From mentor at alb-net.com Wed May 2 11:55:11 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:55:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] Anti-Albanian riots in Macedonia like Kristallnacht: Albanian leader Message-ID: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010502/1/o9j6.html Wednesday May 2, 9:31 PM Anti-Albanian riots in Macedonia like Kristallnacht: Albanian leader SKOPJE, May 2 (AFP) - Macedonia's top ethnic Albanian leader on Wednesday compared the backlash against his community following the killing of eight Macedonian security officers to Nazi Germany's anti-Jewish Kristallnacht attacks in 1938. "It was a Kristallnacht (Night of Glass), like in 1938 when they attacked Jewish shops. It's the same game," said Arben Xhaferi, head of the Democratic Party of Albanians, a member of Macedonia's government coalition. He was talking after Macedonian rioters rampaged in the southern town of Bitola following the funerals there of four of the eight officers killed by ethnic Albanian rebels in the northwest of the country on Saturday. "It's a typical, primitive tendency to collectivize guilt to blame all Albanians," said Xhaferi. After around 40 shops were trashed by furious mobs, vandalism and looting dragged on into Tuesday night, state television said, adding that Macedonian premises were also attacked. The government condemned the rioting. The November 1938 anti-Jewish attacks of Kristallnacht, which were orchestrated by the ruling Nazi Party, took the form of nationwide attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses. Around 100 Jews were killed and an estimated 30,000 arrested or deported after the riots. Xhaferi added that a cafe attacked by unidentified gunmen in the capital was Albanian-owned and that a man shot dead there was also ethnic Albanian. "There is no immediate possibility of war, but there is the possibility of creating fronts between two groups and a big confusion," said Xhaferi, calling the ethnic violence "a typical post-Yugoslav syndrome of inter-ethnic polarisation." The guerrillas' campaign across the northwest in March raised fears of a new Balkans war, although the government claimed to have smashed the rebels by the end of the month. Xhaferi said dialogue between the ethnic Albanian community and the authorities was "more difficult" after the latest events, a sentiment already voiced by the main Macedonian coalition party, the VMRO-DPMNE. "After these odious murders, dialogue becomes irrational. We think at the moment it has been seriously thrown into question," said party spokesman Igor Gievski after the eight officers were killed in what police described as a "massacre". The ethnic Albanian gunmen said it killed the men in self-defence and added that the security forces had been warned not to enter areas near the mountainous Kosovo border held by the guerrillas. Xhaferi said the danger was rather that "people are starting to believe they can't live together." He condemned the violence and called for a broader coalition, reiterating Albanian demands for the constitution to be changed, with the Albanian community's legal status upped from minority to constitutive nation. From mentor at alb-net.com Fri May 4 17:48:15 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 17:48:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] "They [The Macedonian Forces] Are Burning Us Alive," Residents of Slupcan Call For Help Message-ID: "He also said the National Liberation Army forces are in village." "We feel safe while they [NLA] are her to protect us. Who knows what would happened to us if they were not here," he added. --- KosovaLive 4 May 2001 http://kosovalive.com/english/english.htm 1. Seven Killed In Slupcan And Vaksince While Residents Refuse To Leave Homes 2. "They Are Burning Us Alive," Residents of Slupcan Call For Help 3. Villages Of Opaja and Hotel near Kumanova Shelled, Situation Escalates 4. PPD Reports Situation In Macedonia Could Get Out Of Control 5. Candy Store Attacked With Bomb in Skopje 6. Refugee Family From Kumanova Sheltered In Mitrovica ### 1. Seven Killed In Slupcan And Vaksince While Residents Refuse To Leave Homes May 4, 2001 PRISHTINA (KosovLive) - As a result of the shelling by the Macedonian military and police forces, at least seven persons were killed and many others wounded in the last two days. Macedonian forces shelled the villages of the Likova and Kumanova municipalities using all artillery in disposition, sources of KosovaLive informed from the field. According to the same recourses, the most powerful shelling went on in the villages of Slupcan and Vaksince. More than half of the houses in Slupcan have been destroyed from the shelling of Macedonian forces. "One helicopter of the Macedonian forces was taken down and a number of tanks were destroyed, while the National Liberation Army forces (UCK) were trying to protect the civilians being attacked not only from the air but also from the positions of the Macedonian forces from a distance," Hysni Shaqiri, former deputy of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) who joined the UCK, told KosovaLive Friday. Shaqiri said that the Albanian political parties should be aware that they cannot play with the fate of the people. "I think that what the NLA requests is a reality that belongs to political parties as well, but they are not in a position to do this." "The fact that the demands are very realistic, political parties also have a historical responsibility toward the people and the conditions that the Albanian population is facing at the moment," Shaqiri said. The president of the Likova municipality, Hysamedin Halili, also confirmed for KosovaLive, about the seven killed and several wounded. "It is a war. People are hiding inside their basements; they are still in the village not wanting to leave their houses. The Macedonian government has given an ultimatum to leave the village until 4 p.m., but nobody has left the village," Halili said. While the shelling continues even after 4:30 p.m., the city of Kumanova awaits the curfew that begins from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. (hm) ### 2. "They Are Burning Us Alive," Residents of Slupcan Call For Help May 4, 2001 PRISHTINA (KosovaLive) - The number of victims comes to at least five from the shelling of villages near Kumanova, Albanian sources from the conflict zone reported. Besides the two killed in last night's shelling in Slupcan, Albanian sources said three residents of Vaksince lost their lives during Thursday's shelling. The same resources reported that a helicopter of the Macedonian forces helicopter was taken down at around 11 a.m. and two tanks were put on fire. One NLA soldier is also reported to have been wounded. Contacted through a mobile phone, 34-year old Iljaz from the village of Slupcan told KosovaLive that his seven-member family is hiding in the basement of their house together with 33 other resident of the village. "We are all gathered in the basement and nobody dares to go out. We are afraid that they will burn as alive. The Macedonians don't care where they shell, and they are also shoot at civilians," Iljazi said, explaining that the bombing had continued throughout last night and today until 2 p.m. Two elderly people of the village were killed and two children wounded. "We are all here. All five thousand residents of the village do not intend to leave the village, even though we do not have electricity or any contact with the outside world as our phones are down," Iljazi said. He also said the National Liberation Army forces are in village. "We feel safe while they are her to protect us. Who knows what would happened to us if they were not here," he added. Iljazi also said that even though the villagers have little food reserves, food is not a problem. "We do not even think about eating since yesterday," he said. (al) ### 3. Villages Of Opaja and Hotel near Kumanova Shelled, Situation Escalates May 4, 2001 SKOPJE/KUMANOVA (KosovaLive) - Macedonian forces are shelling two more Albanian villages in the Kumanovo area, northeast of Skopje Friday. Albanian sources from the area reported that shelling was taking place in the villages of Opaja and Hotel, describing the situation as tense and escalating. The shelling started Friday 8 a.m., when Albanian journalists saw Macedonian special units called "Wolfs" and "Scorpions" firing on the villages from positions at Kumanova's civil airport. Two elderly Albanian males, Ramiz Demiri (63) and Remzi Osmani (54), were killed and three others were wounded, including a nine-year old girl, in the Macedonian offensive Thursday afternoon in the village of Slupcane. Albanian sources in the area said tens of Albanian homes were destroyed in Slupcane and Vaksince, which were the target of the offensive of the Macedonian forces. However, local leaders from the area said the Albanian inhabitants of the villages have preferred to take refugee in their basements rather than leave their villages in response to the government ultimatum. "Not one of the residents has moved, they are all in their basements," Husamedin Hasani, president of the Likova municipality, said. "The situation is very serious. We appeal to the international factor to intervene in solving the crises," he added. Meanwhile, the forces of the National Liberation Army (NLA) said that a Macedonian helicopter was taken down during its flight over Slupcan. An NLA commander said that the NLA is ready to face possible ground offensives. ### 4. PPD Reports Situation In Macedonia Could Get Out Of Control May 4, 2001 TETOVA (KosovaLive) - The security situation in Macedonia is quite dramatic and could escalate out of control at any moment, the president of Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), Imer Imeri, said Friday in Tetova. He criticized the Macedonian government, but at the same time called upon both sides of the conflict to give up their weapons and sit around a negotiation table and begin dialogue in finding a solution to the crises. "The incidents in the villages near Kumanova clearly show that the Macedonian government is not willing to solve the crisis but, on the contrary, is escalating it," Imeri said. According to Imeri, the ultimatum given by the Macedonian Prime Minister to the Albanian population in the conflict zone that they should leave their houses before the offensive begins, is only a "bluff" of the government. "The Macedonian army began the shelling much earlier than the ultimatum expired. In fact, the government deceived the inhabitants," Imeri told journalists. According to him, the PPD is concerned about the condition of the population in the villages of the conflict at this moment. Imeri said that the PPD "fears that such operations could lead to a humanitarian disaster and cause retaliation of wide dimensions." Imeri once again emphasized that the solution of current political problems with weapons is not preferable and that PPD requesting that both sides give up their weapons and in order to create an atmosphere of serious and effective talks. (si) ### 5. Candy Store Attacked With Bomb in Skopje May 4, 2001 SKOPJE (KosovaLive) - A bomb was thrown at the Palma candy store in Skopje after 1 p.m. Friday, owned by a Muslim Slav. Sources from Macedonia's Ministry of Internal Affairs in Skopje said the candy store was attacked with a bomb, and there were no victims in the incident. However, there was considerable material damage. The attack in Palma happened on the second night of the firearm attacks against Albanians and burning of Albanian businesses, in which one person from Kosova lost his life. (ar) ### 6. Refugee Family From Kumanova Sheltered In Mitrovica May 4, 2001 MITROVICA (KosovaLive) - After the latest turbulences in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, the first refugee family from Kumanova arrived Thursday night in Shipol near Mitrovica. The eight-member family arrived at their relatives after many difficulties in reaching the Hani i Elezit border point. Meanwhile, 14 other members of the family who are left in Kumanova are expected to arrive Friday. (lb) From mentor at alb-net.com Wed May 9 11:10:31 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 11:10:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] HRW: Macedonian Forces Responsible for Killing and Destruction (From a Letter to Macedonian President B. Trajkovski) Message-ID: "Available evidence suggests that government forces were responsible for the deliberate killing of 16-year-old Omer Shabani on April 3 in the village of Selce. We also received reports that families of ethnic Albanians arrested on suspicion of membership in the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) were unable to obtain any information on the whereabouts of their relatives. Finally, our documentation suggests that government forces were responsible for the wanton destruction and looting of villages perceived as being pro-NLA, including the villages of Selce, Gjermo, Gajre, Drenovec, and Kolte." ____________________________________________________________________ http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/05/macedonia_ltr1.htm Letter to Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski May 4, 2001 President Boris Trajkovski 11 Oktomvri b.b. 1000, Skopje Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Your Excellency, Human Rights Watch is a privately funded international non-governmental organization dedicated to documenting human rights abuses throughout the world. In the past ten years, we have committed substantial time and effort to investigating violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia. We have documented violations of international humanitarian law by all sides of the armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the NATO war with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Reports of the renewed conflict in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia between security forces and armed groups of ethnic Albanians raise concerns relating to adherence to international humanitarian law. As in all other conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, our principal concern is that all parties involved respect civilian immunity and ensure the protection of civilians. Human Rights Watch wants to express its concern that Macedonian authorities take all measures to ensure that security forces comply with basic principles of international humanitarian law applicable to situations of internal armed conflict, and enshrined in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. This provision protects those who do not take an active part in hostilities from the most serious violations, including acts of murder, torture and cruel treatment, the taking of hostages, outrages upon personal dignity, and the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court. This concern is strengthened by our findings following the March 2001 actions by the security forces against armed ethnic Albanian groups in the western part of the country. Available evidence suggests that government forces were responsible for the deliberate killing of 16-year-old Omer Shabani on April 3 in the village of Selce. We also received reports that families of ethnic Albanians arrested on suspicion of membership in the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) were unable to obtain any information on the whereabouts of their relatives. Finally, our documentation suggests that government forces were responsible for the wanton destruction and looting of villages perceived as being pro-NLA, including the villages of Selce, Gjermo, Gajre, Drenovec, and Kolte. We urge you to make these incidents the subject of prompt, thorough, and transparent investigations. With regard to the renewed fighting, Macedonian authorities should also prohibit all attacks against civilians, attacks and reprisals against civilian objects, as well as threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population. We call on the government of the FYR Macedonia to take all available measures to prevent the displacement of civilians. We also call on the authorities to ensure that the civilian population of the affected areas enjoy maximum protection against the dangers of harm resulting from the military operations. The most fundamental principle of the laws of war requires that combatants be distinguished from noncombatants, and that military objectives be distinguished from protected property or protected places. Parties to a conflict must direct their operations only against military objectives (including combatants). In this respect we wish to remind Macedonian authorities that the provisions of Protocol I additional to the Geneva Conventions that prohibit indiscriminate warfare are considered to be norms of customary international law. These provisions are binding on all parties to a conflict, regardless of whether it is an international or internal armed conflict. Indiscriminate attacks are "those which are not directed against a military objective," "those which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military objective," or "those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by the Protocol," "and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction." We also note that the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) applies to serious violations of international humanitarian law committed after 1991 in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, including FYR Macedonia. Human Rights Watch acknowledges the obligation of the armed Albanian groups to uphold the same standards of international humanitarian law and urges their adherence to these norms. A letter expressing Human Rights Watch's concerns to this effect is being sent to the NLA. We hope, Mr. President, that you will give serious thought to the points addressed in this letter and, guided by consideration for human life and well-being, do everything in your power to ensure respect for Macedonia's obligations under international law. Respectfully, /s/ Holly Cartner Executive Director Europe and Central Asia Division cc: Mrs. Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor, ICTY From mentor at alb-net.com Wed May 16 11:57:09 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 11:57:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] Macedonia Albanians reject the idea of secession; "... not even the NLA has called for autonomy or independence ..." Message-ID: *** NOTE: Azis Polozhani is the Vice President of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP), a coalition member in the newly established unity government in Macedonia Full article at: http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/05/15/fp6s2-csm.shtml Macedonia tries again for difficult unity By Arie Farnam Special to The Christian Science Monitor May 15th, 2001 ... "I appreciate their sacrifice for Albanian rights," he says. "The demands of the rebels are the same issues we have been bringing to the Macedonian Parliament for 10 years, and nothing happened until they took up arms." Polozhani says he believes the NLA would end its insurgency if four main demands are met: first, for Albanian to become an official state language in schools, Parliament, and other state institutions; second, a publicly funded Albanian-language university; and third, proportional employment in the public sector for ethnic-Albanians, who comprise 1/3 of Macedonia's 2 million inhabitants but hold only 4 percent of the state jobs. The rebels' most contentious demand is a constitutional change that would make Albanians a "founding nation" of the state, along with Macedonian Slavs. Many Macedonians see this as paramount to a declaration of independence by ethnic-Albanian areas in western Macedonia. Polozhani rejects the idea of secession, and not even the NLA has called for autonomy or independence, unlike the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought Yugoslav security forces during the Kosovo crisis two years ago. Polozhani is now lobbying for a bilateral cease-fire and talks between the new coalition and the NLA. It's a suggestion Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, who has called called the NLA a "terrorist organization," has rejected repeatedly in the past. ... From mentor at alb-net.com Fri May 18 11:57:41 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Fri, 18 May 2001 11:57:41 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] NYT: Macedonia Albanian: "They beat me with all their strength, with their fists. They said they would cut my throat with a knife" Message-ID: *** NOTE: The following are few excerpts from the NY Times article "A Trail of Misery as Macedonia Fights Albanian Insurgency", By CARLOTTA GALL "He recounted how he had gone to tend his cow at dawn and been caught by the police. With four others, he said, he was beaten and interrogated while blindfolded and handcuffed for five days, before being dumped in the countryside on Tuesday miles from home." "Last week, he said, a group of 10 police officers seized him and beat him, he said. "They beat me with all their strength, with their fists. They said they would cut my throat with a knife. Then my brother and a friend came looking for me and they grabbed them too." Full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/world/18MACE.html May 17, 2001 ... Wednesday evening, for example, residents of nearby Opae, which lies just a mile from rebel positions in the village of Slupcane, abandoned the village after the police searched houses and hauled off the men for questioning. ... Farther south, in a small house in the capital of Skopje, a farmer from Opae named Salih and one of two brothers badly beaten by the police this week, sat hollow-eyed with fear considering a future without a home or an income. He recounted how he had gone to tend his cow at dawn and been caught by the police. With four others, he said, he was beaten and interrogated while blindfolded and handcuffed for five days, before being dumped in the countryside on Tuesday miles from home. ... International aid workers say 16,000 Macedonian Albanian refugees have arrived in neighboring Kosovo 9,000 in the past month alone. Another 10,000 civilians remain in the hill villages under government siege. ... For Salih, 46, and his brother Sami, 40, who were so badly beaten this week, and for their young families, the future is even more bleak. ... "We cannot think of going back home, because we have nothing," he said. "We Albanians have less now than we had before we asked for more rights. For now we are losing everything." ... Last week, he said, a group of 10 police officers seized him and beat him, he said. "They beat me with all their strength, with their fists. They said they would cut my throat with a knife. Then my brother and a friend came looking for me and they grabbed them too." ... "They took us to Kumanovo, where they made us strip and they beat us with metal bars," he said, showing the bruises on his shoulder and legs. After five days he was dumped in the countryside and made his way to Kumanovo. ... From mentor at alb-net.com Tue May 22 15:54:31 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 15:54:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] "burned our school": Albanians Say Macedonian Troops Empty, Burn Hamlet": "and they burned the mosque and the cattle" Message-ID: "Arjeta Kamberi, a 19-year-old student, told Reuters there were no armed insurgents of the self-styled National Liberation Army (UCK) in Runica, which was suddenly filled with troops at around 4 A.M. Monday. ``The [Macedonian] soldiers all wore black clothes and masks. They smashed our windows when everyone was asleep and dragged us out. Then they poured petrol on buildings and set them on fire,'' she said. ``They burned our school which was built for us by (Italian charity) Caritas, and they burned the mosque and the cattle and horses in their stalls.'' NOTE: The following are few excerpts from the Reuters' article "Albanians Say Macedonian Troops Empty, Burn Hamlet", By Douglas Hamilton Full article at: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010522/wl/balkans_guerrillas_village_dc_1.html Tuesday May 22 1:26 PM ET CERKES, Macedonia (Reuters) - Ethnic Albanians on Tuesday alleged that masked Macedonian troops attacked their remote mountain hamlet in a pre-dawn raid, evicted them and set fire to their homes, mosque and school. ... The United Nations (news - web sites) refugee agency (UNHCR) in Kosovo said on Tuesday that 43 civilians from Runica had arrived in Kosovo late Monday night after trekking over the mountains. ``Some of them are wounded,'' UNHCR spokeswoman Astrid van Genderen Stort told Reuters. The civilians said they had fled because of shelling. ... Arjeta Kamberi, a 19-year-old student, told Reuters there were no armed insurgents of the self-styled National Liberation Army (UCK) in Runica, which was suddenly filled with troops at around 4 A.M. Monday. ``The soldiers all wore black clothes and masks. They smashed our windows when everyone was asleep and dragged us out. Then they poured petrol on buildings and set them on fire,'' she said. ``They burned our school which was built for us by (Italian charity) Caritas, and they burned the mosque and the cattle and horses in their stalls.'' ... ``This is the first time I hear something like that. I have no information about anyone burning houses,'' army spokesman Colonel Blagoje Markovski told Reuters. ... Defense Ministry spokesman Georgi Trendafilov Tuesday told Reuters seven civilians had been evacuated by helicopter -- the only apparent detail in which the stories coincide. ``I have no intention of commenting on what these so-called refugees are saying,'' he said. ``This is like the accusations made during the Kosovo crisis about us kicking their teeth out.'' ... Family members around him said he had been badly beaten by soldiers, one of whom pushed the barrel of his Kalashnikov rifle into Ahmedi's mouth while another kicked him, demanding he tell all he knew about the movements of the guerrillas. Ahmedi's 31-year-old son Shukri, displaying bruises to the ribs, said soldiers had doused him with petrol and were going to set him alight. But his sisters and mother Advie, whose undershirt was stained with blood, prevented them. ``There were no UCK in our village,'' said Kamberi. ``And our village has never been attacked.'' .... According to the Ahmedi family, around 10 ``grenades'' were fired at Runica at the start of the alleged army assault. ... The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that roughly 10,000 civilians are still living in a cluster of villages west of Kumanovo that are held by the UCK and subject to attack by government security forces. ... Asked why they did not leave to escape army bombardment by tanks and artillery -- as the government has repeatedly urged them to do -- Stamm said: ``There is no single, unique answer.'' ``We cannot exclude some pressure by the armed men, or that some others are staying in solidarity, and a certain number are not leaving because they do not feel like encountering the Macedonian army.'' From mentor at alb-net.com Sun May 27 02:58:49 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 02:58:49 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] DPA LEADER XHAFERI: "The representatives of 'NLA' are no terrorists"; 'NLA' occurred "as a result of the dissatisfaction of the people Message-ID: DPA LEADER XHAFERI: - "The representatives of 'NLA' are no terrorists" - 'NLA' occurred "as a result of the dissatisfaction of the people - Macedonia Albanian's requests are "reasonable and guarantee the territorial integrity of the country" - "MACEDONIA WILL EXIST IF IT CHANGES ITS CONSTITUTION" http://www.mia.com.mk DPA LEADER XHAFERI: MACEDONIA WILL EXIST IF IT CHANGES ITS CONSTITUTION Sofia, May 26 (MIA) - "The representatives of 'NLA' are not terrorists, as the terrorists do not have political leaders, do not wear uniforms and do not have political program," DPA leader Arben Xhaferi stated in his interview for Bulgarian daily "Monitor". As MIA reports, Xhaferi stresses that the so-called 'NLA' occurred "as a result of the dissatisfaction of the people", underlining that "those that are self organized, have political program and political representatives." According to DPA leader, Macedonia will exists only if it changes its Constitution. Unless it fulfills the requests of the Albanians, which are reasonable and guarantee the territorial integrity of the country, "Macedonia will fall in constitutional crisis." Assessing that "the international community supports the demands of the Albanians in Macedonia," Xhaferi stresses that it is being worked on establishing peace and demilitarization of the so-called NLA, which would create conditions for political dialogue. He thinks that the negotiations will end by November, and by then the demands will be fulfilled. According to Xhaferi Macedonia is a small state, which cannot resist the permanent political and military pressure as well as the destabilization of its institutions. At the end of the interview for "Monitor", DPA leader Arben Xhaferi concludes that "if Macedonia continues with its ethnic stubbornness, ethnic states will be established as the only possible model for establishing peace on the Balkans." sa/vd/16:41 From mentor at alb-net.com Tue May 29 13:30:24 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 13:30:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] HRW: "Our investigations show that Macedonian forces burne civilians' homes and beat some villagers" (fwd) Message-ID: "Our [HRW] investigations show that Macedonian forces burned civilians' homes and beat some villagers last week in the village of Runica. These crimes must be impartially investigated, and those responsible brought to account." Holly Cartner HRW Executive Director Europe and Central Asia division http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/05/runica0529.htm Macedonian Government Abuses in Runica Village International Community Should Push for a Full Investigation (New York, May 29, 2001) Macedonian government forces arbitrarily shelled and burned the ethnic Albanian village of Runica and beat some of its civilian inhabitants last week, Human Rights Watch stated today. Six members of one family were wounded by mortar fire and one man was killed. Seven others civilians were severely beaten. "Our investigations show that Macedonian forces burned civilians' homes and beat some villagers last week in the village of Runica," said Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "These crimes must be impartially investigated, and those responsible brought to account." Human Rights Watch located and interviewed witnesses from Runica, a mountain hamlet with approximately 100 inhabitants near Kumanovo, who had been displaced inside Macedonia or fled to Kosovo. Interviewed separately, they provided highly consistent accounts of the attack on the village. The government's attack began without warning around 4:00 a.m. on May 21 with mortars, tank shells, and helicopter fire, all of the villagers said. Most of the approximately ten families that lived in the hamlet fled immediately into the mountains to escape the shelling. About 150 meters from their home, the Hyseni family was struck by what is believed to have been a mortar. Six members of the family were wounded, as well as another villager, Mexhit Hamide, aged thirty-one and father of three. He died four days later from his injuries. Villagers carried three of the wounded through the mountains for ten hours to the border with Kosovo. Three men then returned to retrieve the other three wounded they had left behind. When they arrived back at Runica, they testified, virtually the entire village of approximately fifty houses had been burned to the ground, including the mosque and the school, which had been constructed with help from the humanitarian organization Caritas. One family with four daughters did not flee the village during the May 21 attack because they could not evacuate their elderly and infirm father. When Macedonian government ground forces entered the village, the family was caught and badly beaten. Macedonian forces beat all members of the family, and twice doused the thirty-one year old son with gasoline and threatened to set him on fire. The family was walked down the only street of the village and continuously beaten and kicked while the Macedonian forces burned most of the houses in the village with gasoline. The men and women of the family showed Human Rights Watch researchers the deep bruises they had obtained from the beatings, and the bloody clothes they had worn that day. Fifty-six year old Advie Hamidi, the mother of the family, testified to Human Rights Watch: [The Macedonian forces] broke down the door and right away started beating us, kicking us with their feet and with the butts of their guns. I don't know how many times I was hit, with fists, with guns, they dragged us by the hair and dragged us. Then they put gasoline on the house and lit it on fire. Then they took us out in the street. They burned all the houses, the mosque and the school. When we reached the bottom of the village, they put the barrel of an automatic rifle in my husband's mouth. He was lying down and they stepped on his chest, almost killing him. Then they took my eldest son. They twisted his arms [behind his back] almost breaking them Then they hit him in the head with a rifle and a lot of blood started flowing. Then they took the can of gasoline [and poured it on him]. Me and all my daughters rushed to him to try and protect him. From the morning hours until 11:30 a.m., they never stopped beating us. All of the villagers, interviewed separately, vehemently claimed that the Albanian insurgency-the National Liberation Army (NLA)-had never been present in the village, although this could not be confirmed by Human Rights Watch. Other villages in the region, such as Slupcane and Vaksince, had an NLA presence. Human Rights Watch called on the Macedonian government to open an official and impartial investigation into the incident. The European Union, U.S. government, and OSCE, should encourage and participate in this inquiry. "The government's actions are at odds with its legal obligations and stated intent to minimize civilian casualties," added Ms. Cartner. "The U.S. and European governments should condemn the ill-treatment of the villagers of Runica by Macedonian forces and push for and participate in a full inquiry into these serious abuses." From mentor at alb-net.com Thu May 31 12:33:00 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 12:33:00 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] HRW: Ethnic Albanian Men Separated, Tortured at Police Station Message-ID: "Ethnic Albanian men fleeing the fighting in Macedonia face severe ill-treatment by the police. We have documented serious beatings and torture of ethnic Albanians at the Kumanovo and Skopje police stations in the last week. The victims we interviewed have the bruises and injuries to back up their claims of abuse." Holly Cartner HRW Executive Director Europe and Central Asia division http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/05/macedonia0530.htm Macedonian Police Abuses Documented Ethnic Albanian Men Separated, Tortured at Police Stations (Skopje, Macedonia, May 31, 2001) Macedonian forces are systematically separating out ethnic Albanian males fleeing fierce fighting in northern Macedonia, and severely beating some of the men at police stations, Human Rights Watch said today. In the most severe cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the ill-treatment appears intended to extract confessions or information about the National Liberation Army (NLA) and amounts to torture. The fear of violence at the hands of the Macedonian police is also stopping many ethnic Albanians from fleeing to safety into government-controlled territory. "Ethnic Albanian men fleeing the fighting in Macedonia face severe ill-treatment by the police," said Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "We have documented serious beatings and torture of ethnic Albanians at the Kumanovo and Skopje police stations in the last week. The victims we interviewed have the bruises and injuries to back up their claims of abuse." On May 22, Macedonian forces launched an offensive against ethnic Albanian fighters of the NLA who had seized control of villages located in the vicinity of the northern Macedonian town of Kumanovo. An estimated fifteen thousand civilians remain in the NLA-controlled territory, sparking concerns of significant civilian casualties if the fighting continues. Since the beginning of the renewed offensive, Macedonian forces have separated out men from the civilians fleeing the fighting and have severely beaten some of them. Human Rights Watch researchers have documented cases of severe beating at the Kumanovo police station, located in the region where the latest fighting is taking place, as well as at the Skopje police station, located in the capital city of Macedonia. Some of the tactics involved hundreds of blows to the soles of the victims' feet-a torture technique known as falanga which causes severe pain and swelling and can lead to kidney failure-as well as extended beatings on the hands, buttocks, arms, and heads of the victims. The men interviewed by Human Rights Watch indicated that they had heard the screams of many other beating victims at the police stations, suggesting that the scope of such abuse may be widespread and condoned at the police stations. Human Rights Watch said that the ill-treatment violates international human rights law, and in the most severe cases amounts to torture. Many of the ethnic Albanians are reluctant to talk to international observers because they fear further retaliation from the Macedonian police, and have in some cases been warned by their abusers not to discuss their maltreatment. For this reason, identifying details are withheld from the testimonies summarized below. Some of the men were forced to sign confessions under torture and to implicate others in NLA-related activities. Large numbers of men continue to be separated out from convoys of fleeing civilians and taken to police stations. On Tuesday, May 29, Human Rights Watch researchers observed a group of approximately thirty-five ethnic Albanian men from the village of Matejce who were separated from their female relatives and taken into the police station at Kumanovo. "Jevit Hasani," (not his real name), a seventeen-year-old villager from Vaksince, an NLA-controlled village recaptured by government forces over the weekend, was arrested and taken to the Skopje police station after fleeing fighting in the village. He described the treatment he experienced in the police station: They took us in a corridor. Suddenly I was hit on the head with a wooden stick, and then ten or so people began beating me until I fainted. When I came to, I was in a room. They were swearing, insulting my mother and sister, calling me an NLA fighter, a terrorist nationalist. I was lying on the ground on my side, facing the wall when I woke up, and my shoes were off. They started beating me on the feet and the buttocks. At the beginning they would just beat me. They would count ten hits as one, and went all until fifty or sixty [i.e. five hundred to six hundred hits]. This was before they asked me questions. [After being questioned and beaten more], they wrote a confession. Then they made me read the confession in front of a camera in another room. I had to confess I was a spy, and they made me read a list of names of people in the NLA which they had prepared, and say that the NLA had refused to let the civilians go out and abused us. "Jevit Hasani" was released after forty-eight hours in custody. He showed Human Rights Watch researchers the deep bruises and hematoma on his buttocks caused by the severe beatings, and explained he had continued to suffer the after effects of beatings to his private parts. According to "Jevit Hasani" many other people were undergoing beatings while he was being detained at the police station: "I heard other people screaming while I was being interrogated, in other rooms. They were screaming in pain, there were a lot of them." A second witness interviewed by Human Rights Watch offered an essentially similar account of his beating at the Skopje police station, and also had deep bruises and hematoma on his buttocks and swollen hands, but did not want his ordeal publicized out of fear of police retaliation. "Ymer Aqifi," (not his real name) a fifty-one-year-old father of six from Slupcane, was beaten at the Kumanovo police station on Sunday, May 27. He described the beatings he and eight other men he was detained with sustained: We were taken into a corridor. Four [police investigators] made me lie down flat on my stomach. They beat me with an iron bar on the wrists, a wooden stick on my head, a [police] baton on my buttocks, and kicked with their feet however much they wanted. They were swearing, insulting my mother and sisters, all kinds of curses. They were asking who is NLA, where the Imam [religious leader] of the village was, where the civilian defenses were, where the headquarters were. But no one wrote down anything, they didn't wait for answers. That lasted for about an hour I lost consciousness. Then they poured water on me. Two policemen came when I regained consciousness and they took me and the others to another corridor. Down there, all night long, there were screaming people beneath us. You could hear how they beat them. "Ymer Aqifi" showed Human Rights Watch researchers the deep bruises and hematoma on his buttocks, deep bruises on his arms, bruises on his forehead and the sides of his head, and his swollen hands. Twenty-five-year-old "Adem Yimeri" (not his real name), a farmer from Vaksince, was also beaten at Kumanovo police station. He described the beating to Human Rights Watch: They took us to offices and there were three [police investigators]. They took me to an office by myself. He said to write down who is in the NLA. They asked me about my relatives in Kosovo. A person entered with a wooden stick covered with tape and he hit me on the back. Then they hit me on the sides of the head [above the hairline] so the bruises wouldn't show. They hit me twice on the hands with the bat. Then they said, "If it doesn't hurt like that, put them on the table and we will make sure you never pick up a rifle again." Then they hit me ten more times on the hands. Then they made me bend over a chair. One of them would hit me in the kidneys, and another hit me on the head. They said they would destroy my kidneys so I could never work again. From 12 to 4 p.m., they beat me like that. "Ethnic Albanian men remaining in the villages under NLA control fear ill-treatment and torture at the hands of Macedonian forces," commented Cartner. "There is little doubt that this fear is one of the reasons why so many ethnic Albanian men are refusing to leave their homes in the conflict zone." Police forces have also abused ethnic Albanian civilians this past week during raids against suspected NLA sympathizers in Tetovo, the scene of earlier fighting between the NLA and government forces. Human Rights Watch researchers documented the cases of ten ethnic Albanian men who were beaten during police raids in the villages of Dzepciste and Poroj on May 25. During the raid on the Dzepciste home of Naser Junizi, a schoolteacher and village leader accused by the Macedonian government of assisting the NLA, police commandos beat Naser Junizi, two of his brothers, his sixty-eight-year-old father, and his eighteen-year-old son. Police also entered the Poroj compound of the Saiti family, kicking and breaking three ribs of thirty-six-year-old Rami Saiti and attacking his seventy-three-year-old father and seventeen-year-old cousin before apparently realizing they had entered the wrong home and rapidly leaving. Human Rights Watch noted that police abuse of ethnic Albanians, as well as of Macedonian Slavs who run afoul of the police, is endemic in Macedonia, as documented in two earlier Human Rights Watch reports issued in 1996 and 1998. The NLA has claimed that one of the main reasons for its armed rebellion is the failure of the Macedonian government to address police abuse as well as other forms of discrimination against ethnic Albanians. Although the Macedonian police appear responsible for the majority of beating cases, Macedonian military forces have also been implicated in beatings. Macedonian military troops appear responsible for the beating of a family of seven in the village of Runica, in which many houses were reportedly burned down by Macedonian troops on May 21, 2001. Human Rights Watch called for an immediate end to torture and other ill-treatment at police stations and urged the international community closely to monitor the treatment of ethnic Albanians by the Macedonian forces. "The international community must do its part to bring an end to police abuse of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia," said Cartner. "International support for the Macedonian government should not mean remaining silent in the face of such severe ill-treatment."