[KAN-Info] Kosovo Action Network- OCTOBER NEWSLETTER, 2003

[Alice Mead]

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KOSOVA ACTION NETWORK (KAN)
OCTOBER, 2003  NEWSLETTER
KAN OFFICE- 038-525-174
Albin Kurti- Advisory Board, Ilir Hoxha- Director
Alice Mead-Intl. Coordinator
_______________________________________________
    Begun in 1997, the mission of KAN is to promote civil society in Kosovo
through active
citizenship.
          **************************************************
October was a busy month for the new KAN organization, both organizationally
and in terms of initiating action regarding families of missing.


MISSING MEETING‹OCT 3, 2003-- Organized by Albin Kurti (excerpts)
On Friday, October 3, 2003 in the premises of the ICMP in Prishtina,
Coordinating Council of Family Associations of the Hostages, Missing and
Families with war victims (KKAF) held a meeting. KKAF comprises 18 Albanian
organizations throughout Kosova that deal with the issue of missing persons.

This meeting followed the visit of Sheremet Ademi, Nesrete Kumnova, Agron
Limani and Mehmetali Perolli to U.S. and came before their meeting with SRSG
Harri Holkeri that was planned for later on that day. In the meeting of KKAF
was present also Albin Kurti from KAN. The purpose of Albin Kurti¹s
participation was the initiative for the petition. The families agreed with
Albin Kurti that before starting the collection of signatures a sort of
media campaign is needed. The collection will start at November 1, 2003 and
Albin will be working on a video clip that is to be shown on TV in Kosova.
The necessity for this comes from the fact that we want to have over 100.000
signatures. Š
In the meeting of SRSG, Mr.Harri Holkeri with the representatives of the
families of the missing, he promised that the problem of missing persons
will be resolved and that he will do his utmost concerning this. The
families said that this new SRSG was promising more that his predecessors
used to do. It is Albin¹s impression that to more accusations from the
families, they (UNMIK and SRSG) answer with more promises.
--------------------------
    **** Introduction to the Petition which should soon appear on the KAN
web site****

Coordinating Council of Family Associations of the Hostages, Missing and
families with war victims, and the network of activists Kosova Action
Network (KAN) consider that:

Four years after the war in Kosova, the fate of over 3.500 persons who were
kidnapped and kept hostage remains unkonown. Families of the missing have
the right to know about their loved ones. Revelation of truth is needed
urgently. The conflict is not over until what happened to them is disclosed
and justice is implemented. Until now, there were no arrests, accusations or
sentences concerning this issue. Why from out of over 900 bodies found in
mass graves in Serbia since the spring of 2001, only  113 of them have been
returned to Kosova?! The Government of Serbia was in the past responsible
for committing the crimes and nowadays it is responsible for concealing the
truth. This Government does not open dossiers and leaves criminals walk
around free. UNMIK also did not give any results, even though it can and is
fully responsible for that.
Inhuman and groundless delay in returning the bodies is a violation of the
1949 Geneva Convention, which states among the rest that dissapearance and
keeping secret of evidence about the location of war hostages is a form of
psychological torture towards families in such an emotional strain and
anxiety. The crime towards those same families is ongoing.
By not seeking and restoring justice for its citizens, UNMIK has also
breached many articles and protocols of the International Convention for
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) towards victims and their families. UNMIK
as a peace mission can create peace only if it implements justice.  Our main
objective is justice and should, by all means, be upheld by those who govern
our country and represent us.

>From UK, Bernie Sullivan has been helpful in getting communications from
Asta Zinbo of ICMP. Sadly only 396 blood samples for DNA testing have been
done so far. He is discussing the issue of missing with UK For Secy Dennis
McShane and Sandra Gidly, MP.
FACT forwarded by Bernie Sullivan (UK) ­ via UK office, Prishtina, "I just
checked my figures with UNMIK Office of Missing Persons and Forensics. There
are currently 485 unidentified bodies at Rahovec mortuary in storage. There
is no way of telling the ethnicity of the victims except by presuming it
from the massacre site with which the victims are associated. On that basis,
OMPF expect 90% of the bodies to be Albanian and 10% to be Serbian."
___________________________________________________________
>From KAN activist Valerie Hughes of Kosova Ireland Solidarity‹

"Victoria Whitford  has, as Bernie Sullivan  has said ,been very helpful and
open .  . . But perhaps we
could highlight  that though OMPF's Mr Baraybar  and his team may be
doing their best with the resources available to them, the focus surely must
be on the families' perception of proceedings -the extent of the families
suffering and pain regarding the huge delays being experienced on this issue
, the sheer rawness of the pain so visible in Kosova today with hundreds of
bodies still lying round awaiting identification , needs to be addressed by
the international community. ICMP has admitted the process could be faster.
The contrast with relatively rapid identification of American Albanian
Bytyci brothers with FBI arriving to help etc needs to be explained .

The delays being experienced by the families are definitely not helping
reconciliation. The recent Amnesty statement on Missing from Serbia and
Kosova outlines the urgency of this matter: "The human rights
organization also urged the UNMIK an Serb authorities to recognize that
"disappearance " or abduction is an ongoing violation of the rights of the
relatives of the "disappeared " and abducted who continue to be obstructed
or ignored by the authorities in their continuing search for the truth and
for justice and redress.The  pain and suffering of thousands of relatives
amounts to a violation of their right not to be subjected to torture and
ill-treatment."

Re Truth/Justice issue - nothing has happened, for example, re prosecution
of General Djordjevic who is believed to  have been in charge of removing
the bodies of Albanians killed in Kosovo  -According to IWPR report - did
anything happen since they did piece on Missing in Dec 2002 - was he
arrested in emergency swoop in Belgrade after Djindic's death?Most likely
not.
Perhaps it is good to focus on specific name ,like Djordjevic.Rather than
speaking generally of impunity."
__________________________________________________

FURTHER OCTOBER KAN DEVELOPMENTS--

 a debate/discussion on the role of art, focusing on drama and film, in a
changing society will be led by Albin Kurti with approximately 70
participants

 Ilir Hoxha has made progress on the organization of a broad-based
students/ network

 Bella Murati, Ilir Hoxha and Barend Cohen are working on a HR educ.
Curriculum

 Bernie Sullivan has sent 250 books and 2 computers to Liljana Mljic and
Rand Engel through his relief aid organization

 Margery Keable and her healing project had its first session in Kosovo and
worked with about 140 clients with regards to stress and trauma, coordinated
by Liljana Milic

 Zach Rothschild has distributed an article about the role of civil society
in resolving conflict

 Albin Kurti was chosen to participate in a seminar in Paris in November on
regional security

 KAN congratulated Louis Sell and others on the opening of the American
University of Kosova, which opened with 60 students, in coordination with
the Rochester Institute of Technology

 KAN intervention/pressure re the severe torture of the two Ramaj brothers
in Skopje has hopefully produced some alleviation to their suffering
New members‹Alex Anderson of ICG has joined our mailing list as has Sandra
Horina at the Humanitarian Law Center, Johana Lampinen at the Kosovo
Education Center, Enver Buqaj and Lisa Grans at the Finnish Human Rights
Project, and Dr. Peter Markesteyn, forenisc med. specialist, U of Manitoba,
Canada, and Drilon Salihu, Harvard Univ student in pharmacy. We are in the
process of adding Valbona Sherifi at NAAC, Martin Vulaj at NAAC, and
Richard Lukaj.

Other issues remain of course. In particular, unemployment and the very real
crisis of grades 1-12 education. The basic levels of achievement in math and
reading seem to be dropping, as are study skills and reasoning and thinking.

The idea is being floated about of a second KAN conference in March or
April. Hopefully the KAN office organization will be more securely in place
by then and tasks can be spread out among more people. An in-depth
elucidation of the education crisis would be a good topic, an update on
missing, and the networks of students, as well as the status of Roma.

Please send comments and ideas regarding this newsletter to: Alice Mead or
Ilir Hoxha.

______________________________________________________________
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