From eb246 at columbia.edu Mon Mar 4 10:54:35 2002 From: eb246 at columbia.edu (Erkanda Bujari) Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 10:54:35 -0500 (EST) Subject: [NYC-L] FW: GLOBAL SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT PROGRAM 2002 (for PhD students from eEurope and Asia Message-ID: Please distribute fast - deadline approaching -----Original Message----- From: owner-harriman-news at columbia.edu [mailto:owner-harriman-news at columbia.edu] On Behalf Of Serguei Alex. Oushakine Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 10:15 PM To: Serguei Alex. Oushakine Subject: GLOBAL SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT PROGRAM 2002 (for PhD students from eEurope and Eurasia) GLOBAL SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT PROGRAM 2002 The Network Scholarship Programs Department of the Open Society Institute is pleased to offer supplementary grants to students from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, BosniA, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Yugoslavia. The purpose of the program is to enable qualified students to pursue Doctoral studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at accredited universities in Western Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. Grants will be awarded on the basis of academic record, merit of the proposed study, applicant's long-term goals, and financial need. The grants will provide supplemental funding for one year of study with the option to apply for a second year. Reapplication procedures will be outlined in the 2003/2004 application form. Renewal grants will be competed and are not guaranteed. Only students who have been accepted into a full-time doctoral (Ph.D.) program at an accredited university are eligible to apply. Grants are provided to help cover costs in one of the following categories: 1. Tuition and fees - not to exceed 50% of tuition and fees per academic year; 2. Living expenses - students who have succeeded in funding their tuition, either through scholarships or tuition wavers, are eligible for housing and living funds; 3. Other - students who have secured all necessary funds but cannot afford additional expenses, such as travel to/from their host country, books, materials, health insurance, etc., are eligible for additional funds. Grants will not be provided to cover expenses in all three categories. Only those students with confirmed financial support will receive grants. In addition, in no case may an applicant request grant assistance for the support of an accompanying child or spouse. Eligibility: 1. Candidates must be nationals of one of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Yugoslavia. 2. Members of Roma community are encouraged to apply. 3. Candidates must be under 40 years of age at the time of application; 4. Candidates must demonstrate proficiency in the spoken and written language of their host institution; 5. ONLY those students who have already been awarded partial or full tuition, room and board stipends, or other types of financial aid may apply. Applicants must provide the fullest possible account of their actual financial situation including copies of financial aid requests to the Host University and any other documents confirming additional financial support. False statements will result in immediate disqualification. Application and Deadlines: APPLICATION FORM (PDF version). http://www.osi.hu/nsp/ If you are unable to download the application, please email us your mailing address. For students pursuing Ph.D. in North America, Asia, Australia: April 1, 2002. For students pursuing Ph.D. in Western Europe: June 1, 2002. Please mail applications to the address below or to your local Soros office. Be sure to leave sufficient time for applications to get to us, as mail systems can be slow. Network Scholarship Programs Global Supplementary Grant Program 400 West 59th Street New York, NY 10019 USA If you have any questions about the program, you may reach us at: Tel: (1-212) 548-0175 Fax: (1-212) 548-4652 E-mail: scholar at sorosny.org From Fdcleis at aol.com Mon Mar 4 13:38:57 2002 From: Fdcleis at aol.com (Fdcleis at aol.com) Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 13:38:57 EST Subject: [NYC-L] Melanie Friend West Coast/East Coast Tour Message-ID: <176.47ef5d4.29b51941@aol.com> Please come and feel free to pass on, or announce that On Tuesday March 19 at 7pm Melanie Friend will be in San Francisco at Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia Street San Francisco, ca 94110 Phone 415 282 9246 On Thursday March 21 at 7:30 Melanie Friend will be in Berkeley at Black Oak Bookstore 1491 Shattuck Berkeley, Ca 94709 Phone 510 486 0698 On Friday April 5 at 7pm Melanie Friend will be in New York at Bluestockings Bookstore 172 Allen St New York, New York 10002 Phone 212 777 6028 Bluestockingsevents at hotmail.com On Tuesday April 9 at 7pm Melanie Friend will be in Boston at New Words Bookstore 186 Hampshire Street (Inman Square) Cambridge, Ma 02139 Phone 617 876 5310 newwords at world.std.com British photojournalist Melanie Friend will discuss and show slides from her powerful and haunting book, No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo. The personal testimonies of Albanians who fled Serbian repression and systematic violence are strikingly juxtaposed against her dignified studio-style portraits of the refugees and the very ordinary homes they eventually returned to. Ian Jack, editor of Granta, observes that "the power of her book doesn't come from obviously shocking pictures; the shock is the realization that these suddenly-changed and cancelled lives were once so like our own." No Place Like Home Echoes from Kosovo By Melanie Friend CONTACT: Fr?d?rique Delacoste (415) 575-4700 Publication Date: December 2001 Current Events/Photography "The power of No Place Like Home doesn?t come from obviously shocking pictures; the shock is the realization that these suddenly-changed and cancelled lives were once so like our own." ? GRANTA Midnight Editions is pleased to announce publication of No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo (ISBN 1-57344-119-8, $39.95). Through 75 color photographs and 50 accompanying personal testimonies, No Place Like Home offers an extraordinary insight into how history is lived by ordinary citizens. How do people persist with the chores of daily life, knowing that at any time their villages, or even their own homes, may be targeted for terror? How do they survive the murder of entire families? Or the hope of ever finding loved ones who have disappeared? How do they live in the landscapes where massacres took place?and reconcile the thirst for revenge with the need for peace of mind? These questions, which can be asked in the aftermath of any act of violence, are the subject of No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo. British photojournalist Melanie Friend has covered the Balkans since 1989. Well before Kosovo began to make headlines, she was gripped by the region, whose autonomy was revoked by the government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that same year. Friend became familiar with the tactics of the Serbian police, who spread fear through the predominantly Albanian Muslim population. Her visits were brief, often subject to surveillance and film confiscation. NO PLACE LIKE HOME, 2 "Everyone had a story to tell, but it wasn?t always easy to find publishable newspaper photographs," Friend writes in the introduction to No Place Like Home. "Repression was hidden, dramatic visual images rare. Police frequently cordoned off whole villages in the aftermath of police raids and beatings. How could you visually represent fear and repression in picturesque villages where roadblocks and surveillance of foreigners? movements made it impossible to witness such events? I wanted to try a different strategy from straightforward photojournalism. I began photographing the rooms and gardens where police raids had taken place." Friend conducted taped interviews with the inhabitants of those rooms and gardens. In 1999, when thousands of Kosovo Albanians fled large-scale reprisals and killings of civilians by the Serbian police in the wake of the NATO bombings, Friend traveled to Macedonia and interviewed refugees. "I knew I could not photograph nameless people crying as they streamed across the border on tractors, as in so many newspaper images I had seen. These pictures may have been necessary, but I could not bring myself to take them," she writes. Instead, Friend took dignified studio-style portraits of refugees. Later, when the refugees returned to Kosovo, she sought out and re-interviewed all the people she had met in the refugee camps in Macedonia. In some cases, she had only the name of a village for an address. She visited massacre sites in Recak, Lubizhde, and Celine, where Albanian survivors walked with her through beautiful landscapes, now haunted by the memories of those who were killed there. She also interviewed Serbs, Roma, Turks, and other minorities, who, fearing revenge killings, did not wish to be photographed for publication. Melanie Friend?s photographs and interviews span the past decade and offer a profound and original look at repression, war and its aftermath, and their effect on the lives of ordinary citizens. No Place Like Home not only "shows us the human particularity that lies within phrases such as ?ethnic conflict? and ?civil war? " (Ian Jack, Granta), "it enriches our knowledge of Kosovo and inspires deeper reflection about the wider Balkans"(Gabriel partos, BBC World Service). NO PLACE LIKE HOME, 3 SELECTED REVIEWS NO PLACE LIKE HOME WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" IN THE GUARDIAN (UK), THE INDEPENDENT (UK), TIME OUT (UK) AND THE FINANCIAL TIMES (GLOBAL EDITION) "Melanie Friend?s remarkable photographs and interviews show us the human particularity that lies within phrases such as ?ethnic conflict? and ?civil war? ? and help us understand how communal hatred and savagery can break out of (and into) the most peaceful field, the most ordinary living room, and what happens after it does. The power of her book doesn?t come from obviously shocking pictures; the shock is the realization that these suddenly-changed and cancelled lives were once so like our own." ? Ian Jack, GRANTA "Melanie Friend?s volume of photographs and accompanying personal testimonies provides an extraordinary insight into Kosovo?s turbulent recent history through the eyes of its ordinary people. Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Turks and Kosovo?s other ethnic communities tell their stories of suffering, flight, resistance, intolerance and comradeship against the backdrop of an often hostile political and social environment. The understated, even restrained imagery - portraits, homes and landscapes - is in sharp contrast with the atrocities chronicled by the victims or their close relatives and friends. It is a book that enriches our knowledge of Kosovo and inspires deeper reflection about the wider Balkans."?Gabriel Partos, BBC WORLD SERVICE "These are not war photographs in the way we would expect, but calm statements of witness, filled with a pathos which even the best of photojournalism could not hope to convey ." ? Val Williams, Curator, THE HASSELBLAD CENTER LIBRARY JOURNAL (MARCH 1st 2002) Those who study world conflicts from afar tend to portray both the perpetrators and their victims through a series of politically correct phrases, often masking just what years of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and nationalistic intolerance (to name just a few terms often used to describe Kosovo) mean for the common people who must bear the consequences. This remarkable collection reveals how easy it is for those in power to manipulate the feeling of nationalism and systematically create an environment in which brutality becomes part of life. Friend, a British photographer who has covered Kosovo?s political turmoil since 1989, has collected some 50 interviews. The compelling and often disturbing photographs that accompany them serve not only to document the actual experiences of Kosovo?inhabitants but to help us understand why the region must remain multiethnic for the good of all. Highly recommended for all interested in international conflicts. ?Natasa Musa, New York Melanie Friend?s work has appeared in NEWSWEEK, THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, GRANTA, and MARIE CLAIRE among other publications. Her photographs of Kosovo have been exhibited at Camerawork, the National Portrait Gallery in London, The Houston Center for Photography, and are currently showing at the Hasselblad Center in Sweden. She lives in London. NO PLACE LIKE HOME: ECHOES FROM KOSOVO by Melanie Friend Publication Date: November 2001 Current Events/Photography 75 Color Photos, 10x11, 160 pages ISBN 1-57344-119-8, $39.95 Midnight Editions, an imprint of Cleis Press Distributed by Publishers Group West You can listen to Melanie Friend?s interview on Woman?s Hour (BBC radio 4) on the web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/19_11_01/friday/info2.shtml From Fdcleis at aol.com Thu Mar 7 14:35:59 2002 From: Fdcleis at aol.com (Fdcleis at aol.com) Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 14:35:59 EST Subject: [NYC-L] Melanie Friend revised Message-ID: Please come and feel free to pass on, or announce that Please note that the New York date has been changed to Sunday April 7. On Tuesday March 19 at 7pm Melanie Friend will be in San Francisco at Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia Street San Francisco, ca 94110 Phone 415 282 9246 On Thursday March 21 at 7:30 Melanie Friend will be in Berkeley at Black Oak Bookstore 1491 Shattuck Berkeley, Ca 94709 Phone 510 486 0698 On Sunday April 7 at 6:30 pm Melanie Friend will be in New York at Bluestockings Bookstore 172 Allen St New York, New York 10002 Phone 212 777 6028 Bluestockingsevents at hotmail.com On Tuesday April 9 at 7pm Melanie Friend will be in Boston at New Words Bookstore 186 Hampshire Street (Inman Square) Cambridge, Ma 02139 Phone 617 876 5310 newwords at world.std.com British photojournalist Melanie Friend will discuss and show slides from her powerful and haunting book, No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo. The personal testimonies of Albanians who fled Serbian repression and systematic violence are strikingly juxtaposed against her dignified studio-style portraits of the refugees and the very ordinary homes they eventually returned to. Ian Jack, editor of Granta, observes that "the power of her book doesn't come from obviously shocking pictures; the shock is the realization that these suddenly-changed and cancelled lives were once so like our own." No Place Like Home Echoes from Kosovo By Melanie Friend CONTACT: Fr?d?rique Delacoste (415) 575-4700 Publication Date: December 2001 Current Events/Photography "The power of No Place Like Home doesn?t come from obviously shocking pictures; the shock is the realization that these suddenly-changed and cancelled lives were once so like our own." ? GRANTA Midnight Editions is pleased to announce publication of No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo (ISBN 1-57344-119-8, $39.95). Through 75 color photographs and 50 accompanying personal testimonies, No Place Like Home offers an extraordinary insight into how history is lived by ordinary citizens. How do people persist with the chores of daily life, knowing that at any time their villages, or even their own homes, may be targeted for terror? How do they survive the murder of entire families? Or the hope of ever finding loved ones who have disappeared? How do they live in the landscapes where massacres took place?and reconcile the thirst for revenge with the need for peace of mind? These questions, which can be asked in the aftermath of any act of violence, are the subject of No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo. British photojournalist Melanie Friend has covered the Balkans since 1989. Well before Kosovo began to make headlines, she was gripped by the region, whose autonomy was revoked by the government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that same year. Friend became familiar with the tactics of the Serbian police, who spread fear through the predominantly Albanian Muslim population. Her visits were brief, often subject to surveillance and film confiscation. NO PLACE LIKE HOME, 2 "Everyone had a story to tell, but it wasn?t always easy to find publishable newspaper photographs," Friend writes in the introduction to No Place Like Home. "Repression was hidden, dramatic visual images rare. Police frequently cordoned off whole villages in the aftermath of police raids and beatings. How could you visually represent fear and repression in picturesque villages where roadblocks and surveillance of foreigners? movements made it impossible to witness such events? I wanted to try a different strategy from straightforward photojournalism. I began photographing the rooms and gardens where police raids had taken place." Friend conducted taped interviews with the inhabitants of those rooms and gardens. In 1999, when thousands of Kosovo Albanians fled large-scale reprisals and killings of civilians by the Serbian police in the wake of the NATO bombings, Friend traveled to Macedonia and interviewed refugees. "I knew I could not photograph nameless people crying as they streamed across the border on tractors, as in so many newspaper images I had seen. These pictures may have been necessary, but I could not bring myself to take them," she writes. Instead, Friend took dignified studio-style portraits of refugees. Later, when the refugees returned to Kosovo, she sought out and re-interviewed all the people she had met in the refugee camps in Macedonia. In some cases, she had only the name of a village for an address. She visited massacre sites in Recak, Lubizhde, and Celine, where Albanian survivors walked with her through beautiful landscapes, now haunted by the memories of those who were killed there. She also interviewed Serbs, Roma, Turks, and other minorities, who, fearing revenge killings, did not wish to be photographed for publication. Melanie Friend?s photographs and interviews span the past decade and offer a profound and original look at repression, war and its aftermath, and their effect on the lives of ordinary citizens. No Place Like Home not only "shows us the human particularity that lies within phrases such as ?ethnic conflict? and ?civil war? " (Ian Jack, Granta), "it enriches our knowledge of Kosovo and inspires deeper reflection about the wider Balkans"(Gabriel partos, BBC World Service). NO PLACE LIKE HOME, 3 SELECTED REVIEWS NO PLACE LIKE HOME WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" IN THE GUARDIAN (UK), THE INDEPENDENT (UK), TIME OUT (UK) AND THE FINANCIAL TIMES (GLOBAL EDITION) "Melanie Friend?s remarkable photographs and interviews show us the human particularity that lies within phrases such as ?ethnic conflict? and ?civil war? ? and help us understand how communal hatred and savagery can break out of (and into) the most peaceful field, the most ordinary living room, and what happens after it does. The power of her book doesn?t come from obviously shocking pictures; the shock is the realization that these suddenly-changed and cancelled lives were once so like our own." ? Ian Jack, GRANTA "Melanie Friend?s volume of photographs and accompanying personal testimonies provides an extraordinary insight into Kosovo?s turbulent recent history through the eyes of its ordinary people. Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Turks and Kosovo?s other ethnic communities tell their stories of suffering, flight, resistance, intolerance and comradeship against the backdrop of an often hostile political and social environment. The understated, even restrained imagery - portraits, homes and landscapes - is in sharp contrast with the atrocities chronicled by the victims or their close relatives and friends. It is a book that enriches our knowledge of Kosovo and inspires deeper reflection about the wider Balkans."?Gabriel Partos, BBC WORLD SERVICE "These are not war photographs in the way we would expect, but calm statements of witness, filled with a pathos which even the best of photojournalism could not hope to convey ." ? Val Williams, Curator, THE HASSELBLAD CENTER LIBRARY JOURNAL (MARCH 1st 2002) Those who study world conflicts from afar tend to portray both the perpetrators and their victims through a series of politically correct phrases, often masking just what years of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and nationalistic intolerance (to name just a few terms often used to describe Kosovo) mean for the common people who must bear the consequences. This remarkable collection reveals how easy it is for those in power to manipulate the feeling of nationalism and systematically create an environment in which brutality becomes part of life. Friend, a British photographer who has covered Kosovo?s political turmoil since 1989, has collected some 50 interviews. The compelling and often disturbing photographs that accompany them serve not only to document the actual experiences of Kosovo?inhabitants but to help us understand why the region must remain multiethnic for the good of all. Highly recommended for all interested in international conflicts. ?Natasa Musa, New York Melanie Friend?s work has appeared in NEWSWEEK, THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, GRANTA, and MARIE CLAIRE among other publications. Her photographs of Kosovo have been exhibited at Camerawork, the National Portrait Gallery in London, The Houston Center for Photography, and are currently showing at the Hasselblad Center in Sweden. She lives in London. NO PLACE LIKE HOME: ECHOES FROM KOSOVO by Melanie Friend Publication Date: November 2001 Current Events/Photography 75 Color Photos, 10x11, 160 pages ISBN 1-57344-119-8, $39.95 Midnight Editions, an imprint of Cleis Press Distributed by Publishers Group West You can listen to Melanie Friend?s interview on Woman?s Hour (BBC radio 4) on the web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/19_11_01/friday/info2.shtml From eb246 at columbia.edu Mon Mar 11 13:17:06 2002 From: eb246 at columbia.edu (Erkanda Bujari) Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 13:17:06 -0500 (EST) Subject: [NYC-L] Albanian Migration: Conference and new book Message-ID: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: =?iso-8859-1?q?CSEES?= Subject: Albanian Migration: Conference and new book Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 13:17:19 +0000 (GMT) Size: 8445 Url: http://www.alb-net.com/pipermail/nyc-l/attachments/20020311/423e230e/attachment.mht From mentor at alb-net.com Fri Mar 8 11:38:18 2002 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 11:38:18 -0500 (EST) Subject: [NYC-L] [AMCC-News] Macedonia ex-rebels deny ties to slain ''gunmen'' Message-ID: >>>>>>>>>>>>> PLEASE READ & DISTRIBUTE FURTHER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< --------------------------------------------------------------------- Human Rights Violations in Macedonia http://www.alb-net.com/amcc/humanrights.htm Macedonian police brutality, abuse and massacres http://www.alb-net.com/amcc/abuse_violence.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Macedonia ex-rebels deny ties to slain ''gunmen'' 2. Macedonia: Police in shootout with 'suspected terrorists' "It's not true. The UCK is not waging a religious war. We have been against the war in Macedonia. Our efforts have been aimed at respecting dignity, respecting the human rights of Albanians this was the essence of our struggle." ... The former UCK has rejected any connection with the men. The group's former political commander, Ali Ahmeti, in an interview yesterday with the Kosovo daily "Koha Ditore," said "the shootout had nothing at all to do with the UCK." The Albanian-language daily describes the shootout as "a set-up by Boskovski." ... ''There are some questions that should be answered. Firstly we don't know why those people were there and what they were doing, but we hope that a full investigation will clear things up,'' a senior NATO official in Macedonia said. ### 1 ### http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters03-05-094213.asp?reg=EUROPE Macedonia ex-rebels deny ties to slain ''gunmen'' SKOPJE, March 5 - Former ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia denied on Tuesday allegations that they had links with seven suspected gunmen killed in a police shootout on Saturday. ''This is simply false,'' said Gezim Ostreni, a former general of the guerrilla National Liberation Army (NLA) that led last year's six-month insurgency. ''The NLA is in no way connected to this incident.'' Police said the dead men, killed in a suburb of the capital Skopje, were suspected to be ''mujahideen,'' foreign fighters from Muslim countries planning attacks on government officials and foreign embassies. They also said they found uniforms bearing ethnic Albanian rebel insignia on the scene which they said showed they had been working with the former rebels. ''This is absolutely not true,'' Ostreni said. ''The NLA did not conduct a religious war in Macedonia. On the contrary, the fight and the demands of the Albanians were about freedoms and human rights.'' The origin of the dead men remains a mystery as police have not yet identified the bodies or their nationalities. But police say they are certain they were foreigners and believe perhaps two came from Pakistan. Macedonia's government has said ''mujahideen'' fighters were involved in last year's insurgency, which Ostreni also denied. He added that the NLA ceased to exist on September 27 last year, when its fighters handed in arms to a NATO-led peacekeeping force in return for greater civil rights promised in a Western-brokered peace deal that ended fighting in August. Western officials in Macedonia say they are sceptical of nationalist propaganda and cautious about accepting the police version of Saturday's events. ''There are some questions that should be answered. Firstly we don't know why those people were there and what they were doing, but we hope that a full investigation will clear things up,'' a senior NATO official in Macedonia said. He added that international monitors in the country had not been allowed to see the bodies and that the only information they had regarding the shootout was from the interior ministry. Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. ### 2 ### http://ummahnews.com/viewarticle.php?sid=2955 Macedonia: Police in shootout with 'suspected terrorists' 2002-03-05 20:11:00 Jolyon Naegele for Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty 5 March 2002 Macedonian police over the weekend shot dead seven men whom they suspect were "terrorists" from Pakistan collaborating with ethnic Albanian rebels in Macedonia. The official version of events is that a four-man Macedonian police patrol observed the seven getting out of a minivan on a dirt road at Rastanski Lozja in the Black Mountains between Skopje and the Kosovo border. The incident happened at about four o'clock Saturday (2 March) morning. Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski later told reporters the seven men were armed and opened fire after the police warned them to surrender. "This group was eliminated. That means the seven were killed. In all likelihood they were foreigners. The autopsies will show this." The police patrol, which was armed with automatic weapons and Kalashnikov rifles, suffered no injuries in the shooting. Boskovski says the police were aware of the existence of the seven after detaining four other suspected terrorists two Jordanians and two Bosnian Muslims two weeks ago near the U.S. ambassador's residence in Skopje. Boskovski called them "mujahedin." Police say computer diskettes seized with the four were found to have 10,000 pages of documents, some of which police say contained evidence of planning for terrorist attacks in the region. The interior minister says the four had plans for terrorist attacks on foreign embassies in Skopje as well as on senior Macedonian government officials, including Albanians. Boskovski says security has been tightened at the U.S., British, and German embassies. However, judging from comments by U.S. and German diplomats, the Macedonian authorities appear not to be sharing their intelligence with these embassies. Boskovski says on 2 March police found four assault rifles in the minivan, eight hand grenades, a variety of rocket launchers, two rockets, two pistols, a field radio, and several uniforms of the ethnic Albanian insurgent National Liberation Army (UCK). They also say they found documents written in Arabic and a small amount of Turkish currency. Boskovski said based on identification documents found with the group, two of the men were Pakistanis with previous fighting experience in Afghanistan and the Balkans. This is not the first time Boskovski has sought to make a link between Islamic terrorists and the UCK. He did so repeatedly without offering any proof during last year's seven-month armed conflict. Macedonia's chief coroner, Aleksej Duma, says autopsies conducted on the seven failed to identify them conclusively. He said, "They were all young, nobody older than 30, all dark-skinned and circumcised." Some of the dead men are reported to have had traces of gunpowder on their hands. Some local news reports have suggested that at least two of the seven men were Albanians. However, this has been rejected by Macedonia's deputy interior minister, Refet Elmazi, in an interview with RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages (SSAL) Service: "According to the pathologists, they are foreigners, not Albanians." The former UCK has rejected any connection with the men. The group's former political commander, Ali Ahmeti, in an interview yesterday with the Kosovo daily "Koha Ditore," said "the shootout had nothing at all to do with the UCK." The Albanian-language daily describes the shootout as "a set-up by Boskovski." Another UCK commander, who goes by the name of "Sokoli" told Kosovo public television (RTK) that he believes the incident was a "set-up" because "you can see the uniforms were brand-new and somewhat different from the ones former UCK soldiers used to wear." The former UCK's military chief of staff, commander Gezim Ostreni, said in an interview with RFE/RL's SSAL Service today that there are reasons to suspect that this latest incident may even be an attempt by Macedonian nationalists to increase tensions so as to prevent parliament from declaring and implementing an amnesty for former UCK insurgents. He too rejects any sort of Albanian connection to the seven. "I think that claims that some of them are Albanians are false. The National Liberation Army (UCK) has not existed since 26 September (when it formally disbanded itself) after reaching agreements with the Macedonian government, NATO, and others. There is no link between these events [on 2 March] and the UCK." Ostreni says former UCK commanders have no idea who the seven men were and that it is up to the Interior Ministry to say what actually happened. He too rejects suggestions the Albanians are waging a religious war. "It's not true. The UCK is not waging a religious war. We have been against the war in Macedonia. Our efforts have been aimed at respecting dignity, respecting the human rights of Albanians this was the essence of our struggle." It's not clear yet when the authorities will offer a fuller explanation of who the seven were and exactly what happened. Copyright 2001. This news item is distributed via Middle East News Online (MiddleEastWire.com). All rights reserved. May not be redistributed, published or used for broadcast without prior written authorisation from Middle East News Online. Copyright ? ummahnews.com 2001 ________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list visit: http://www.alb-net.com/mailman/listinfo/amcc-news From eb246 at columbia.edu Tue Mar 19 16:22:34 2002 From: eb246 at columbia.edu (Erkanda Bujari) Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 16:22:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: [NYC-L] Fatmir Koci Movie at Moma March 25 and 27 (fwd) Message-ID: Tirana Year Zero (Tirana an zero). Albania/France, 2001. Monday, March 25, 9:15 Wednesday, March 27, 6:00 Niku is 23 and struggling to survive and prosper in the chaos that is contemporary Albania. Everyone else, it seems wants to leave ? his girlfriend Klara wants to go to Paris, and his neighbor gets herself married to an Italian. Niku uses the only asset he has ? a pickup truck ? to make a living. The odd jobs he takes on are odd indeed: a German tourist who has bought a bunker as a war souvenir wants to transport it home; Niku has to move an enormous statue of Stalin. Random shootings seem the order of the day. But the spirit of his neighbors gives Niku optimism, puts things in perspective, and sharpens the "should I stay or should I go" dilemma of a generation. Drawing on the country's cultural wealth and beautiful landscapes and the dry humor of its people, Fatmir Ko?i, directing his second feature, paints an affectionate, surreal, and comic portrait of his homeland. 89 minutes. I'm sorry for the unwanted "spam" but it would be great if you could forward this to all your freinds in NYC. It's a great movie, it also participated in the Cannes festival last year. Here is the website for more info, e http://www.moma.org/staticfilmvideo/programs/200203_new.html Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage From mentor at alb-net.com Wed Mar 20 13:11:28 2002 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 13:11:28 -0500 (EST) Subject: [NYC-L] [AMCC-News] (1) A Network of Minoprity Rights Organisations established in Macedonia; (2) Finance peace in Macedonia, not corruption; (3) Donors pledge $515 mln aid for Macedonia; (4) Opening of ECMI NGO Resource Centres in Tetovo and Bitola, Macedonia Message-ID: >>>>>>>>>>>>> PLEASE READ & DISTRIBUTE FURTHER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< --------------------------------------------------------------------- Human Rights Violations in Macedonia http://www.alb-net.com/amcc/humanrights.htm Macedonian police brutality, abuse and massacres http://www.alb-net.com/amcc/abuse_violence.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. A Network of Minority Rights Organizations established in Macedonia 2. Finance peace in Macedonia, not corruption 3. Donors pledge $515 mln aid for Macedonia 4. Opening of ECMI NGO Resource Centres in Tetovo and Bitola, Macedonia ### (1) ### Betreff: [balkanhr] A Network of Minority Rights Organizations established in Macedonia Datum: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 20:29:16 +0200 Von: "albert" (by way of Greek Helsinki Monitor ) Established the Network of Minority Rights Organizations in Macedonia On the 04-07th of march 2002 in Ohrid, a seminar on "Increasing Knowledge on Minority Rights Standards" was organized by the Association for Democratic Initiatives-ADI in cooperation with the Council of Europe's Secretariat of the FCNM in the framework of the Stability Pact project concerning Minorities Acceptance and Implementation of existing standards with a voluntary contribution of the United Kingdom. After a three days intensive meetings, the 34 participating NGO's from all the regions of the country, representing organizations working in the field of minority rights as well as minority based organizations decided to establish a Network of Minority Rights Organizations in Macedonia. The Network decided upon the activity plan for the following two years and it's long term strategy, while two immediate tasks resulted at the end of the seminar. The appeal of the network to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Skopje to submit the State report on the Implementation of the Provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in Macedonia, which report was due to be submitted in 1999 by the Government of Macedonia. The network adopted a strategy for an Advocacy Campaign for Ratifying the Charter on Regional and Minority Languages by the Macedonian Parliament. which was signed by the government of Macedonia 6 years ago, but not yet ratified. The report from he seminar with the list of participants and lecturers will be available at the beginning of April 2002, for any further information, please contact the Association for Democratic Initiatives ADI B. Jovanoski St. 61 1230 Gostivar Macedonia tel: +389 42 22 11 00 fax: +389 42 22 11 02 e-mail: albert at adi.org.mk URL: http://www.adi.org.mk ### (2) ### http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/8357c4d90cd7dd3dc1256b7a004c64c4?OpenDocument Source: International Crisis Group (ICG) Date: 11 Mar 2002 Finance peace in Macedonia, not corruption Skopje/Brussels, 11 March 2002: As EU, U.S. and World Bank officials prepare to meet tomorrow in Brussels at a donors' conference for the Republic of Macedonia, the International Crisis Group urges them to be vigilant on two key issues that threaten the fledgling peace effort: endemic corruption and economic reform. ICG calls for the joint appointment of an anti-corruption adviser to assist the Macedonian government and monitor spending of donor funds. Macedonia's leaders deserve generous support to re-build their country and pay for the costly reforms that were the key to getting Albanian insurgents to lay down arms. However, ICG President Gareth Evans warned: "The target for the aid package is not small, a quarter of a billion dollars, and it should be met. But if donors commit this sum without demanding serious anti-corruption and reform efforts, they will put at risk the investment they have made in peace." Corruption plagues all transition countries, but in Macedonia it threatens the viability of the state. Albanian minority participation in today's government rests on a simple principle: they get one third of the spoils enjoyed by the Macedonian leadership. At the same time both Macedonian and Albanian political leaders flirt cynically with ethnic extremism, deepening communal divisions and corroding the rule of law and public trust in institutions - as they connive at siphoning off national assets. The corruption concerns include reports of kickbacks, customs and licensing rackets, cigarette smuggling and illegal privatisation deals that benefit government insiders. The stories are not - as some politicians claim - simply anecdotes. The Macedonian media is replete with detailed, credible allegations that are privately corroborated by diplomats. The Macedonian leadership is also seeking leniency on important IMF targets. The Prime Minister is reportedly balking at a follow-on IMF credit arrangement that would replace the current, voluntary set of spending criteria. With an election due this year, he seeks more relaxed terms. However delaying reform will only protract economic transition. Where donors need to channel attention is on creating and sustaining jobs for both Macedonians and Albanians, especially in rural areas and regions that were affected by fighting. Applications for emigration by Macedonians have soared, while the unemployment rate for rural Albanians remains alarmingly high. The job base is shrinking as loss-making enterprises close their doors and otherwise profitable private firms lose their credit rating due to bank-perceived "risk". More re-training is needed for laid-off workers, as well as credit incentives for Macedonia's banks to lend to private firms located in these crisis zones. Otherwise, Macedonia risks further ethnic division due to economic circumstances. But these measures will mean little if the international community does not insist that Macedonia tackles corruption. Traditional prescriptions - regulatory reform, conferences, legislation - have had paltry results, as international officials concede. The knowledge that corruption is rampant has eviscerated trust in all levels of government and created cynicism toward "institution building" efforts. Civil society groups like Transparency International show promise, but they depend on a critical mass of citizens who believe their efforts will result in change - something utterly absent in Macedonia. An outside catalyst is needed to demonstrate international seriousness and give ordinary Macedonians confidence that change is possible. ICG therefore recommends that the donors and the Macedonian government jointly ask the European Commission to send an anti-corruption adviser to Macedonia. The adviser's role would be to activate moribund checks against corruption, and stimulate the efforts of government and civil society to develop and implement an anti-corruption strategy. Stonewalling by the authorities should incur the suspension of EU funding. ICG believes that the government could be persuaded to accept such an adviser, if only the international community would insist. ICG also urges donors to fund fully watchdog and oversight mechanisms for the nation's heath fund. Raising the profile and effectiveness of the fight against corruption, and insisting on economic reforms, could reorient politics away from a zero-sum tussle over resources and ethnic rights into a joint struggle against a common opponent. ICG's Macedonia Project Director Edward Joseph said: "Ethnic Macedonians and Albanians alike are fed up with 'the way the game is played' and are eager for the rule of law. But they can't achieve change on their own. As Macedonia seeks generous international support at this donor's conference, now is the ideal time to demand economic reform and serious measures to combat corruption." ### (3) ### http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters03-12-033537.asp?reg=EUROPE Donors pledge $515 mln aid for Macedonia BRUSSELS, March 12 - International donors approved a $515 million aid package for Macedonia on Tuesday, more than double the amount expected, to help it recover from last year's fighting between government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels. The European Commission and the World Bank organized the one-day pledging conference to reward authorities in the tiny ex-Yugoslav republic and ethnic Albanian leaders for respecting a peace deal sealed last August to end seven months of violence. ''This meeting has demonstrated strong and continuing support for Macedonia and gives the country and its people a chance to move forward,'' Reinhard Priebe, a senior official of the EU's executive Commission, told reporters. Monies pledged include $274 million for macroeconomic assistance, support of reconstruction and implementing last August's framework agreement. Donors promised a further $241 million for ''general economic development purposes in 2002,'' the Commission and World Bank said in a joint statement. Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, regarded as one of the hardliners in last year's conflict, welcomed the pledges, which in total would mean every inhabitant of the small land-locked state receiving more than $250 each. LOOKING TO FUTURE ''I am convinced that by virtue of this donors' meeting we will leave behind us political and economic insecurity and turn a new page of economic prosperity and accelerated economic development in our country and the region as a whole,'' he said. The Commission alone contributed 104 million euros and the 15 member states of the European Union a further 103 million euros in total. The World Bank provided $50 million of aid. Some 38 countries and 19 organizations attended the meeting. The aid scheme is to help Macedonia rein in its ballooning budget deficit and huge current account gap, rebuild damaged homes and infrastructure as well as to create institutions needed to maintain a multi-ethnic democracy. Donors stressed the assistance would be conditional on Macedonia implementing last year's peace accord and pushing ahead with economic reforms to create jobs in the private sector and make the state more efficient. Macedonia has already ceded more powers to local government to improve the status of ethnic Albanians, who make up about a third of the country's two million population. Skopje approved an amnesty for the rebels last week in a move hailed by the EU and NATO, which maintains a 700-soldier peacekeeping mission in the country. SCOURGE OF CORRUPTION But many Western politicians and international organizations say there is rampant corruption in Macedonia and strict measures are needed to prevent the aid going into the wrong pockets. ''We will continue to link the delivery of (European) Community assistance to the efficient implementation in good faith of...the peace agreement,'' the Commission's Priebe said. This week, the International Crisis Group (ICG), a respected Brussels-based think-tank, urged the EU to send an anti-corruption adviser to Skopje. ''Corruption plagues all transition countries, but in Macedonia it threatens the viability of the state,'' the ICG said in a statement. ''The corruption concerns include reports of kickbacks, customs and licensing rackets, cigarette smuggling and illegal privatisation deals that benefit government insiders,'' it said. About $165 million of the cash pledged on Tuesday is to help Macedonia reduce its budget deficit, which soared to six percent of gross domestic product last year from a surplus in 2000. The sum is also to be used to lower the current account shortfall, which widened to nearly 11 percent of GDP last year. Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited ### (4) ### Betreff: [balkanhr] [mkakademija] Opening of ECMI NGO Resource Centres in Tetovo and Bitola, Macedonia Datum: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 19:01:00 +0200 Von: office at greekhelsinki.gr Subject: Opening of ECMI NGO Resource Centre Tetovo, Macedonia The ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre opened in Tetovo on Monday 1st March 2002 at 1200 hrs. The Regional Centre is located on Street Ilindenska 97,Tetovo. The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of Non-Governmental Sector in Tetovo, Local Government, International NGOs and Inter-Governmental Organizations and Media. Present were also the Chairperson of the Coordinating Body of the ECMI NGO Network for the Improvement of Inter-Ethnic Relations in Macedonia and Members of the Coordinating Body. Mr. Nader Redjepi, Representative of the Tetovo NGOs in the National Coordinating Body of the Network welcomed the guests and introduced the Action Plan of the Tetovo Centre. This was followed by a brief address with an overview of the project by the ECMI Regional Representative Dr. Sunoor Verma. Ms. Suncica Milkovic, Member of the National Coordinating Body of the Network cut the ribbon and declared the ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre open. This was followed by cocktail. The Regional Centre has a conference room with a conference table for 20 and 20 chairs, one flip chart board, one bulletin board. The office room has one PC, one laser printer, one fax machine and internet access (telephone connection being activated). Background Information ECMI NGO Network exists to enhance the cooperation of the member NGOs towards the development and improvement of interethnic tolerance, respect for differences and dialogue among all those living in the Republic of Macedonia. In particular, this NGO Network aims to strengthen the capacities of the participating NGOs to generate joint projects and other initiatives with a strong interethnic dimension and to implement such initiatives (For details please visit the Network Web site www.ecmingonet.org.mk). In the framework of the concept of the ECMI NGO Network for improvement of interethnic relations (Enclosed list of Members) in Macedonia six ECMI Regional NGO Centres will be established and will function in the following cities: Kumanovo, Bitola, Stip, Tetovo, Gostivar and Skopje. These Regional NGO Centres shall serve the aim of improving interethnic tolerance, respect for differences and dialogue among all communities living in the country. They shall enhance the capacity of member non-governmental organizations (NGOs) subscribing to these aims and facilitate the development and implementation of joint interethnic projects on the basis of locally established priorities. The Regional NGO Centres shall also seek cooperation of local administration, while maintaining full independence in the design and execution of the projects. The Network will also provide a means through which the strong contribution that NGOs can make to the development of civil society in the Republic of Macedonia can be highlighted. This includes joint lobbying for an environment in which NGOs dedicated to the principles of this Network can flourish and effectively deliver their mandates. Sunoor Verma Regional Representative European Centre for Minority Issues Branch Office Skopje Street Dresdenska No. 9, Skopje 1000, Macedonia. Telephone and Fax 00389 2 361 379, 367 688 sunoor at ecmingonet.org.mk www.ecmingonet.org.mk www.ecmi.de Subject: Opening of ECMI NGO Resource Centre in Bitola, Macedonia The ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre opened in Bitola on Thursday 7th March 2002 at 1200 hrs. The Regional Centre is located on Josif Josifovski str. 4/4. (Building- Grozd). The telephone and fax number of the Regional Resource Centre in Bitola is 00 389 47 236 874. The opening ceremony was attended by all members of the Bitola Regional Resource Centre, representatives of Non-Governmental Sector in Bitola, Local Government, Police Authority, University of Bitola, City Library, Social Welfare department, City Hospital, International NGOs and Inter-Governmental Organizations, electronic and print media. Present also were Members of the Coordinating Body of the ECMI NGO Network for the Improvement of Inter-Ethnic Relations in Macedonia. Dr. Dijana Georgievska, Representative of the Bitola NGOs in the National Coordinating Body of the Network welcomed the guests and introduced the Action Plan of the Bitola Centre. This was followed by a brief address with an overview of the project by the ECMI Regional Representative Sunoor Verma. The Mayor of Bitola was represented by his advisor on NGOs Ms. Violeta Nalevska. She assured those present of the full support of the Municipality of Bitola and its Mayor to the ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre initiative. Mr. Senat Beqiri, Member of the National Coordinating Body of the Network greeted the Bitola Members on behalf of the National Coordinating Body, then cut the ribbon and declared the ECMI Regional NGO Resource Centre in Bitola open. This was followed by cocktail. At 1400 Working lunch of the Coordinating Body was held. The dates for the opening of the Gostivar and Shtip Centre were discussed. The two Centers are expected to open between the 15th and 20th March 2002. The Regional Centre has a conference room with a conference table for 20 and 20 chairs, one flip chart board, one bulletin board. There are two office rooms and are furnished with two desks, lockers for members, two PCs (with in-built fax capability), one scanner, one laser printer, and internet access. Background Information on ECMI initiative in Macedonia ECMI NGO Network exists to enhance the cooperation of the member NGOs towards the development and improvement of interethnic tolerance, respect for differences and dialogue among all those living in the Republic of Macedonia. In particular, this NGO Network aims to strengthen the capacities of the participating NGOs to generate joint projects and other initiatives with a strong interethnic dimension and to implement such initiatives (For details please visit the Network Web site www.ecmingonet.org.mk). In the framework of the concept of the ECMI NGO Network for improvement of interethnic relations (Enclosed list of Members) in Macedonia six ECMI Regional NGO Centres will be established and will function in the following cities: Kumanovo, Bitola, Stip, Tetovo, Gostivar and Skopje. These Regional NGO Centres shall serve the aim of improving interethnic tolerance, respect for differences and dialogue among all communities living in the country. They shall enhance the capacity of member non-governmental organizations (NGOs) subscribing to these aims and facilitate the development and implementation of joint interethnic projects on the basis of locally established priorities. The Regional NGO Centres shall also seek cooperation of local administration, while maintaining full independence in the design and execution of the projects. The Network will also provide a means through which the strong contribution that NGOs can make to the development of civil society in the Republic of Macedonia can be highlighted. This includes joint lobbying for an environment in which NGOs dedicated to the principles of this Network can flourish and effectively deliver their mandates. Sunoor Verma Regional Representative European Centre for Minority Issues Branch Office Skopje Street Dresdenska No. 9, Skopje 1000, Macedonia. Telephone and Fax 00389 2 361 379, 367 688 sunoor at ecmingonet.org.mk www.ecmingonet.org.mk www.ecmi.de ________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list visit: http://www.alb-net.com/mailman/listinfo/amcc-news From mentor at alb-net.com Thu Mar 28 09:14:49 2002 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 09:14:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: [NYC-L] [Kcc-News] KOSOVA PRISONERS TRANSFERRED: HOME AT LAST! (A-PAL NEWSLETTER 3/26/02) Message-ID: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> READ & DISTRIBUTE FURTHER <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kosova Crisis Center (KCC) News Network: http://www.alb-net.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- Original Message -------- Betreff: [A-PAL] A-PAL NEWSLETTER 3/26/02: KOSOVA PRISONERS TRANSFERRED Datum: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 14:20:25 -0500 Von: Alice Mead A-PAL (ALBANIAN PRISONER ADVOCACY) March 26, 2002 A-PAL STATEMENT HOME AT LAST! At long last, the remaining Albanian prisoners crossed the border into Kosova today, ending nearly three years of intensive international advocacy on their behalf. We can only imagine the relief the remaining families must feel at this moment to finally have contact with their loved ones again. We want to thank all the families for their extraordinary patience during this period. *** THANKS TO EVERYONE EVERYWHERE WHO HELPED **** The European A-PAL email action campaign--run by Divi Beineke in Germany and her team of translators- sent over 38,000 emails to world leaders on the prisoners' behalf. Wolfgang Plarre compiled daily articles and reports on human rights, missing and detained. In the USA, Naida Dukaj set up the first A-PAL website and ran the mail list for two years. Mentor Cana set up the mail administration. In Washington, Richard Lukaj and Ilir Zherka met with State Department staff and Senate foreign affairs staff. In Ireland, Valerie Hughes was our most resourceful campaigner, calling members of EP and UK and Irish foreign offices and embassies. Brendan Moran of Ireland Foreign Office assisted in raising the issue with other foreign offices. Bernie Sullivan of UK followed the UK foreign office and NATO. Suzy Blaustein wrote the first comprehensive report for ICG in 1999. Laura Rozen wrote articles. Bob Hand. Jason Steinbaum, and Kelly Siekman staff members from the House and Senate, were supportive in raising the issue at OSCE and State Dept meetings. Albert Cevallos and Kurt Bassuener helped advance awareness both in DC. Eric Witte and Nina Bang-Jensen led the difficult effort to include the transfer of prisoners in the bill passed by the US Congress to condition future aid to the FRY. In Serbia, Natasa Kandic and Teki Bokshi of the Humanitarian Law Center visited prisoners, defended the 143 member Gjakova group, and monitored trials. Teki Bokshi also managed the arrangments in releasing nearly forty minor children in November, 1999. Fred Abrahams and Bogdan Ivanisevic of HR Watch monitored trials. Paul Miller and Sian Jones of Amnesty helped monitor trials. Jovana Krstic and Jelena Milic of Grupa 484 assisted A-PAL frequently. Patrick Gavigan of UNHCHR helped keep track of prisoner transfers and conditions. Stefano Valenti of Council of Europe helped forward information on trials. MP Bart Staes was our most dedicated EP member. MP Emma Bonino and Olivier Dupuis also forwarded resolutions and sent letters. In Sweden, Anders Wessman and Idriz Zogaj provided early support in Brussels, ran four hunger strikes, and filed suit for kidnapping against President Kostunica. Judge Richard Goldstone included the prisoner issue in his report on Kosova. Mary-Teresa Moran in Chris Patten's office followed the situation diligently and persistently. MP's Doris Pack and Elmar Brok passed a resolution on prisoner release in EP Brussels. In NY, lawyers Lisa LaPlante and Marko Maglich worked on the Albanian Prisoner Advocacy Guide and wrote the comments of Flora Brovina's trial. Also, Ambassador Ryan of Ireland and the Ambassador of Bangladesh raised the issue in the UN Security Council. In DC, Senators Smith, Leahy, Helms and McConnell repeatedly raised the issue in Congress and coordinated the effort to condition aid if the prisoners were not transfered by March 31, 2002, as did Reps. Engel and Cardin. At the US office in Prishtina, Julie Winn, Karen Levine, Laurie Dundon,and John Menzies offered support along the way. At the UK office, Victoria Whitford coordinated efforts in Belgrade and Prishtina. US A-PAL advocates Jane Stevenson and Trish Porter wrote to prisoners in Sremska Mitrovica and assisted in advocating the release of Bedri Kukalaj. Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell of the US State Dept. supported our efforts at crucial moments. In Kosova, we want to thank Rizah Xhakali, Gani Krasniqi, Avni Klinaku, and Nexhmi Kelmendi of the APP office, and Ibrahim Makolli, Payazit Nushi, and Adem Demaci of the CDHRF office, as well as Shukrie Rexha who represented the prisoner issue on KTC. At UNMIK, Elizabeth Presse, John Christian Cady, and Clint Williamson were negotiators. Sarah Bascheti and Mary Elena Andreotti were helpful to families in need and to the Dubrava hunger strikers. Albin Kurti wrote letters to foreign governments and met with foreign office officials. Liburn Aliu helped ill prisoners who had returned home. Enver Dugolli met with UNMIK officials. The Gjakova Families petitioned internationally and did a lot to raise awareness. The Released Dubrava Prisoners insisted on the creation of an UNMIK department of Missing and Detained and the repair of the mass grave at Dubrava. Blerim Shala, Isuf Hajrizi and Halil Matoshi kept the prisoner issue alive and in the news. Over 75,000 Albanians signed the first petition we delivered to NATO. Thousands demonstrated in rain, heat, and snow. Six prisoners died in detention. But the other 2,000 plus have now returned home. Best wishes to this last group, Your A-PAL Coordinators- Alice Mead Mentor Cana Anders Wessman Divi Beineke Valerie Hughes Naida Dukaj Wolfgang Plarre ***************************************** Agence France Presse March 26, 2002 Tuesday Belgrade turns over Kosovo prisoners, meeting US condition for aid DATELINE: NIS, Yugoslavia, March 26 Serbian authorities on Tuesday began a transfer of ethnic Albanian prisoners held in Serbian jails to Kosovo, meeting a key US demand for extending aid to Yugoslavia. A convoy of four buses, escorted by two UN vehicles and Serbian police cars, was seen leaving a prison in the southern Serbian town of Nis around 2:10 pm (1310 GMT). A total of 145 ethnic Albanian prisoners, 104 from Nis prison and 41 from Sremska Mitrovica, were to be transferred to Kosovo, the Beta news agency reported quoting the Serbian justice ministry. Seven ethnic Albanian prisoners wanted to serve their sentence in Serbia and not to be transferred to Kosovo, Bruno Vekaric of the ministry told Beta. The US Congress had made the transfer of ethnic Albanian prisoners to Kosovo from other parts of Serbia before March 31 a condition for receving 40 million dollars in aid to Belgrade. Washington is also demanding cooperation from Belgrade in arresting and turning over suspects wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague. The transfer was in accordance with an agreement reached last week by the Serbian government and the UN mission in Kosovo on an exchange of prisoners captured during the Kosovo war. Under the agreement ethnic Albanian prisoners held in Serbian prisons will continue to serve out their sentences in Kosovo, while Serb prisoners held in Kosovo will in return be sent to jails elsewhere in Serbia. The agreement was signed Friday by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for Kosovo Nebojsa Covic and Yugoslav Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic, and the UN administrator for Kosovo, Michael Steiner, signed the accord on behalf of the province. Over 2,100 detainees were sent to central Serbia during the June 1999 pullout of Yugoslav forces from the southern Serbian province of Kosovo. Most of the prisoners stand accused of terrorism and murder during the 1998-1999 war in which Yugoslav forces fought ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Kosovo. Some prisoners were released due to lack of evidence or after serving some time and others were sentenced to prison for 10 years or more. ______________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe please send a blank message to: kcc-news-unsubscribe at alb-net.com , or visit KCC-NEWS's page at: http://www.alb-net.com/mailman/listinfo/kcc-news From jeton at hotmail.com Sat Mar 30 13:07:27 2002 From: jeton at hotmail.com (Jeton Ademaj) Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 13:07:27 -0500 Subject: [NYC-L] Fwd: [Fwd: 1024-bit RSA keys in danger of compromise] (fwd) Message-ID: hi all, this is from a friend who's a tech consultant. a bit off-topic, but i figure some of u would wanna be informed, so... >Lucky Green wrote: > > > As those of you who have discussed RSA keys size requirements with me > > over the years will attest to, I always held that 1024-bit RSA keys > > could not be factored by anyone, including the NSA, unless the opponent > > had devised novel improvements to the theory of factoring large > > composites unknown in the open literature. I considered this to be > > possible, but highly unlikely. In short, I believed that users' desires > > for keys larger than 1024-bits were mostly driven by a vague feeling > > that "larger must be better" in some cases, and by downright paranoia in > > other cases. I was mistaken. > > > > Based upon requests voiced by a number of attendees to this year's > > Financial Cryptography conference , I assembled and > > moderated a panel titled "RSA Factoring: Do We Need Larger Keys?". The > > panel explored the implications of Bernstein's widely discussed > > "Circuits for Integer Factorization: a Proposal". > > http://cr.yp.to/papers.html#nfscircuit > > > > Although the full implications of the proposal were not necessarily > > immediately apparent in the first few days following Bernstein's > > publication, the incremental improvements to parts of NFS outlined in > > the proposal turn out to carry significant practical security > > implications impacting the overwhelming majority of deployed systems > > utilizing RSA or DH as the public key algorithms. > > > > Coincidentally, the day before the panel, Nicko van Someren announced at > > the FC02 rump session that his team had built software which can factor > > 512-bit RSA keys in 6 weeks using only hardware they already had in the > > office. > > > > A very interesting result, indeed. (While 512-bit keys had been broken > > before, the feasibility of factoring 512-bit keys on just the computers > > sitting around an office was news at least to me). > > > > The panel, consisting of Ian Goldberg and Nicko van Someren, put forth > > the following rough first estimates: > > > > While the interconnections required by Bernstein's proposed architecture > > add a non-trivial level of complexity, as Bruce Schneier correctly > > pointed out in his latest CRYPTOGRAM newsletter, a 1024-bit RSA > > factoring device can likely be built using only commercially available > > technology for a price range of several hundred million dollars to about > > 1 billion dollars. Costs may well drop lower if one has the use of a > > chip fab. It is a matter of public record that the NSA as well as the > > Chinese, Russian, French, and many other intelligence agencies all > > operate their own fabs. > > > > Some may consider a price tag potentially reaching $1B prohibitive. One > > should keep in mind that the NRO regularly launches SIGINT satellites > > costing close to $2B each. Would the NSA have built a device at less > > than half the cost of one of their satellites to be able to decipher the > > interception data obtained via many such satellites? The NSA would have > > to be derelict of duty to not have done so. > > > > Bernstein's machine, once built, will have power requirements in the MW > > to operate, but in return will be able to break a 1024-bit RSA or DH key > > in seconds to minutes. Even under the most optimistic estimates for > > present-day PKI adoption, the inescapable conclusion is that the NSA, > > its major foreign intelligence counterparts, and any foreign commercial > > competitors provided with commercial intelligence by their national > > intelligence services have the ability to break on demand any and all > > 1024-bit public keys. > > > > The security implications of a practical breakability of 1024-bit RSA > > and DH keys are staggering, since of the following systems as currently > > deployed tend to utilize keys larger than 1024-bits: > > > > - HTTPS > > - SSH > > - IPSec > > - S/MIME > > - PGP > > > > An opponent capable of breaking all of the above will have access to > > virtually any corporate or private communications and services that are > > connected to the Internet. > > > > The most sensible recommendation in response to these findings at this > > time is to upgraded your security infrastructure to utilize 2048-bit > > user keys at the next convenient opportunity. Certificate Authorities > > may wish to investigate larger keys as appropriate. Some CA's, such as > > those used to protect digital satellite content in Europe, have already > > moved to 4096-bit root keys. > > > > Undoubtedly, many vendors and their captive security consultants will > > rush to publish countless "reasons" why nobody is able to build such a > > device, would ever want to build such a device, could never obtain a > > sufficient number of chips for such a device, or simply should use that > > vendor's "unbreakable virtual onetime pad" technology instead. > > > > While the latter doesn't warrant comment, one question to ask > > spokespersons pitching the former is "what key size is the majority of > > your customers using with your security product"? Having worked in this > > industry for over a decade, I can state without qualification that > > anybody other than perhaps some of the HSM vendors would be misinformed > > if they claimed that the majority - or even a sizable minority - of > > their customers have deployed key sizes larger than 1024-bits through > > their organization. Which is not surprising, since many vendor offerings > > fail to support larger keys. > > > > In light of the above, I reluctantly revoked all my personal 1024-bit > > PGP keys and the large web-of-trust that these keys have acquired over > > time. The keys should be considered compromised. The revoked keys and my > > new keys are attached below. > > > > --Lucky Green > > > _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com