 2:10 pm (1310 GMT). > > A total of 145 ethnic Albanian prisoners, 104 from Nis prison and 41 > from Sremska Mitrovica, were to be transferred to Kosovo, the Beta > news agency reported quoting the Serbian justice ministry. Seven > ethnic Albanian prisoners wanted to serve their sentence in Serbia and > not to be transferred to Kosovo, Bruno Vekaric of the ministry told > Beta. > > The US Congress had made the transfer of ethnic Albanian prisoners to > Kosovo from other parts of Serbia before March 31 a condition for > receving 40 million dollars in aid to Belgrade. > > Washington is also demanding cooperation from Belgrade in arresting > and turning over suspects wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal in The > Hague. > > The transfer was in accordance with an agreement reached last week by > the Serbian government and the UN mission in Kosovo on an exchange of > prisoners captured during the Kosovo war. > > Under the agreement ethnic Albanian prisoners held in Serbian prisons > will continue to serve out their sentences in Kosovo, while Serb > prisoners held in Kosovo will in return be sent to jails elsewhere in > Serbia. > > The agreement was signed Friday by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran > Djindjic, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Kosovo Nebojsa Covic > and Yugoslav Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic, and the UN administrator > for Kosovo, Michael Steiner, signed the accord on behalf of the > province. > > Over 2,100 detainees were sent to central Serbia during the June 1999 > pullout of Yugoslav forces from the southern Serbian province of > Kosovo. > > Most of the prisoners stand accused of terrorism and murder during the > 1998-1999 war in which Yugoslav forces fought ethnic Albanian > guerrillas in Kosovo. > > Some prisoners were released due to lack of evidence or after serving > some time and others were sentenced to prison for 10 years or more. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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