[kcc-news] Report on the violation of human rights and freedoms in Kosova in the course of 1998

[Mentor Cana]

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Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF)
Prishtina, Republic of Kosova

Report on the violation of human rights and freedoms in Kosova in
the course of 1998

          SCORCHED LAND TACTICS - NO RETURN !

     By killing, massacre and physical liquidations of 1934
Albanians, among whom 229 female, 213 children and 395 elderly, by
kidnapping, arrests, ill-treatments, persecutions and displacement
of 500.000 Albanians, by destruction and burning of 41.538 houses
and flats, by looting  of the wealth - Serbian regime wants to make
it impossible for us to stay in our land and impede the return of
the displaced and refugees all over Europe and worldwide.

     As an aftermath of the consistent pattern and reliable
attested human rights violation and organized state violence for
many years now of the Serbian regime towards the Albanian
population in Kosova, the armed conflict burst out in the beginning
of 1998 and covered half of the territory of Kosova. Hundreds of
people were killed, massacred, summarily executed, wounded,
reported missing, taken hostage, kidnapped, arrested, convicted,
persecuted and displaced. Many villages were looted, burned and
destroyed to the ground. During the very same period, everything
was destroyed in the regions affected by the conflict and there are
no living conditions in the very same.
     The massacres in Likoshan, Qirez, Prekaz, Lybeniq, Poklek,
Rahovec, Goluboc, Galica and Abria shocked the Albanian and the
worldwide public opinion for their wanton killings, cruelty and
lack of any human feelings.
     During 1998, CDHRF has registered 1934 killed and mutilated
Albanians, among whom 229 female, 213 children and 395 elderly.
Among the killed, 436 are unidentified. Due to the conditions
created as an aftermath of war, CDHRF has evidenced 92 cases of
death, among whom pregnant women, new-born babies, elderly, ill
people who lacked medical assistance, etc. 2626 Albanians were
detained, among whom 1260 people were kept in detention. 132 were
convicted, whereas 1128 are still in pre-trial detention.
     During the very same period, 450 settlements were burned,
destroyed and looted. 41.538 houses, 1995 business premises and
other buildings were ruined, damaged, looted and burned. About
500.000 people were forced to flee their homes.
There were many cases when the corpses of the killed were left
unburied for months or were buried by police order without being
identified. Such cases occurred in all the parts of Kosova, where
conflicts took place.
     During the very same period, many storage, factories, mines,
schools and monasteries were turned into weaponry depots,
investigating prisons, concentration camps, where many Albanians
were subjected to unprecedented brutality and torture.

The missing and kidnapped - killed and mutilated

     CDHRF receives information on the missing and kidnapped on
daily basis. From the beginning of the year up to September, more
than 1440 persons were reported missing. However, after the Serb
offensives, the local people and our field associates discovered a
dozens of victims,killed or massacred during the Serbian
attacks,who were reported as missing. CDHRF has information that a
considerable number of persons are in the Serb prisons. CDHRF has
never regarded the list of the missing as complete as it was not in
a position to confirm all the cases. By the end of the year, CDHRF
compiled a list with the names of 605 people who went missing or
were kidnapped, including whole families. The names of 42 Serbs and
Montenegrins are reported in the list.
     Deeply concerned, CDHRF has monitored all these events and has
informed duly the public opinion, humanitarian organizations and
other relevant factors.


The campaign of arrests, sentences and convictions went on

     The campaign of arrests, sentences and convictions continued
in the course of 1998. The District Courts in Prishtina, Peja,
Prizren, Gjilan and Mitrovica, as well as the Military Court in
Nish have initiated the investigative and penal proceedings and
have convicted many Albanians under the charges of terrorism and
threatening the territorial integrity of Serbia and Yugoslavia,
charges which have been faced by the Albanians for decades. In the
course of 1998, CDHRF based in Prishtina has compiled a list of
2626 arrested persons, of whom 132 were convicted for criminal acts
pursuant to Art.136 and 125. 1128 are being kept in pre-trial
detention. During the investigative proceedings and while in pre-
trial detention, those arrested were continuously tortured. As an
aftermath of torture, 7 violent deaths occurred in the
investigative prisons during 1998. Among those killed is Rexhep
Bislimi, member of the Board of the Sub-CDHRF in Ferizaj. According
to the available data, 14.905 persons were ill-treated in different
forms, an average of 41 persons per day.
     The rights of the ill-treated were violated in different
forms. 17.413 such cases were registered. Yet, we believe that the
figures presented are incomplete as thousands of cases were not
registered due to the lack of information, the fear and hesitation
of those being ill-treated.


Extrajudicial executions and massacres

     Ever since the crisis in Kosova escalated and turned into an
armed conflict, the Serb armed forces perpetrated extrajudicial
executions and massacres not sparing even the women, children,
elderly or the ill. Such executions took place in Likoshan (28
February 1998), Qirez (February), Prekaz i Posht&m (March), Poklek
i Ri (May), De^an, Lybeniq, Rahovec (July), Dobratin (September),
G&r^ina (October), Abri (September), Galica (September), in the
vicinity of the Magura tunnel, Radisheva, Golluboc, Ranca near
Shtime, Lugishta near Has, etc.
     The mass killings of Albanians began in the villages of
Likoshan, district of Gllogoc, and that of Qirez, district of
Sk&nderaj. On 28 February, an attack was launched in these two
villages. The attack lasted 24 hours and a large number of masked
Serb policemen, soldiers and paramilitaries were involved in it.
Heavy weaponry and helicopters were used in this attack. The
Serbian Ministry of Interior Affairs established an air bridge
between Belgrade and their bases in Kosova. Helicopters opened fire
on the Albanian villages. Albanian civilians were killed and
mutilated inside the houses. The age of the killed and mutilated is
between 16 and 70. Policemen went into the house of the Ahmetaj
family (36 members) and forced them out. Men, women and children
were told to lie down. The men were separated from the rest of the
group, taken out of the yard, beaten and extrajudicially executed
one by one.
     The tragedy continued on 5 March 1998. At about 5.00 a.m.,
Serb police forces launched an attack on the villages of Prekaz i
Posht&m, Llausha, Polac, Marina, Vojnika and Rakinica, district of
Sk&nderaj. As a consequence of this attack, 46 Albanians were
killed and mutilated, of whom 20 from the family of Shaban Jashari.
Among the killed, 15 were children aged between 7-16 and 17 were
female. There were also elderly up to the age of 74. The victims
were buried by the police on 10 March. They were not buried
according to the tradition and the autopsy was not conducted.
     During this period, there were incessant attacks in the
regions of De^an and Peja. On 25 May, police and military forces
launched an attack on the villages of this region. The attack
resulted with the extrajudicial execution of 7 members of the Hamza
family, 1 member of the Gogaj-Cacaj family and 1 member of the
Delimetaj family in the village of Lybeniq near Peja.
     On 31 May, at about 1.30 p.m., Serbian police and paramilitary
forces launched an attack on the village of Poklek i Ri, killing
and mutilating 11 persons. Apart from the corpse of Ardian Haxhi
Deliu (18), who was buried, the corpses of the others were loaded
in a police lorry. Ever since, there are no information on their
whereabouts. It is assumed that the corpses were buried in a mass
grave or were destroyed in order to tamper evidence. CDHRF believes
that the skeletons presented by the Serb media in the village of
Kle^ka can be those of the victims killed in Poklek.
     On 18 July, Serbian military forces perpetrated a massacre on
the border zone with Albania. Women, children and elderly, who were
trying to return to their homes, were massacred. This happened at
the place called Rrasa e Zogut in the vicinity of the mountain huts
in Junik. It is believed that at least 60 Albanians were killed.
Whereas Serb media, based on the military sources, claimed that
over 100 Albanians were killed. The number of the wounded is much
higher. The corpses were still not given to their families. Their
identities are still unknown.
     On 19 July, as an aftermath of a premeditated attack of the
Serbian forces many Albanians were killed and wounded in Rahovec.
Many women, children and elderly, who had taken shelter in Sheh
Muhedini's masjid were massacred in the most barbaric way. The
bodies of two professors and 6 other bodies burned beyond
recognition were found at the place called "Tuba". CDHRF has
registered the names of 150 killed people. Eye-witnesses claim that
Serbian police, military and paramilitary forces perpetrated
extrajudicial executions. Many Albanians were reported missing,
taken hostage and arrested, whose whereabouts are still unknown. On
22 July, the Serbian authorities in Prizren opened two mass graves
in which they buried the corpses of many Albanians killed during
the offensive in Rahovec.
     On 26 August, while fleeing in a tractor, 11 members of the
Asllani family from the village of Ranca were killed by a Serbian
tank. Among the killed, 8 were children and 3 were women. 3 men
were wounded.
     On 16 September, on returning to their houses in the village
of Dragobil, Osman Met& Pa^arizi (60) and Fehmi Miftar Pa^arizi
(45) were caught by the Serb forces, taken to Malisheva and
executed.
     On 25 September, Serb forces went into the village of Galica,
district of Vushtrri, and executed 14 men, mainly youngsters, and
a woman.
     On 26 September, in the vicinity of the Magura tunnel,
district of Klina, Serb forces separated several Albanians from the
crowd of the displacement people and executed Smajl Millaku (72)
and his son Sefer (49) from Ujmir. The very same day, 8 Albanian
youngsters were executed by the Serb forces in Golluboc.
     On 27 September, in the Deliaj quarter in Abria e Ep&rme,
district of Gllogovc, the corpses of 22 members of the Deliaj
family, including women, children and elderly, were found a
kilometer away from their house. Diturie Deliaj, a 3-month-old
baby, was found alive under her mother's body. Due to the difficult
living conditions, she died a month later.
     On 4 October, the mutilated corpses of Antigona (14) and
Mihane Hysen Deliu (16) were found. Prior to being executed, the
two were raped.
     Similar massacres are perpetrated by the Serb forces in most
of the attacked regions.


Scorched land tactics

     According to the tactics, means and methods used in the war
operations, one can conclude that the Serbian forces have been
applying the scorched land tactics. Since the beginning of the
military operations in February 1998, more than 450 settlements
were targeted by the Serbian forces. In most of the villages, after
the shelling and the fleeing of the Albanian population, Serbian
armed forces, aided by armed Serb civilians, looted all valuables
and set fire to the houses. Over 41.000 houses were destroyed due
to shelling or fire. The mass destruction of the Albanian
settlements shows the aim of the Serbian regime to prevent the
return of the displaced, which leads towards the ethnic cleansing
of Kosova or whatever we call it.


     It has been estimated that least 500.000 Albanians have fled
their homes
During the military operations, in which heavy artillery and
airplanes were used, entire villages were abandoned.
     Due to this war machinery, hundreds of thousands of people
were forced to flee the affected regions and villages, which
continue to be targeted by the Serb forces. Since February 1998,
the number of the displaced reaches the figure of half a million.
The experience of the displaced, who had to flee under the threat
of weapons and in terrible weather is hard to describe. Thousands
of Albanians lived many months in the open or in plastic sheet
shelters, in very difficult living conditions. Due to the lack of
living conditions, medicines and medical assistance, 92 Albanians
died, among whom pregnant women, elderly and children.
     It is estimated that some 26.500 Albanians have sought shelter
in Albania, 21.800 in Montenegro, 5000 in Macedonia and 6000 in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. A large number of Albanians, while trying
to flee to West European countries, were stationed in refugee camps
in Hungary, Czekia and Italy. CDHRF has information that those who
were stationed in refugee camps in Hungary live in very difficult
conditions. There are many pregnant women and children among them.
Many have requested from the CDHRF to appeal to the Hungarian
authorities to improve the living conditions.
During the very same period, some 90.000 Albanians have sought
shelter in different West European countries. Some 400.000
Albanians were displaced and have sought shelter in safer regions
within Kosova. The attempts of many displaced people to return to
the ruins of their homes were hindered by the police. Since the
arrival of the international verifiers a large number of people
have returned to the ruins of their houses and are trying to
rebuild them. There are cases when 20 people live in a 16m2 room.
Some of the returnees were forced to flee their homes due to the
large presence of Serb forces and due to the incessant shelling of
their villages (Malisheva, Dollova, K&puz, Reka e Keqe, the
villages in the district of De^an, Loxha, Raushiq, Prekaz i
Posht&m, etc.)

     Fresh forces and heavy weaponry were redeployed in Kosova
despite of the agreement between Millosheviq and Holbrook

     Despite of the Agreement for the withdrawal of the Serb forces
from Kosova, we were informed that fresh forces and heavy weaponry
were redeployed in Kosova.
     A very grave phenomenon is the increase in the number of
incidents caused by Serb civilians. 294 incidents occurred in the
course of 1998. Serbian police and military forces have distributed
weapons to Serb civilians. These heavily armed civilians parade
through the streets provoking Albanians. There were many cases when
fire was opened on the Albanian houses.

     Hundreds of injured people in a peaceful protests

     During the months of March, April and May, peaceful protests
were held all over Kosova against the Serb massacres perpetrated in
Drenica and the other regions of Kosova. Hundreds of protesters,
mainly pupils and students, were ill-treated by policemen and Serb
civilians. Many suffered severe body injuries (as was the case with
the professors of the Faculty of Philosophy in Prishtina, on June
10, 1998).

The persecution of medical and humanitarian workers

     In the course of 1998, many medical and humanitarian workers
were subjected to different forms of violence. They were kidnapped,
killed, killed by torture, went missing, arrested, sentenced and
ill-treated.
     Rexhep Bislimi, an activist of the Sub-CDHRF in Ferizaj, and
Cen Dugolli, an activist, died as an aftermath of being tortured
while in police custody.
     Dr. Hafir Shala, a physician, an activist of the "Mother
Theresa" Humanitarian & Charitable Society, was arrested by the
Serb forces on April 10. Ever since, there are no information on
his whereabouts.
     Xhavit Haziri, an activist of the CDHRF in Prishtina, was
kidnapped on September 17. Ever since, there are no information on
his whereabouts.
     Hajriz and Adem Morina, activists of the "Mother Theresa"
Humanitarian & Charitable Society, were killed due to shelling,
while distributing aid in the villages of Malisheva.
     Dr. Lec B. Uka, a physician, was mutilated by the Serb forces
on September 25, 1998.
     On October 1, in the vicinity of Likoc, a vehicle of the ICRC
hit a mine. Dr. Shpetim Robaj,a physician, was killed and 3 other
humanitarian workers were wounded (including one from New Zealand).

     These were just some of the cases in which medical and
humanitarian activists were killed.
     Many humanitarians activists were sentenced to prison terms:
Xhevat Haziri, Zahrije Podrim^aku, Rufki Suma, Enver Berisha, Ferit
Tafallari, etc. CDHRF has registered 114 cases of ill-treatment of
humanitarian activists. The work of humanitarian activists as well
as that of the activists of the CDHRF is becoming more and more
difficult.

     The dismissal and eviction of Kosovar Albanians continues

The dismissal of Albanian workers as well as their eviction from
their flats continued in the course of 1998. 70 Albanian workers
were dismissed from the "Saloniti" Plant in Hani i Elezit.
24 Albanian families were evicted from their flats and Serb
families were settled in them.

     In the course of 1998, there was no single pattern of human
rights and freedoms which was not violated by the Serbian regime.
The scarce of this violation will remain in the heats and the minds
of the future survivors or reflected in the minds of the people of
Kosova.

In the course of 1998:

     1934 Albanians were killed, mutilated and extrajudicially
executed;
818 were wounded;
148 murder attempts;
2 underage girls were raped and mutilated;
650 families were raided;
419 Albanians were taken informative talks;
1128 are in pre-trial detention;
132 were sentenced for "penal deeds" (21 in absentia);
5 Albanians were sentenced by the military court;
87 for petty offence;
3758 cases of physical torture (1047 cases resulting with severe
body injuries);
924 persons underwent routine checking;
799 were reported missing;
58 cases of usurpation;
171 persons were searched for;
229 persons were summoned to report to the police station;
24 Albanian families were evicted from their flats;
135 Albanians were dismissed from work;
25 cases of seizure of travel documents (passports);

Out of the total number of the ill-treated:

913 were women;
439 children;
441 elderly;
66 CDHRF activists;
48 humanitarian activists;
163 educational activists;

CDHRF assumes that the data presented in this report is incomplete
as it could not register all the cases of the violation of human
rights and freedoms in the course of 1998.

Pishtina, 22 January,l999


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