[Kcc-News] Kosovo Report Executive Summary (KOSOVO - Official U.S. Government Documents, 9 Dec 1999) (fwd)

[Mentor Cana]

____________________________________________________________________
     RELEASE THE KOSOVAR POLITICAL PRISONERS FROM SERBIA NOW!

	             Sign the petition at:
	http://www.khao.org/appkosova-petitionsign.htm
____________________________________________________________________

	http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/

Text: Kosovo Report Executive Summary

(Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting)

The State Department's second report on Kosovo -- titled "Ethnic
Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting" -- documents such human rights
violations as forced expulsions, looting, burning, detentions, use of
human shields, summary executions, exhumations of mass graves,
systematic and organized mass rape, violations of medical neutrality and
identity cleansing.

 The report, released in Washington December 9, is an effort to come to
a better understanding of how to avert future ethnic cleansings. It is a
follow-up to the May 1999 report titled "Erasing History: Ethnic
Cleansing in Kosovo."

 The new report's executive summary notes that its information was drawn
from refugee accounts, NGO documentation, press accounts, and
declassified information from government and international organization
sources.

 Following is the text of the executive summary:

"Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo: An Accounting" is a new chapter in our
effort to document the extent of human rights and humanitarian law
violations in Kosovo, and to convey the size and scope of the Kosovo
conflict. The information in this report is drawn from refugee accounts,
NGO documentation, press accounts, and declassified information from
government and international organization sources. The atrocities
against Kosovar Albanians documented in this report occurred primarily
between March and late June, 1999. This document is a follow-up to the
U.S. Department of State's previous human rights report, Erasing
History: Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo, which was released on May 10, 1999.
  A central question is the number of Kosovar Albanian victims of
Serbian forces in Kosovo. Many bodies were found when KFOR and the ICTY
entered Kosovo in June 1999. The evidence is also now clear that Serbian
forces conducted a systematic campaign to burn or destroy bodies, or to
bury the bodies, then rebury them to conceal evidence of Serbian crimes.
On June 4, at the end of the conflict, the Department of State issued
the last of a series of weekly ethnic cleansing reports, available at
www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/rpt_990604_ksvo_ethnic.html, concluding
that at least 6,000 Kosovar Albanians were victims of mass murder, with
an unknown number of victims of individual killings, and an unknown
number of bodies burned or destroyed by Serbian forces throughout the
conflict.
 On November 10, 1999, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte told the
U.N. Security Council that her office had received reports of more than
11,000 killed in 529 reported mass grave and killing sites in Kosovo.
The Prosecutor said her office had exhumed 2,108 bodies from 195 of the
529 known mass graves. This would imply about 6,000 bodies in mass
graves in Kosovo if the 334 mass graves not examined thus far contain
the same average number of victims. To this total must be added three
important categories of victims: (1) those buried in mass graves whose
locations are unknown, (2) what the ICTY reports is a significant number
of sites where the precise number of bodies cannot be counted, and (3)
victims whose bodies were burned or destroyed by Serbian forces. Press
accounts and eyewitness accounts provide credible details of a program
of destruction of evidence by Serbian forces throughout Kosovo and even
in Serbia proper. The number of victims whose bodies have been burned or
destroyed may never be known, but enough evidence has emerged to
conclude that probably around 10,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed by
Serbian forces.
 Death represents only one facet of Serbian actions in Kosovo. Over 1.5
million Kosovar Albanians-at least 90 percent of the estimated 1998
Kosovar Albanian population of Kosovo-were forcibly expelled from their
homes. Tens of thousands of homes in at least 1,200 cities, towns, and
villages have been damaged or destroyed. During the conflict, Serbian
forces and paramilitaries implemented a systematic campaign to
ethnically cleanse Kosovo-aspects of this campaign include the
following:
 * -Forcible Displacement of Kosovar Albanian Civilians: Serbian
authorities conducted a campaign of forced population movement. In
contrast to actions taken during 1998, Yugoslav Army units and armed
civilians joined the police in systematically expelling Kosovar
Albanians at gunpoint from both villages and larger towns in Kosovo.
 * -Looting of Homes and Businesses: There are numerous reports of
Serbian forces robbing residents before burning their homes. Another
round of robbery occurred as Serbian forces stole from fleeing Kosovars
as they crossed the border to Montenegro, Albania, or Macedonia.
 * -Widespread Burning of Homes: Over 1,200 residential areas were at
least partially burned after late March, 1999. Kosovar Albanians have
reported that over 500 villages were burned after March, 1999.
 * -Use of Human Shields: Refugees claim that Serbian forces used
Kosovar Albanians to escort military convoys and shield facilities
throughout the province. Other reporting indicates that Serbian forces
intentionally positioned ethnic Albanians at sites they believed were
targets for NATO airstrikes.
 * -Detentions: Serbian forces systematically separated military-aged
men from the general population as Kosovars were expelled. These men
were detained in facilities ranging from cement factories to prisons.
Many of these detainees were forced to dig trenches and were physically
abused. At least 2,000 Kosovar Albanians remain in detention in around a
dozen Serbian prisons today.
 * -Summary Executions: There are accounts of summary executions at
about 500 sites across Kosovo.
 * -Exhumation of Mass Graves: Serbian forces burned, destroyed, or
exhumed bodies from mass graves in an attempt to destroy evidence. Some
were reinterred in individual graves.
 * -Rape: There are numerous accounts indicating that the organized and
individual rape of Kosovar Albanian women by Serbian forces was
widespread. For example, Serbian forces systematically raped women in
Djakovica and Pec, and in some cases rounded up women and took them to
hotels where they were raped by troops under encouragement of their
commanders. Rape is most likely an underreported atrocity because of the
stigma attached to the victims in traditional Kosovar Albanian society.
 * -Violations of Medical Neutrality: Kosovar Albanian physicians,
patients and medical facilities were systematically attacked. Many
health care facilities were used as protective cover for military
activities; NGOs report the destruction by Serbian forces of at least
100 clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals.
 * -Identity Cleansing: Kosovar Albanians were systematically stripped
of identity and property documents including passports, land titles,
automobile license plates, identity cards, and other forms of
documentation. As much as 50 percent of the population may be without
documentation. By systematically destroying schools, places of worship,
and hospitals, Serbian forces sought to destroy social identity and the
fabric of Kosovar Albanian society.
 * -Aftermath: Following the withdrawal of Serbian forces in June,
Kosovo saw manifestations of a new set of human rights problems. These
include acts of retribution against the Serb minority, including the
killing of 200-400 Serb residents. In addition, as many as 23,000
conscientious objectors, draft evaders, and deserters in Serbia are
threatened with legal action.

(The entire report is available from
http://www.usia.gov/regional/eur/balkans/kosovo/hrreport/1299/ )