[NYC-L] [Kcc-News] 1) UN plan calls for Kosovo constitution; 2) Press-Release by the Albanian-American Coalition for the Independence of Kosova, 3)Congressman Trent Franks Completely Wrong On Kosova (fwd)

[Kosova Crisis Center News and Information]

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1. UN plan calls for Kosovo constitution
2. Press-Release by the Albanian-American Coalition for the Independence of Kosova
3. CONGRESSMAN TRENT FRANKS COMPLETELY WRONG ON KOSOVA!!!

### 1 ###

UN plan calls for Kosovo constitution
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2004522,00.html

Agencies
Friday February 2, 2007

Guardian Unlimited
A new UN plan for Kosovo would see it effectively achieve statehood in all
but name, it was reported today.

The plan, drawn up by the UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, does not explicitly
mention the word independence. However, it calls for a multi-ethnic Kosovo
"governing itself democratically and with full respect for the rule of law",
the Associated Press reported.

It recommends that the province adopts its own constitution and is empowered
"to negotiate and conclude international agreements, including the right to
seek membership in international organisations".

The UN proposal - which is being presented to Serbia's president and
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership today - lays out terms for "a future
Kosovo that is viable, sustainable and stable".

Ultimately, it intends to "ensure the promotion and protection of the rights
of communities and their members, the effective decentralisation of
government, and the preservation and protection of cultural and religious
heritage".

Mr Ahtisaari said protecting the rights of Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs and other
minorities was at the heart of the scheme.

It outlines "a high degree of control" for Serbs over their own affairs, and
would grant them six new Serb-administered municipalities and a greater
voice in the higher education and health systems.

Serbs also would be given "extensive municipal autonomy in financial
matters, including the ability to accept transparent funding from Serbia".

"An important element of the settlement is the mandate provided for a future
international civilian and military presence in Kosovo, to supervise
implementation of the settlement and assist the competent Kosovo authorities
in ensuring peace and stability throughout Kosovo," the draft document said.

It recommended that a "new, professional and multi-ethnic Kosovo security
force" with 2,500 active members and 800 reservists should be set up within
a year.

The plan provides for an "international civilian representative" with a dual
role as the EU's top official in Kosovo, who would "have ultimate
supervisory authority over the implementation of the settlement".

The proposals would also protect Kosovo's Serbian Orthodox churches, which
have been targeted by ethnic Albanians.

"More than 40 key religious and cultural sites will be surrounded by
protective zones to prevent any disruptive commercial and industrial
development or construction, and to preserve the cultural dignity of such
sites," the draft said. It added that physical security would be in place at
some sites.

Around 200,000 Serbs fled Kosovo after the war in the wake of revenge
attacks by ethnic Albanians.

"All refugees and internally displaced persons from Kosovo will have the
right to return and reclaim their property and personal possessions," the
document said.

"The settlement also calls upon Kosovo and Serbia to cooperate fully with
the International Committee of the Red Cross to resolve the fate of missing
persons."

Guardian Unlimited C Guardian News and Media Limited 2007



### 2 ###

Press-Release

Albanian-American Coalition for the Independence of Kosova
C/O 2021 L Street, N.W., Suite 402, Washington, DC  20036
(202) 466-6900

New York, NY, January 31, 2007:     On January 20, 2007, at the invitation
of National Albanian American Council, many representatives of various
Albanian civic, cultural and humanitarian organizations from the United
States and Canada met in New York to reaffirm our unwavering support for the
immediate RECOGNITION of the FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL INDEPENDENCE of KOSOVA.
This is the only just, historically justified and politically viable
alternative that can guarantee long-lasting peace, development and stability
in Southeastern Europe.

The people of Kosova have the right to live free of Serbia and, in light of
their history, independence is an outcome long overdue. Beginning in 1912
with Serbia's illegal occupation of Kosova, through 1999, Belgrade has
repeatedly violated Kosova's right to self-determination and has engaged in
a systematic campaign of violence, economic disenfranchisement, coercion and
ethnic cleansing against Albanians. "[A]t a time when Germany can expel tens
of thousands of Jews.the expulsion of a few hundred thousand Albanians [out
of Kosova] will not lead to the outbreak of a world war" wrote a prominent
Serb academic in 1936 in his platform on how to "cleanse" Kosova from
Albanians.  Many Serb leaders worked to make this policy a reality -
Milo?evi? was simply the latest among them. The savagery of the 1999 Serbian
aggression resulted in the killing of over 10,000 Albanians, the rape of
countless women, the expulsion of nearly 1,000,000 Albanians or over half of
the local population, the disappearance of thousands, many of whom are also
feared dead, and the destruction of nearly 150,000 homes and businesses.
Only the armed struggle of the Kosova Liberation Army and the NATO
intervention put an end to Serbia's violent occupation.

It is unrealistic to believe that the Albanian people could be forced to
live again under any form of union with a state that carried out such
aggression and that has yet to express remorse, make reparations, or even
accept responsibility for its actions. In Serbia's recent elections,
Milo?evi?'s prodigies led by an indicted war criminal took the largest
number of the votes of any Serbian party. Even the self-styled democratic
leadership of Tadi? and Kostunica, has never admitted the atrocities
perpetrated by the Serbian army and paramilitaries against the Albanians of
Kosova and to this day, nearly a decade later, it has failed to send the
most important war criminals to the Hague Tribunal. Instead, Belgrade has
tried to create a false moral equivalence between the perpetrators of the
Serbian state-sponsored aggression and the individual Kosovars who have been
responsible for isolated acts of violence and reprisal.

Kosova is currently fully engaged in modernizing and democratizing its
nascent institutions. It is a de facto state in full cooperation with the
international community and its representatives are committed to developing
a western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of ethnicity,
are guaranteed full human and civil rights.  In fact, Kosova's parliament
currently practices affirmative action and provides far more than
proportional representation to the ethnic Serb minority as a gesture of the
Albanians' commitment to a lasting and peaceful coexistence. What Kosova now
needs, in order to stimulate its economy, provide educational opportunities,
further embrace the rule of law, attract foreign capital and otherwise
generally advance the wishes of its citizenry, is the formal recognition of
its statehood by the international community.  This would ensure a
long-lasting peace in Southeastern Europe, a region where Albanians live in
large percentages in six neighboring countries (Albania, Kosova, Macedonia,
Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece) and are an important stability factor.

The people of Kosova have already unequivocally expressed that independence
is their resolute choice - through their elected bodies as well as through a
landslide referendum. During the last eight years as a United Nations
protectorate, they have been extraordinarily patient with the legal and
political process established to define the status of Kosova. While the
people of Kosova remain deeply thankful for the assistance provided by the
United States and the rest of the international community, perpetual
international supervision and the Bosnianization of Kosova will only invite
instability. It is time to accept the will of the people of Kosova to live
free and sovereign.  Lets ensure that this last round of status discussions
in the international community yields an Independent State of Kosova.


### 3 ###

CONGRESSMAN TRENT FRANKS COMPLETELY WRONG ON KOSOVA!!!

(Note: Analysys by the Albanian Coalition for the Independence of Kosova,
c/o 2021 L Street, N.W., Suite 402, Washington, DC, 20036)

If he is this wrong on one of the top 5 US Foreign Policy Issues of 2007,
How can Americans trust his intelligence and judgment on anything else?!

Washington, D.C., February 1, 2007: Representative Franks shared some
flagrant points of view on the situation in Kosova this month with The
American Legion Magazine which were neither truthful nor constructive, given
that we are in the final stages of accomplishing Kosova's final status which
must be Independence.  Please note the Congressman's insulting remarks below
with informed reaction.

Rep. Franks: "The Serbian situation is an example of the struggle between an
ideology that affirms the sanctity of life and the tolerance of all
religions, and an ideology that uses violence to force a majority on
unwilling individuals. This is not unlike Israel's struggle against those
who seek religious fulfillment by massacring Jews."

The Facts: Not so. On freedom of religion, which seems to be of great
concern to Rep. Franks, compare Serbia with Kosova.

"Immediately prior to Easter 2006 - writes the International Crisis Group in
its Policy Briefing no 44, 8 November 2006, p. 15 - Kostunica [Serbia PM]
rushed through the Parliament the "Law on Churches," which essentially
enshrines the Serbian Orthodox Church as a state Church, and could cause the
closure of a number of denominations that were legally registered under
communist rule in Yugoslavia and are viewed as mainstream in the West. Its
restrictive nature provoked a joint protest from the OSCE and the Council of
Europe, as well as from the US Helsinki Commission. Donation slips for the
Church are now sometimes included in home utility bills."

On the contrary, the new "Law on Religion" that was signed into law in
Kosova last September recognizes all religious faiths, including the
relative newcomers of the Protestant communities.  Different faiths have
always coexisted in Kosova, where the majority identifies as Muslim, but
Catholics and Orthodox have been traditionally present as well.

Serb nationalist rhetoric has always tried to identify Serbian suffering to
the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust and depict Albanians as
Nazis. This is a manipulation of history that has no ground in reality.

This month in New York, the Anti-Defamation League and the Braun Holocaust
Institute awarded the Courage to Care Award to Mefail and Njazi Bi?aku, who,
during WWII, saved a total of six Jewish families, or 26 people. These
father and son had already been recognized by the State of Israel and Yad
Vashem. But they were not the only ones.

Albanians have helped and rescued not only Albanian Jews, but also foreign
Jews. They were bound to do so by their cultural tradition of hospitality
but also their religious tolerance. As a result, 100 per cent of Jews in the
Albanian state were saved. It is estimated that 60 per cent of the Jews from
Kosova were also saved by predominantly Albanians.

Compare that figure to the rate of survival for Jews in Yugoslavia,
excluding Kosova:  a mere 18-28 per cent.  (See Indiana University historian
Bernd Fischer, in Di Lellio A. (ed.) The Case for Kosova, London: Anthem
press, 2006, p. 75).  The "new" Serbia of "pro-western" Kostunica has
introduced new history books for third and fourth year students in which
"the Holocaust was missing from the section on the Second World War." (ICG,
Briefing  No. 44, p. 15)

Rep. Franks: "Much like Hezbollah, those who lay claim to Kosovo and
neighboring lands have made clear their intent to create a religiously and
ethnically pure Muslim Albanian state."

The Facts: Kosovars are intent in obtaining independence for Kosova, and
have not claimed any neighboring land.

They have never had any intention of creating a Muslim state; religion for
them is a matter of cultural and moral values and not politics.  There is
absolutely no Islamic party or organization like Hezbollah, and no religious
influence on politics whatsoever.

Rep. Franks: "For Christian Serbs in Kosovo, an independent Kosovo would
crush their hope of achieving equality under the law. Since the birth of the
Serbian democracy, hundreds of thousands of Christian Serbs and members of
other ethnic minorities have been 'cleansed' from Kosovo."

The Facts: As a premise, we suggest that Rep. Franks, who constantly uses
religious labels to identify people in Kosova, stop doing it.  He would
never refer to Christian, Jewish or Muslim Americans and he should do the
same when talking about Kosovars.

Regarding his first statement, Serbs in Kosova are undoubtedly equal under
the law, but in addition they also enjoy the rights that minorities enjoy in
very liberal democracies. There is an affirmative action program for
minorities that is in place across the entire public service sector. Serbs,
like other minorities, are well represented in the Assembly, where they have
seats set aside: 10 seats for Serbs, 10 for other minorities, out of a total
of 120 seats. Two ministries in the government of Kosova are reserved to
Serbs.

On the second issue raised by Rep. Franks: when does he date the birth of
democracy in Serbia? Serbia was a kingdom, later became a socialist republic
in Tito's Yugoslavia, and an autocracy under Milo?evi?. Only in 2001 Serbia
stumbled into a weak democracy where human rights and the rule of law are
constantly challenged.

Since 1912, Serbia has ruled over Kosova. There were never hundreds of
thousands of Serbs and other minorities that were ethnically cleansed from
Kosova. The reverse has been true, as hundreds of thousands of Albanians
have been the target of systematic discrimination, killing and expulsion
since the illegal and violent annexation of Kosova to Serbia in 1912. As
Yale historian Ivo Banac writes in his The National Question in Yugoslavia
(Cornell University Press, 1984, p. 292 ), "the Serbs were so dazzled  with
the bright glow of recovered lands [the Ottoman Empire had replaced their
medieval rule over Kosovo more than 500 years earlier] that they almost
failed to notice that there were hardly any Serb left in 'Old Serbia'." They
spent the following 80 years trying to push the Albanians out and replacing
them with Serb settlers.

In 1999, the savagery of the Serbian military and paramilitary aggression
resulted in the killing of over 10,000 Albanians, the rape of countless
women, the expulsion of nearly 1,000,000 Albanians or over half of the local
population, the disappearance of thousands, many of whom are also feared
dead, and the destruction of nearly 150,000 homes and businesses.

After the NATO war of 1999, thousands of Serbs and Roma fled Kosova.
Although the wide majority of the Serbs left together with the retreating
Serbian army and many left subsequently because they felt threatened by a
general climate of intimidation and violence, the Serbs were never the
target of mass expulsion by any organized state campaign. To call their
deplorable experience - that the government of Kosova is trying to redress
by investing in the reconstruction of Serb religious sites, infrastructures
and homes - "ethnic cleansing," is flatly wrong.

Rep. Franks: "More than 150 churches and monasteries have been destroyed in
the name of Islam."

The Facts: Churches and monasteries have been destroyed after the war, but
never in the name of Islam. Their destruction has nothing to do with
Muslim-Christian antagonism, but with the erosion of civil order brought
about by a war that between 1998 and 1999, as part of the Serbian state's
campaign of ethnic cleansing and mass killing, bombed and burned 200 mosques
along with Sufi lodges and Islamic schools, precious archives and libraries.
(See Andrew Herscher and Andras Riedlemayer, The Destruction of Cultural
Heritage in Kosovo, 1998-1999: A Post-War Survey, Cambridge: Kosovo Cultural
Heritage Survey, 2001.)

The reality is that at different times of the history of Kosova, when people
did not feel their security threatened, different faiths and sites have
peacefully coexisted.  Contrary to a tendentious propaganda, there are signs
that this is happening today as well, as the Kosovo Protestants communities
have testified in a letter of protest against Evangelist Pat Robertson  were
they state: "Today in predominantly Muslim Kosovo, evangelicals have more
legal rights than in predominantly Orthodox Christian Serbia....The Kosovo
law provides one of the strongest guarantees of religious liberty in all
Europe, recognizing the Protestant community by name."  (see
www.pcpf.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=379
<http://www.pcpf.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=379_> ).

Last May, all the faiths of Kosova met at the Orthodox Patriarchate in Peja,
and the proceeding of such ecumenical event are recorded in the Church's
website  (see http://www.kosovo.net/news/archive/2006/May_06/1.html
<http://www.kosovo.net/news/archive/2006/May_06/1.html_> ).

Rep. Franks: "If the international community condones the secession of
Kosovo, the message to the world will resound: rebellion and violence beget
positive solutions."

The Facts: Let's turn this statement around. If Serbia's claims over Kosova
are given any credence, Serbia's murderous policies in Kosova will be
forgiven and Serbia's lack of remorse will be rewarded. In fact, Serbia's
human rights violation and systematic ethnic cleansing will be rewarded and
the right to rebel against an oppressive state will be denied. This would be
certainly contrary to the American belief in freedom and democracy.

Rep. Franks: "The solution is to cultivate and support freedom, tolerance
and self-governance in Serbia.  If this happens in a united Serbia that
includes Kosovo, it will be a profound victory for the side of freedom and
tolerance in this war of ideas."

The Facts: For all the above mentioned reasons, a Serbia that includes
Kosova cannot be considered a solution and will not be the solution ever
again.

Representative Franks should focus his efforts on supporting American
interests in the Balkans rather than backing the family of the "Butcher of
the Balkans" and their political supporters in Serbia.  An Independent
Kosova is good for America!
The Case for Kosova's Independence

As Americans, we believe firmly in the right to self-determination.
Premised on this view, the people of Kosova have the right to live free of
Serbia and, in light of their history, Independence is an outcome long
overdue. Beginning in 1912 with Serbia's illegal occupation of Kosova,
through 1999, Belgrade has repeatedly violated Kosova's right to
self-determination and has engaged in a systematic campaign of violence,
economic disenfranchisement, coercion and ethnic cleansing against
Albanians. "[A]t a time when Germany can expel tens of thousands of Jews.the
expulsion of a few hundred thousand Albanians [out of Kosova] will not lead
to the outbreak of a world war" wrote a prominent Serb academic in 1936 in
his platform on how to "cleanse" Kosova from Albanians.  Many Serb leaders
worked to make this policy a reality - Milo?evi? was simply the latest among
them. The savagery of the 1999 Serbian aggression resulted in the killing of
over 10,000 Albanians, the rape of countless women, the expulsion of nearly
1,000,000 Albanians or over half of the local population, the disappearance
of thousands, many of whom are also feared dead, and the destruction of
nearly 150,000 homes and businesses.  Only the armed struggle of the Kosova
Liberation Army and the NATO intervention put an end to Serbia's violent
occupation.

It is unrealistic to believe that the Albanian people could be forced to
live again under any form of union with a state that carried out such
aggression and that has yet to express remorse, make reparations, or even
accept responsibility for its actions. In Serbia's recent elections,
Milo?evi?'s prodigies led by an indicted war criminal took the largest
number of the votes of any Serbian party. Even the self-styled democratic
leadership of Tadi? and Kostunica, has never admitted the atrocities
perpetrated by the Serbian army and paramilitaries against the Albanians of
Kosova and to this day, nearly a decade later, it has failed to send the
most important war criminals to the Hague Tribunal. Instead, Belgrade has
tried to create a false moral equivalence between the perpetrators of the
Serbian state-sponsored aggression and the individual Kosovars who have been
responsible for isolated acts of violence and reprisal.

Kosova is currently fully engaged in modernizing and democratizing its
nascent institutions. It is a de facto state in full cooperation with the
international community and its representatives are committed to developing
a western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of ethnicity,
are guaranteed full human and civil rights.  In fact, Kosova's parliament
currently practices affirmative action and provides far more than
proportional representation to the ethnic Serb minority as a gesture of the
Albanians' commitment to a lasting and peaceful coexistence. What Kosova now
needs, in order to stimulate its economy, provide educational opportunities,
further embrace the rule of law, attract foreign capital and otherwise
generally advance the wishes of its citizenry, is the formal recognition of
its statehood by the international community.  This would ensure a
long-lasting peace in Southeastern Europe, a region where Albanians live in
large percentages in six neighboring countries (Albania, Kosova, Macedonia,
Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece) and are an important stability factor.

The people of Kosova have already unequivocally expressed that independence
is their resolute choice - through their elected bodies as well as through a
landslide referendum. During the last eight years as a United Nations
protectorate, they have been extraordinarily patient with the legal and
political process established to define the status of Kosova. While the
people of Kosova remain deeply thankful for the assistance provided by the
United States and the rest of the international community, perpetual
international supervision and the Bosnianization of Kosova will only invite
instability. It is time to accept the will of the people of Kosova to live
free and sovereign.  Let's ensure that this last round of status discussions
in the international community yields an Independent State of Kosova.

Albanian Coalition for the Independence of Kosova
c/o 2021 L Street, N.W., Suite 402, Washington, DC  20036
-------------- next part --------------
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