[Kcc-News] Serbian Police Say 800 May Be in Mass Graves; All War Criminals Should Be On Trial, Say Recak Residents

[Mentor Cana]

1. Serbian Police Say 800 May Be in Mass Graves (7/7/2001; REUTERS)

2. All War Criminals Should Be On Trial, Say Recak Residents
   (7/5/2001;  KosovaLive)

3. KTC: After Milosevic's extradition, all the Albanian prisoners in the
   Serbia's jails must be released (7/4/2001; Radio21)

4. Justice Will Never Be Done, Say  the Shehu Sisters from Krusha e Vogel
   (7/4/2001; KosovaLive)


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http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/07/world/07YUGO.html?searchpv=nytToday

July 7, 2001

Serbian Police Say 800 May Be in Mass Graves
By REUTERS

BELGRADE, Serbia, July 6 - Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said today
that the police believed that 800 victims of the Kosovo conflict in 1999
had been buried in mass graves and promised that the guilty would not
elude responsibility.
    Mr. Mihajlovic, a leading member of the alliance that ousted the
Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, last year, said the police would
learn who had ordered the "monstrous operation" to send bodies to mass
graves across Serbia.
    He spoke at a news conference just over a week after the Serbian
government sent Mr. Milosevic to the United Nations war crimes tribunal
in The Hague to face charges stemming from the Kosovo conflict.
    "No one in Serbia will sleep in peace and have a clear conscience
until the truth is found and justice done," Mr. Mihajlovic said.
    The authorities have announced finding three mass graves with 110
bodies, believed to be Kosovo Albanians. Mr. Mihajlovic said the figure
of 800 bodies included those exhumed from the three mass graves and was
based on information gathered after that finding. In May, the police
accused Mr. Milosevic and top aides of covering up evidence of possible
war crimes committed in military operations against ethnic Albanian
guerrillas in Kosovo. They said they arrived at the findings while
investigating a truckload of corpses dumped in the Danube in the 1999
NATO bombing.
    Mr. Mihajlovic said the police were determined to find every mass
grave in Serbia, including Kosovo. "We can expect around 800 bodies of
victims in all possible locations in the whole of Serbia," he said. "We
want to identify the victims, return them to their families so that they
can be buried in a dignified way."
    The police, who have a special war crimes section, are trying to
establish how the deaths occurred. The police, Mr. Mihajlovic said, are
cooperating with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and other
organizations that could have information on crimes against Albanians or
Serbs.

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company


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http://kosovalive.com/english/mayjunjuly/05_07_2001_recak-am.htm

All War Criminals Should Be On Trial, Say Recak Residents

July, 2001

RECAK (KosovaLive) - Angry inhabitants of Recak, filled with grief and
dissatisfaction, watched on Tuesday the first appearance of Slobodan
Milosevic at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague. They told
KosovaLive that there were still many war criminals that belonged at The
Hague but were still at large in Serbia. The country has recently been
filled with the smell of dead Albanian bodies, people killed during the
war whose bodies are now being exhumed from mass graves and from the
Danube River.
    In January 15, 1999, Serbian forces executed 45 ethnic Albanian
civilians. The incident was described at the time by Ambassador William
Walker, the head of the Kosovo Verification Mission, as an explicit
massacre and a crime against humanity. Milosevic has been charged with
the crimes committed in Recak, which marked the biggest turning point in
international political opinion regarding Kosova, prior to the bombing
of NATO.
    Three elderly men with their traditional hats talk on a rainy
morning under the porch roof of a nearby shop. "Today, when Milosevic is
on trial, not only he and a part of his regime but also a great part of
the Serbian nation that followed his policies is on trial," said
ashopkeeper named Avdiu. The three old men nodded their heads in
agreement.
    At the crossroads leading to Kodra e Bebushit, where the massacre
took place, Hyzer Emini is speaking. He says that the other accused,
Nikola Sainovic, along with other Milosevic associates, should be handed
over to The Hague.
    Ismet Emini, who is retired, was hiding in a cave near the village
of Topilla in January 18, 1999. Showing his brother's scull to the
reporters, Emini said that putting Milosevic on trial did not mean that
justice was being done.
    In the small chamber, where hangs the portrait of his slain brother,
Ajet Bajrami, Emini received two KosovaLive staff members and his
village-mate Xheme Beqa, who survived the massacred but lost eight
members of his clan. At 10 a.m., Minushi, the son of Beqa's dead
brother, who is sitting close to the television set, is tricked into
leaving the room with the offer of candy and chocolates.
    Slobodan Milosevic appears on the television. While Milosevic,
scowling, denies the legality of the tribunal, Ismet Eminim shows us the
album with photos of the victims, including his brother. "All of them
were shot in the head," he added, smoking a cigarette, as his eyes
filled with tears.
    Milosevic is saying that he considers the indictment to be false,
along with the legality of the court. Halit Emini, the younger brother
of Ismet Emini, shouts: "Idiot!" Xheme Beqa calls Milosevic a bad name.
"He will recognize it; he will have eyewitnesses against him, his
associates to whom he issued orders in the first place," he added.
    Both of the men would be of one voiced, if they had the opportunity
to testify. "I would go to Hague with pleasure. Even though I take care
of eights orphans, I would have gone to The Hague, covering the expenses
personally, in order to demonstrate the truth. I would have gone to tell
the truth, because Milosevic is responsible for the deaths in Recak,"
says Emini.
    Beqa is also ready to go to The Hague. "I have given statements to
the Hague tribunal employees that have come here, but I am ready to go
there and testify yet again. Thank God Walker saw Recak and now he can't
run away from it," says Beqa.
    "Light a cigarette," Ismet Emini says to his friend, throwing him
one. Watching Milosevic on the television before the tribunal, Emini
tells KosovaLive that he is more sad today than he was in the first days
after the massacre, saddened by seeing Milosevic deny the facts in front
of the world, when there have been books written about the massacre.
    "How can he say that it is all lies? They should convict him
straight away and end this thing once and forever. Today Milosevic
appeared at the place where he belongs, but the whole world has financed
Serbia for having handed him over to The Hague, and now Serbia is being
turned into America," says Emini.
    "We are not satisfied with the fact that they took Milosevic.
Milosevic led this campaign, but he did not come here to do it himself.
The people who committed crimes, and who ate the food of Kosova, killed
our people. The criminals of Kosova are from Slivova, Shtime, Shterpca,"
he said, alluding to local Serbs.
    Xheme Beqa agrees that local Serbs took part in the massacre. "We
know them," claims Beqa, who says that Serb forces beat their victims on
different parts of the body, including the head, with pieces of wood
until they could no longer stand up.
    "Afterwards, they executed them from a short distance away," Beqa
asserts.
    He said that justice would be done only if all the horrors of war,
including mass graves and missing people, were revealed. "How do I feel,
when we sit down at the table and see that my family members are not
there!?" Beqa asks.
    Emini, who worked in Switzerland for 25 years and is now is retired,
says that he is for democracy and justice but with people who have shown
human values. "With a man who stabbed my brother, cut off his head, and
who beat me up and broke my ribs and teeth, and I survived and have gone
through that and can remember perfectly, and the same man comes in front
of me in Shtime, enters the same office, same school, that is really out
of the question, even if I were to be hanged in the center of
Prishtina," says Emini, revealing to his nephew for the first time that
his father's head was cut by the Serb forces.
    "About the head thing, I have never said this in front of Munishi,
my brother's son. Today is the first time," he said, as his eyes
sparkled with tears and the room filled with cigarette smoke.
    Although Emini considers that the extradition of war criminals is a
task for the international community, and he hopes that it will be
carried out until the end, he is pessimistic and cannot feel satisfied.
According to Emini, justice can be done now, once and forever. "Serbs
still dream about Kosova, but let them forget it, because if it happens
that we fight again, there will be neither Kosova nor Serbia any longer,
we will fight 'till the last one," Emini asserts.
    Emini says that if Albin Kurti, Ukshin Hoti and other prisoners are
released, and if the dead bodies of Albanians are returned to Kosova and
Albanians unite, justice will be done. "This land cries for them," says
Emini, as he points out the place in his yard where his brother was
killed and where his scull was latter found.
    On the 44 graves of the village, fresh wreaths of flowers had been
placed, while one tomb is still open and waiting for the body of the
missing Zahide Murati. The scene seemed a fitting symbol of the way the
wounded hearts of the people of Recak had been reopened on this day,
like the open tomb. This was yet another hard day in their hard lives.
(lulzim mjeku)


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radio  21 KOSOVA  4 July 2001
http://www.radio21.net/english/index.htm

Kosova Transitory Council: After Milosevic's extradition, all the
Albanian prisoners in the Serbia's jails must be released

"The first step after Milosevic extradition to the Hague Tribunal is the
immediate and unconditional release of all the Albanian prisoners from
the Serbia's jails and the lighting of the destiny of the lost people.
It's unacceptable for the victims to be in the jails, at the time when
the main criminal is arrested", declared today the members of the
Transitory Council of Kosova. Not only the Milosevic must be condemned,
but also his entire policy", Kolë Berisha, deputy leader of the
Democratic League of Kosova, said. Whereas the representative of the
Democratic Party, Fatmir Limaj said that Haekkerup's request for the
release of the prisoners must be fulfilled. Jonuz Salihaj,
representative of the Alliance for the Future of Kosova declared that he
asked Haekkerup to insist more about this issue.


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KosovaLive 4 July 2001
http://kosovalive.com/english/latest.htm

Justice Will Never Be Done, Say  the Shehu Sisters from Krusha e Vogel

KRUSHA E VOGEL (KosovaLive) - Twenty-eight year old Kimete Shehu from
Krusha e Vogel, whose husband and younger brother were killed by Serb
forces on March 26, 1999, says that she is able to put up with her life
and continue to live with her sister and mother in their newly
reconstructed one-room house. She does not talk about the trial of
Milosevic at The Hague Tribunal. Instead she asks: what do we get out of
it?
    Slobodan Milosevic appeared for the first time at the War Crimes
Tribunal at The Hague on Tuesday, after being handed over to the
tribunal on June 28, 2001. The killings at Krusha e Madhe and Krusha e
Vogel have been included in the indictment against Milosevic. FRY and
Serbian armed forces killed over 100 men from both villages on that day
two years ago.
    The destruction in Krusha is very noticeable, as is the trauma that
the people still suffer from. Of necessity, the females do all the work
in the village.
    KosovaLive talked to both Shehu sisters regarding the handover of
Milosevic to The Hague. The conversation took place in a shaded area of
their yard near the cornfield and henhouse. "Milosevic has been jailed,
but there are many Miloseviches in Serbia who are still free," said
Kimete Shehu.
    "If we had the chance to get our loved ones back, then that would be
justice," Kimete moaned. "They forced Milosevic from power, extradited
him to The Hague, got as much money as they wanted
" her voice trailed
off.
    Both sisters, Kimete and Hyrmete, are skeptical about the conviction
of Milosevic. "With the evidence that has survived, there is little
hope," Kimete said.
    "Take a look at the trials in Prizren," they said. "Instead of
convicting him for killings, they convicted one man because he slapped
another," the sisters spoke simultaneously.
    Kimete is willing to voice her opinion but when it comes to justice,
she asserts: "Never! Justice is never done!"
    Kimete said that when she saw the TV documentary on the massacre of
the Berisha family in Theranda, she found out that the crimes in
Theranda and Krusha had taken place on the same day and at the same
hour.
    According to Kimete, one day after Milosevic's handover,
representatives of the War Crimes Tribunal came to Krusha e Vogel and
contacted the six eyewitnesses in the village.
    On Sunday, Peter Steward, an expert from the tribunal who has been
working in Kosova since the summer of 1999, arrived in Krusha e Vogel.
Steward told KosovaLive that he had come back to maintain contacts with
the inhabitants of the village, to inform them about the latest
developments and to obtain further evidence.
    Steward said that people, in general, were happy about Milosevic but
they cared more about the people who carried out the executions than the
people who gave the orders. He observed that the villagers were not
showing explicit emotions about it.
    "We are just carrying on with our lives, with our duties and tasks,
and sometimes we are smiling also. Then we ask ourselves: how can we
laugh?" said Hyrmete. "We're carrying on with our lives, in a manner of
speaking!" she added. (lulzim mjeku)