From mentor at alb-net.com Fri Mar 2 11:33:29 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 11:33:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Kcc-News] Human Rights Watch press release: Bush Administration Urged To Deny Aid to Yugoslavia Message-ID: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press-Release: Human Rights Watch Bush Administration Urged To Deny Aid to Yugoslavia Belgrade Fails to Cooperate with War Crimes Court (New York, March 1, 2001)-The Bush administration should not resume U.S. economic assistance to Yugoslavia, because Belgrade has failed to cooperate with the war crimes court in The Hague, Human Rights Watch said today. In a February 23 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Powell, Human Rights Watch pointed out that Yugoslav authorities had failed to arrest and hand over any of the Serb and Yugoslav officials, including former President Slobodan Milosevic, who have been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The U.S. Congress laid down strict guidelines in the 2001 Foreign Operations Assistance Act, prohibiting the U.S. government from resuming aid to Belgrade unless Yugoslavia cooperates with the tribunal, including "the surrender and transfer of indictees or assistance in their apprehension." According to the legislation, the Bush administration must decide by March 31, 2001 whether to resume U.S. aid. Although Yugoslav authorities seem poised to arrest former President Milosevic, Human Rights Watch said that his arrest and possible trial for corruption in Belgrade would not in any way constitute cooperation with the international tribunal in The Hague. "Now that the arrest of Milosevic seems imminent, the U.S. government must be firmer than ever about the need to cooperate with the international tribunal," said Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "This would be the worst possible moment to relax the conditions on U.S. aid. The Bush administration must send a clear message to the authorities in Belgrade, that no money except humanitarian aid will flow from Washington until they start handing over indictees to The Hague." Along with former President Milosevic, four senior Yugoslav and Serb officials and former officials have been charged with crimes against humanity committed by troops under their command in Kosovo in early 1999. During that period, their forces conducted a brutal campaign in which thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed and more than 800,000 were forced out of the province. On many occasions, groups of ethnic Albanians were systematically executed by Serbian special police or paramilitaries. In addition to the five charged with crimes against humanity in Kosovo, three Yugoslav Army officials remain at liberty in Yugoslavia despite their indictment on charges relating to the capture of Vukovar in Croatia in November 1991. At Vukovar, more than 250 Croats were seized from a hospital and slaughtered. One of these officers is still serving in Yugoslavia's Army. Former Bosnian Serb military commander General Ratko Mladic is living in Belgrade. Radovan Karadzic, formerly president of the Bosnian Serb Republic, is also at large and believed to have traveled to Yugoslavia in recent months. These two were charged with genocide in connection with the massacre of 7,000 Bosnian men after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995, the largest single killing in Europe since World War II. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has argued that transferring indictees to The Hague would "destabilize" his new, more democratic government in Belgrade. In fact, said Human Rights Watch, allowing the indictees to remain at liberty will only encourage the most violent and lawless elements in Serbia. Human Rights Watch's own research in Bosnia and Croatia has shown that the transfer of indictees to the Hague can facilitate democracy and be a first step toward greater stability in the region. The record of Croatia's cooperation with the Tribunal under late president Tudjman also demonstrates the importance of a principled U.S. stance on the issue. Twelve Bosnian Croats surrendered to the Tribunal in 1997 as a result of the U.S. threat to veto International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans to the country. The 2001 Foreign Operations Assistance Act stipulates similar conditionality for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. "A forceful U.S. position on Croatia's cooperation with the Tribunal was instrumental to the transfer of indictees to the Hague," said Cartner. "Nothing less is required in U.S. relations with Yugoslavia. U.S. law is unambiguous on this point, and the new U.S. administration must be unambiguous, too." A copy of the letter to Secretary Powell is available at: http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/02/powell0223.htm For more information, please contact: In New York, Richard Dicker: +212-216-1248 In Washington, Betsy Andersen: +202-612-4326 In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +322-732-2009 From mentor at alb-net.com Sun Mar 11 23:20:12 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 23:20:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Kcc-News] Analysis: Macedonia rebels' agenda; Albanian Guerrillas Outline Demands to Macedonia Message-ID: 1. Albanian Guerrillas Outline Demands to Macedonia - "equla rights" - "respects the territorial integrity of the Macedonian state" - "international mediation" - 'end the "discrimination against the Albanian population' 2. Analysis: Macedonia rebels' agenda - "It calls for international mediation of the conflict and a new constitution which would stress that Macedonians and Albanians are equal national groups in the same state." - "a battle for human rights" ### http://news.excite.com/news/r/010310/15/international-macedonia-guerrillas-dc Albanian Guerrillas Outline Demands to Macedonia Updated 3:10 PM ET March 10, 2001 BERLIN (Reuters) - A group claiming to represent guerrillas who have clashed recently with Macedonian forces says it is fighting for "equal rights" for ethnic Albanians, according to a statement faxed to a German broadcaster. But the group, calling itself the National Liberation Army, says it respects the territorial integrity of the Macedonian state, according to the statement received on Saturday by Germany's Deutsche Welle radio and television broadcaster. At least five people have been killed in Macedonia in the past week in clashes with a guerrilla group which is presumed to be made up of ethnic Albanians. Saturday's statement appears to be the first declaration of the group's political demands. It calls for international mediation in the current conflict and for changes to Macedonia's constitution, Deutsche Welle said in a report citing the statement. The statement called for Macedonia to be defined as "a state of two peoples," Macedonians and Albanians. This would end the "discrimination against the Albanian population by the Slav-Macedonian majority." It also calls for a new census of Macedonia's population to be carried out by an international organization. The exact size of the ethnic Albanian minority in Macedonia is a matter of some dispute, with most estimates ranging somewhere between one quarter and one third of the population of around two million people. Many ethnic Albanians have complained of discrimination by the Macedonian majority but both ethnic groups are represented in the current coalition government and the main ethnic Albanian parties have condemned recent violence involving the group. Western diplomats have praised the government for improving inter-ethnic relations in the former Yugoslav republic which has so far avoided being dragged into Balkan warfare. The aims of the group have been the subject of considerable speculation, with many Macedonians suspecting it wants to make ethnic Albanian areas part of a "Greater Albania" including neighboring Kosovo. Another theory links them to groups of smugglers who operate relatively freely across unmarked, hilly borders between Macedonia, Kosovo and southern Serbia. The NLA has the same abbreviation in the Albanian language, UCK, as the Kosovo Liberation Army which fought against Serb rule in ethnic Albanian dominated Kosovo. ? 2001 Reuters Limited ### http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1213000/1213887.stm Sunday, 11 March, 2001, 01:34 GMT Analysis: Macedonia rebels' agenda The rebels say they do not seek to break up Macedonia By Paul Wood in northern Macedonia The ethnic Albanian guerrillas known as the National Liberation Army (UCK) have issued a statement setting out their political aims in Macedonia. The statement calls for a new Macedonian constitution, better rights for Albanians, and international mediation. In another development, state television is reporting that the BBC's Albanian-language broadcasts have been taken off the air in the capital Skopje. Military communique number six sets out in detail the UCK's political aims. It calls for international mediation of the conflict and a new constitution which would stress that Macedonians and Albanians are equal national groups in the same state. Click here to see a map of the area Most importantly, the UCK stress that they do not want to do anything to damage the integrity of the Macedonian state. This is mainly designed to reassure the international community that the rebels are not trying to achieve Greater Albania, or to partition the country. Battle for rights To achieve international support, the rebels are well aware that they must portray their struggle as a battle for human rights, not for territory. The guerrillas are opposed by the biggest ethnic Albanian political party in Macedonia. But the reaction to this statement in the Kosovan capital, Pristina, has been interesting. Previously, the UCK were without any political friends in Pristina, with even former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army failing to voice support. This was because of fears that international hostility to a new ethnic Albanian guerrilla group in Macedonia might endanger the project of an independent Kosovo. But this well-judged statement, deliberately stating moderate political aims, and attempting to reassure the international community, has started to swing opinion around, at least in Pristina. Opinion in Macedonia The crucial unanswered question though, is how much support the UCK have among ordinary ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. One senior commander told me: "We're organised throughout the country. In seven days, Skopje, Gostibar and Tetebo will all tremble" - a reference to the three biggest towns in Macedonia. So far there have been only sporadic clashes, but if these words are true, then Macedonia has never been at greater risk of sliding into civil war. From mentor at alb-net.com Wed Mar 14 17:48:34 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 17:48:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Kcc-News] Macedonia: Human Rights Violation Message-ID: 1. Macedonian Police Brutality and Abuse 2. Citizenship and Constitution 3. Education: --- 1. Macedonian Police Brutality and Abuse "Police searches of the houses of ethnic Albanians in Aracinovo were characterized by the use of excessive force. On 14 January men and boys were beaten in several houses. One man had his jaw broken, reportedly with a police rifle butt. Six men and two 15-year-old boys were made to lie face down outside another house and were kicked and beaten as they lay. A 70-year-old man was allowed to sit up, but the others were reportedly kept on the ground for up to three hours. The ill-treatment was allegedly accompanied by references to their Albanian ethnicity. Old men, women and children were allegedly guarded at gunpoint by police for three hours in another house." http://www.balkanreport.com/angliski/policebrutalityreport.htm http://www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/index/EUR650052000 http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/macedonia.html ### 2. Citizenship and Constitution "Despite government promises to reform Macedonia's overly exclusive 1992 citizenship law in line with Council of Europe standards, the law remained unchanged. Drafted at the time of its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia's citizenship law never adequately resolved the status of the significant number of Yugoslav citizens who were long-term residents in Macedonia but who were neither born in Macedonia nor ethnic Macedonian. Large numbers of ethnic Albanians, Turks, and Roma who knew no other home than Macedonia remained effectively stateless as a result of the law." http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/macedonia.html ### 3. Education: "In July, the government adopted legislation to resolve the long-standing question of Tetovo University, a private Albanian-language institution that Macedonian authorities refused to accredit as an educational institution. The passage of the law on education on July 25 established a new multi-lingual tertiary institute offering training in business, education, and public management. The internationally funded institution, intended as a replacement to Tetovo University, would allow Albanians to study in their own language, although a proficiency test in Macedonian would be required before their diplomas were officially recognized. Despite receiving the backing of the Albanian party in the ruling government coalition, the new institute did not receive unequivocal support from the country's ethnic Albanian population, many of whom wanted nothing less than the recognition of Tetovo University itself." http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/macedonia.html ###