From mentor at alb-net.com Mon Apr 2 02:53:02 2001 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Mentor Cana) Date: Mon Apr 2 02:53:02 2001 Subject: [Prishtina-E] Press-Releas: EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL CITIZENS OF FYR OF MACEDONIA: ALL CITIZENS EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW (fwd) Message-ID: PLEASE distribute as wider as possible! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- PRESS-RELEASE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL CITIZENS OF FYR OF MACEDONIA ALL CITIZENS EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW "NATIONAL FREEDOM" Humanitarian Foundation 456 River St., Paterson, NJ 07524 Tel: (973) 523-9203 April 02, 2001 The "National Freedom" Humanitarian Foundation, as well as the Albanian-American community and their societies throughout the US and Canada, are deeply concerned with the situation in FYR of Macedonia and the discriminatory treatment of the Albanian population by the Macedonian Government. The current situation seems to be a natural consequence to the unresponsive nature of the Macedonian Government towards the legitimate demands of the Albanian population for equal rights in all aspects of life. For many years, the Macedonian Government has systematically denied equal cultural, civil and human rights to its Albanian population, comprising at least 1/3 of Macedonia's total population. The discrimination stems from the Macedonian Constitution itself and spans across every aspect in the daily life of Macedonia Albanians, treating them as second-class citizens. The Albanian population, respects the territorial integrity of the Macedonian state, with the following demands for equal rights for all of its citizens: - Citizenship based Constitution, not an ethnic one: Changes in FYROM's Constitution to elevate Albanians and other ethnic groups to statehood forming citizens in peaceful coexistence. The current preamble of the Constitution privileges the Macedonian ethnicity above the others. - Equal Employment Opportunities for every citizen. Macedonia Albanians are being systematically discriminated when applying for jobs in the public as well as the private sector. As a result, Macedonians fill most jobs in the police, army and the public sector, despite the availability of adequately trained Albanian professionals. - Education in mother tongue at every level. As taxpayers and citizens of FYROM, Albanians are currently not entitled to state funded projects. Albanians shall be entitled to a state funded University whose language of instruction ought to be Albanian. - Institutionalization of the Albanian language. Reforming the state and local laws to allow for equal use of the Albanian language alongside the Macedonian in every institution. - Cultural and religious heritage: FYROM Government ought to nurture the cultural and religious heritage of all of its ethnic groups, not only the Macedonian one. We call on the international community to mediate immediate negotiations between the Macedonian Slav-led Government and the political representatives of the National Liberation Army (NLA), to address and peacefully resolve Macedonia Albanians' legitimate grievances and demands for equal rights. From imerprishtina at hotmail.com Sat Apr 7 23:54:01 2001 From: imerprishtina at hotmail.com (Imer Berisha) Date: Sat Apr 7 23:54:01 2001 Subject: [Prishtina-E] Re: [ALBANIAN] The trial of Milosovic Message-ID: Dear members of the list, Few issues have come to surface that are pertinent to the possible trial of the ?butcher of the Balkans? as some have referred to Milosevich. It is all to good to be politically correct but as I am not a politician, not a member of any political party and, do not aspire for any political position at all, I believe I can afford the luxury of saying the truth and probably risk being politically incorrect. 1. The place of trial. There is no doubt in my mind that he should be tried at The Hague. The crimes that Milosevic has been indicted for are crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Yugoslav authorities are simply buying time from the West claiming that this issue is not that important, they have other things to deal with. The truth is they do not want to initiate proceedings against him for crimes committed in Bosnia and Kosova at all, be it in Serbia or in any other place. Aware that they must do something they are organizing a ?mock? trial, pretending that he is being tried in Serbia. International law has priority over national law and there is no need for any other law to transfer Milosevic to The Hague as this is not an indictment from another country i.e. this is not an extradition case between two countries. The crimes that he has been accused of are universally recognized crimes and under the jurisdiction of the ICT. 2. No retroactivity of legal provisions ?Yes this is the rule, but as for any other rule, there are exceptions. Milosevich knew that he was committing crimes, and he did everything possible to hide them, among other things by incinerating bodies of executed Albanians, and spreading mass graves sites all over Kosova (more than 500). After all he is a lawyer, and he is not excused of not knowing the law. In relation to the retroactivity issue if this principle would have applied strictly the Nuremberg trial will not have happened. At the time when Justice Robert H. Jackson was papering for the Nuremberg trial many around him were skeptic, even within US government. It has succeeded and has become part of international law. Nuremberg trial showed the need for individuals to be tried. Their defense was: there ca be no punishment for crimes without a pre-existing law. Of course this was rejected b y the Court. 3. Syndrome of denial. Another very important phenomenon is the ?syndrome of denial? that is present among many Serbs, let alone government. What has happened in Kosova, atrocities and massacres committed are not acknowledged. Why? This the point where political ?correctness? collides with the truth. It was not only Hitler responsible for the killing of millions and million of Jewish and other people. Yes, he was at the top of the pyramid, but there were millions of Germans that supported him and were ready to die for his ?vision? of future Germany. Without a broad support he could not have started his killing machinery against humanity. After the war, because of ?political correctness? and in hope of changing the attitudes of German people, only a small group of persons was prosecuted. In return German people have acknowledged (the majority of them) that horrible crimes were committed by the Nazi Germany on their behalf. The difference between German people and Serbian people/and their governments/ is that Serbian people do not acknowledge what has happened, the pain inflicted to other human beings around Serbia, by their government with the participation of many of them. 4. What is at stake? The problem was never and is still not only Milosevic, and Europeans know that very well, but also they must be politically correct, because their people did not suffer from Serbian forces and they are politicians. The problem was and still is, Milosevic on the heads and minds of so many Serbs, today at the beginning of 21 century. It might not be politically correct but it is true that MILOSEVIC DID NOT LOOSE ELECTIONS FOR WHAT HE DID! MIOSVIC LOST ELECTIONS BECAUSE HE DID NOT FINISH WHAT HE STARTED! He ruled for 13 years because Serb people gave their votes to him, even after wars and atrocities that were being committed by Serbian Army, disguised as Yugoslav solders. So at this point the majority of Serbs voted in favor of atrocities and discrimination that went on in Kosova e.g. for ten years. Therefore Milosevic lost elections because Serb people, same individuals (majority) that voted for him, were furious because he could not accomplish his ?horseshoe? plan in Kosova to drive ethnic Albanians from the region and settle refugees from Croatia there. Serb voters were angry at him because he presented his defeat as a victory, and brought NATO inside Kosova and in the border with Serbia. Unfortunately Milosevic did not loose elections because Serb voters came to acknowledge that what was done in their name was wrong, it has to be condemned and admitted, and Serbian government should apologize to Albanian people and Boshnjak people, for atrocities committed against them by Serbia. Hence Milosevic trial is not a trial of an individual it is a trial of an entire policy and criminal and intolerant attitude of many Serbs that still have against neighboring people Albanians in particular. Serb people (again unfortunately the majority) cannot come to terms with the fact that Albanians inevitably will be equal with them and Serb rule over Kosova has been lost forever (no matter what the final status of Kosova will be). Milosevic trial is, and has to be a trial of ?Milosevichism? (unfortunately) in the heads and minds of many Serbs. It is not impossible for this negative attitude to change, but Kostunica is not the one that wants to make those changes, similar to Montenegrin government. Kostunica does not differ from Milosevic in his aims and ideas. He is a nationalist as Milosevic. 5. Kostunica The only difference between him and Milosevic is that he knows that Serbian military muscle cannot do anything to NATO forces and he is trying to give as less as possible in order to achieve as much as possible in relations with the West.I even think that he has promised Milosevic not to transfer him to The Hague. It is up to International community to ?help? Serb people to realize their dead end road and truly change. Therefore Milosevich?s trial at The Hague is of paramount importance, especially at the time that Albanians are buying their loved ones at the Kosova/Serbia border from Serbian prisons. This has being going for very long time, and is a shame. At the same time Kostunica gets green light for financial aid from US. (there are still more 400 Albanians prisoners in Serbia!) Unfortunately they have become only numbers in the notes of different governmental officials involved in Kosova for the only reason they speak Albanian and have no government of their own to care for them. Regards, Imer Berisha ________________________________________________________________ > >Tom, > >I agree with you that *how* he comes to trial isn't important, but *why* >is. If Serbia tries him simply for crimes against the state, then he >may go to prison, even be executed, but we, Albanians and friends alike, >will be the losers. Why? Because he *MUST* be put on trial for >Genocide; in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosova. And the Serbs *MUST, MUST* >come to realize what the Germans did after Nuremberg-that they, or at >least all of them that supported him, and went "rah-rah" over his >attempt to unleash the "final solutions" to the Bosnian and Albanian >"questions", are on trial there too, in a sense. A stake needs to be >driven straight through the heart of racist Serb nationalism, and it's >first stike will not happen until Milosevic is on trial before the War >Crimes Tribunal, and the Serbs will no longer be able to pull their >denial games any longer. > >All the Best, > >Chris > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. From imerprishtina at hotmail.com Sat Apr 7 23:56:01 2001 From: imerprishtina at hotmail.com (Imer Berisha) Date: Sat Apr 7 23:56:01 2001 Subject: [Prishtina-E] Re: [ALBANIAN] The trial of Milosovic Message-ID: Dear members of the list, Few issues have come to surface that are pertinent to the possible trial of the ?butcher of the Balkans? as some have referred to Milosevich. It is all to good to be politically correct but as I am not a politician, not a member of any political party and, do not aspire for any political position at all, I believe I can afford the luxury of saying the truth and probably risk being politically incorrect. 1. The place of trial. There is no doubt in my mind that he should be tried at The Hague. The crimes that Milosevic has been indicted for are crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Yugoslav authorities are simply buying time from the West claiming that this issue is not that important, they have other things to deal with. The truth is they do not want to initiate proceedings against him for crimes committed in Bosnia and Kosova at all, be it in Serbia or in any other place. Aware that they must do something they are organizing a ?mock? trial, pretending that he is being tried in Serbia. International law has priority over national law and there is no need for any other law to transfer Milosevic to The Hague as this is not an indictment from another country i.e. this is not an extradition case between two countries. The crimes that he has been accused of are universally recognized crimes and under the jurisdiction of the ICT. 2. No retroactivity of legal provisions ?Yes this is the rule, but as for any other rule, there are exceptions. Milosevich knew that he was committing crimes, and he did everything possible to hide them, among other things by incinerating bodies of executed Albanians, and spreading mass graves sites all over Kosova (more than 500). After all he is a lawyer, and he is not excused of not knowing the law. In relation to the retroactivity issue if this principle would have applied strictly the Nuremberg trial will not have happened. At the time when Justice Robert H. Jackson was papering for the Nuremberg trial many around him were skeptic, even within US government. It has succeeded and has become part of international law. Nuremberg trial showed the need for individuals to be tried. Their defense was: there ca be no punishment for crimes without a pre-existing law. Of course this was rejected b y the Court. 3. Syndrome of denial. Another very important phenomenon is the ?syndrome of denial? that is present among many Serbs, let alone government. What has happened in Kosova, atrocities and massacres committed are not acknowledged. Why? This the point where political ?correctness? collides with the truth. It was not only Hitler responsible for the killing of millions and million of Jewish and other people. Yes, he was at the top of the pyramid, but there were millions of Germans that supported him and were ready to die for his ?vision? of future Germany. Without a broad support he could not have started his killing machinery against humanity. After the war, because of ?political correctness? and in hope of changing the attitudes of German people, only a small group of persons was prosecuted. In return German people have acknowledged (the majority of them) that horrible crimes were committed by the Nazi Germany on their behalf. The difference between German people and Serbian people/and their governments/ is that Serbian people do not acknowledge what has happened, the pain inflicted to other human beings around Serbia, by their government with the participation of many of them. 4. What is at stake? The problem was never and is still not only Milosevic, and Europeans know that very well, but also they must be politically correct, because their people did not suffer from Serbian forces and they are politicians. The problem was and still is, Milosevic on the heads and minds of so many Serbs, today at the beginning of 21 century. It might not be politically correct but it is true that MILOSEVIC DID NOT LOOSE ELECTIONS FOR WHAT HE DID! MIOSVIC LOST ELECTIONS BECAUSE HE DID NOT FINISH WHAT HE STARTED! He ruled for 13 years because Serb people gave their votes to him, even after wars and atrocities that were being committed by Serbian Army, disguised as Yugoslav solders. So at this point the majority of Serbs voted in favor of atrocities and discrimination that went on in Kosova e.g. for ten years. Therefore Milosevic lost elections because Serb people, same individuals (majority) that voted for him, were furious because he could not accomplish his ?horseshoe? plan in Kosova to drive ethnic Albanians from the region and settle refugees from Croatia there. Serb voters were angry at him because he presented his defeat as a victory, and brought NATO inside Kosova and in the border with Serbia. Unfortunately Milosevic did not loose elections because Serb voters came to acknowledge that what was done in their name was wrong, it has to be condemned and admitted, and Serbian government should apologize to Albanian people and Boshnjak people, for atrocities committed against them by Serbia. Hence Milosevic trial is not a trial of an individual it is a trial of an entire policy and criminal and intolerant attitude of many Serbs that still have against neighboring people Albanians in particular. Serb people (again unfortunately the majority) cannot come to terms with the fact that Albanians inevitably will be equal with them and Serb rule over Kosova has been lost forever (no matter what the final status of Kosova will be). Milosevic trial is, and has to be a trial of ?Milosevichism? (unfortunately) in the heads and minds of many Serbs. It is not impossible for this negative attitude to change, but Kostunica is not the one that wants to make those changes, similar to Montenegrin government. Kostunica does not differ from Milosevic in his aims and ideas. He is a nationalist as Milosevic. 5. Kostunica The only difference between him and Milosevic is that he knows that Serbian military muscle cannot do anything to NATO forces and he is trying to give as less as possible in order to achieve as much as possible in relations with the West.I even think that he has promised Milosevic not to transfer him to The Hague. It is up to International community to ?help? Serb people to realize their dead end road and truly change. Therefore Milosevich?s trial at The Hague is of paramount importance, especially at the time that Albanians are buying their loved ones at the Kosova/Serbia border from Serbian prisons. This has being going for very long time, and is a shame. At the same time Kostunica gets green light for financial aid from US. (there are still more 400 Albanians prisoners in Serbia!) Unfortunately they have become only numbers in the notes of different governmental officials involved in Kosova for the only reason they speak Albanian and have no government of their own to care for them. Regards, Imer Berisha ________________________________________________________________ > >Tom, > >I agree with you that *how* he comes to trial isn't important, but *why* >is. If Serbia tries him simply for crimes against the state, then he >may go to prison, even be executed, but we, Albanians and friends alike, >will be the losers. Why? Because he *MUST* be put on trial for >Genocide; in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosova. And the Serbs *MUST, MUST* >come to realize what the Germans did after Nuremberg-that they, or at >least all of them that supported him, and went "rah-rah" over his >attempt to unleash the "final solutions" to the Bosnian and Albanian >"questions", are on trial there too, in a sense. A stake needs to be >driven straight through the heart of racist Serb nationalism, and it's >first stike will not happen until Milosevic is on trial before the War >Crimes Tribunal, and the Serbs will no longer be able to pull their >denial games any longer. > >All the Best, > >Chris > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. From etrit at alb-net.com Mon Apr 16 14:06:01 2001 From: etrit at alb-net.com (Etrit Bardhi) Date: Mon Apr 16 14:06:01 2001 Subject: [Prishtina-E] Re: request In-Reply-To: <005101c0c3f9$b13b4b20$0500a8c0@hcakmak> Message-ID: As far as I know, Austrian Airlines, Swissair and Adria have flights to Prishtina Airport. Etrit. On Fri, 13 Apr 2001, Hasim CAKMAK wrote: > Dear Sir/Madam, > > Could you please inform me which international airlines have regular flights to Pristina Airport at present. > > Thank you and best regards. > > Hasim CAKMAK > > From kosova at jps.net Thu Apr 26 18:39:02 2001 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Thu Apr 26 18:39:02 2001 Subject: [Prishtina-E] FW: Yugoslavia: Domestic War Crimes Trials No Substitute for The Hague Message-ID: -----Original Message----- From: Human Rights Watch [mailto:HRWpress at hrw.org] Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 3:45 PM To: hrwpress at hrw.org Subject: Yugoslavia: Domestic War Crimes Trials No Substitute for The Hague FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Yugoslavia: Domestic War Crimes Trials No Substitute for The Hague (New York, April 26, 2001)?Human Rights Watch today cautiously welcomed the Yugoslav Army's announcement this week that a reported 183 army members have been charged with committing crimes in Kosovo. However, Human Rights Watch called on the Yugoslav authorities to clarify the charges and the nature of the ongoing proceedings and emphasized that domestic trials of low-ranking officers and soldiers cannot substitute for a trial by international standards of justice. The paramount obligation of the Yugoslav government at this time is to transfer high-ranking state officials indicted by the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to custody in The Hague. ?While we would welcome fair and independent trials of these lower-ranking soldiers in Belgrade, the international community should not accept this as an alternative to the swift transfer of Slobodan Milosevic and other indictees to the custody of the ICTY,? said Holly Cartner executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. In a brief statement released on April 24, the Yugoslav Army?s General Staff stated that investigations had been initiated against 245 members for ?killings and putting in danger the life, dignity, morals and property of citizens? in the period between March 1998 and June 1999 in Kosovo. The army prosecutor brought the indictment against 183 persons. ?It is unclear from the Army?s statement how the courts in Serbia will gather testimony from Albanians living in Kosovo, who the key witnesses to the alleged crimes are, or whether the proceedings will be public,? added Cartner. ?Until the Army clarifies these questions, it is hard to know whether this is a genuine effort to provide justice or merely a public relations exercise.? Serbian police and the Yugoslav Army killed an estimated 2,000 ethnic Albanians between February 1998 and March 1999, during an armed conflict with the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Between March and June 1999, during the NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, at least 4,000 Albanians were killed. In addition, approximately 3,500 persons remain missing from the conflict, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Yugoslav forces forcibly expelled more than 850,000 ethnic Albanians from the province. Human Rights Watch research established that the Yugoslav Army had overall command during the war. The army controlled the main roads and borders, coordinating and facilitating the ?ethnic cleansing.? However, the police and Serbian paramilitaries were the forces most involved in the direct ?ethnic cleansing? and destruction of villages, with artillery support from the army. Noting that most crimes were committed by paramilitaries and police units, Human Rights Watch urged the Serbian authorities to investigate these forces and prosecute those believed to be responsible. ?The Army?s announcement is an indirect acknowledgment that crimes against Kosovo Albanians were numerous and serious,? Cartner said. ?Only open and fair trials will underscore the nature of crimes committed by Serbian and Yugoslav forces in Kosovo.? To date, a single case before Yugoslav courts has resulted in a conviction for crimes committed during the Kosovo conflict. On December 20, 2000, a military court in the city of Nis convicted a Yugoslav Army major and two reservists for killing an Albanian couple in March 1999. They were sentenced to four and a half years in prison. For more information, please contact: In New York, Bogdan Ivanisevic: +1-212-216-1282 In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +32-2-736-7838