Kosova Daily Report #1391, 98-04-03

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From: Kosova Information Center <http://www.kosova.com/>

Kosova Information Center

KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1391

Prishtina, 3 April 1998

CONTENTS

[01] President Rugova's Press Conference

[02] Rugova's Advisor Abducted and Brutalized by Armed Civilians

[03] White House Welcomes UN Arms Embargo against Belgrade

[04] Kosova's Territory "Essentially Occupied by a Hostile Power", Albright Says

[05] LDK Activist Tortured Until Fainting in Serb Police Custody

[06] Vojvodina Hungarians Will Reject Serving Military Service in Kosova

[07] Urgent International Intervention Is Needed to Get Serb Special Units Withdraw, LDK Branch Leader Says

[08] LDK Chairman in Gllogovc Arrested

[09] Serbian Police Torture Albanian Stu4dent Severely, Use the Knife Against Him

[01] President Rugova's Press Conference

The resolution is "an important step, at the UN level, in pursuit of a resolution for the Kosova issue on the basis of the political will of the people, as well as the prevention of a conflict break- out in Kosova", President Ibrahim Rugova said during a press conference in Prishtina today (Friday).

Rugova welcomed the international efforts on Kosova, especially the "energetic engagement of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright". He echoed her remarks before the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington D.C. Thursday, referring to Kosova as a "territory essentially occupied by a hostile power".

The President took the opportunity to thank all diplomats who have visited Kosova this past week.

Speaking about the current situation in Kosova, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova said it continued to be extremely volatile. "Several Drenica villages are still sealed off in the wake of last month's massacre" by Serbian forces, he added.

Regarding the Advisory Council (known as G-15), President Rugova said it is just that - an advisory body - "and not a substitution for the Kosova institutions." (He probably echoed a row over G-15's mandate in the public opinion and media in Kosova, as well as political parties, which stood out against the G-15 becoming a negotiating team or a representative body of Kosova). The President asked for greater understanding for the work of the institutions and authorities of Kosova.

In reference to the Prishtina-Belgrade negotiations, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova said there should be a third party mediation in them. The Albanian side goes to the negotiating table with the will of the people of Kosova for an independent and neutral Kosova, which is the optimal solution, he underlined.

Small groups of "desperate people" may be encouraged and used by Serb secret services and forces to create excuses for massacres like the one in Drenica, President Rugova said, in reply to a question about the so-called "U^K", and how the arms embargo imposed by the UN will affect them.

Asked by reporters to comment on a Serbian referendum, asked for by 'FRY' President Milosevic, on whether there should be international mediation in the talks process on Kosova, President Ibrahim Rugova said this "initative is unserious" and is aimed at blocking a solution for Kosova on an international level. The announced referendum is yet another instance of Belgrade's defiance to the international community's efforts, he added.

The position of the international community is that there should be international assistance, "participation of outside representatives" in the negotiations, President Ibrahim Rugova said.

Asked by a reporter as to how prolongation of dialogue amidst these "Serbian machinations" will affect the situation at a time that Belgrade is massing arms here, the President said this kind of behavior on behalf of Belgrade is "wrong". The international community has by now come to discern Serb regime machinations, he concluded.

[02] Rugova's Advisor Abducted and Brutalized by Armed Civilians

Dr. Zejnullah Rrahmani, Literature Professor at the Faculty of Philology in Prishtina, was abducted at 16:30 hrs in the schoolyard of Nazim Gafurri elementary school in Prishtina (where he was to teach classes with his students), when three persons in civilian clothes forced him into his own car at gun-point. He was driven to the suburbs of Prishtina, and was tortured brutally.

Professor Rrahmani sustained grave body injuries.

[03] White House Welcomes UN Arms Embargo against Belgrade

"The broad support for this measure demonstrates the determination of the international community that the dispute in Kosovo should be resolved through dialogue, not force", said a statement issued by the White House press secretary.

The statement recalled that the UNSCR 1160, passed March 31, calls upon "FRY" authorities to meet the Contact Group demands, "including beginning a substantive dialogue on the status of Kosovo, withdrawing special police units and ceasing operations against the civilian population, and cooperating with international community activities in Kosova."

[04] Kosova's Territory "Essentially Occupied by a Hostile Power", Albright Says

Following are the remarks the Secretary of State made on Kosova (source USIS-Prishtina, Wireless File, 3 April 1998): "We want to prevent new outbreaks of violence in Kosovo. Many people, if they are aware of Kosovo at all, see it as the victim of an ancient Balkan feud, the roots of which are deep and about which the world can do little. But that conventional wisdom is not only unwise, but dangerous.

Prior to the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo was an autonomous province. But since the breakup, it has been treated by the Serb leaders in Belgrade more as a colony--its autonomy stolen, its people repressed and its territory essentially occupied by a hostile power.

Ninety percent of the population of Kosovo is ethnic Albanian. And as they have suffered, their resentment has grown. The majority are demanding no more than their basic rights--to education, public services and full citizenship.

But the longer those rights are diluted or denied, the greater the risk that Kosovars will see no alternative but to embrace the small but growing number of violent secessionists in their midst.

Today, Kosovo is caught up in a vicious cycle. First, there is Serb repression. Then, extremists wage hit and run attacks against Serb authorities. Then, Serb special police strike back with summary executions, house demolitions and helicopter gun ship attacks.

For the Balkans, this escalating violence is the road back to Hell.

Unless stopped, tensions will flow out of control. The result could be a full-fledged civil war, putting at risk the peace in Bosnia and spreading conflict like an infectious disease to neighboring states.

The solution resides in political dialogue and respect for international norms. Backed by an arms embargo approved by the UN Security Council, the United States and other leading nations are insisting that the authorities in Belgrade respect the rights of the people of Kosovo.

Under the Council Resolution, the government must withdraw special police units from Kosovo, allow access for international humanitarian organizations and begin substantive discussions with the leaders of the Kosovar Albanian community. For their part, the Kosovars must remain willing to enter such a dialogue in good faith, while maintaining their opposition to the use of violence.

If the people of Kosovo--whether of Serb or Albanian extraction--are ever to know security and prosperity, it is essential now that cooler heads prevail.

Neighbors must begin to live as neighbors. Governmental abuses must cease. The autonomy of Kosovo must be restored---and enhanced. The parties should acknowledge and accept outside help in resolving their differences. And the world community must meet its responsibility to insist that international standards are observed."

[05] LDK Activist Tortured Until Fainting in Serb Police Custody

LDK sources in Shtime said Fatmir Zymberi was ordered to report yesterday morning to the police station in the town, where he was interrogated and ill-treated for four hours. He was reportedly questioned about the 22 March elections in Kosova and the peaceful rallies staged in Shtime during March to protest the Serb regime violence in Drenica.

Fatmir Zymberi was beaten unconscious while in custody, and had to seek medical treatment.

[06] Vojvodina Hungarians Will Reject Serving Military Service in Kosova

The Belgrade daily Dnevni Telegraf has quoted the Mayor of Subotica, Mr. Joseph Kasa (sp), as saying that he will "try to persuade the federal [FRY] defense minister to make it possible for Vojvodina boys to serve army in Vojvodina only".

The newspaper quoted Mr. Kasa as telling parents of soldiers serving in the army in Kosova that in case of a conflict breakout in Kosova he would himself go with the parents to Kosova to ensure that their sons are safe there.

Leaders of a couple of political parties in Vojvodina have claimed they would prevent mobilization of men in Vojvodina if they were to be sent to Kosova. Media said in February that the Serb regime was mobilizing army reservists in Vojvodina with the intention of sending them to Kosova.

Milorad Isakov, chairman of Serb Reformist Party said then that mobilization summons were being delivered to army reservists in Vojvodina. "Young men are escaping and hiding again in order to avoid mobilization" he said.

The leader of the Social-Democratic League of Vojvodina, Nenad Canak, told Belgrade-based Blic newspaper in end-February that his League would do all it can to prevent such mobilization. In addition, his League would "establish centers for sheltering deserters, similar to those during 1991, 92 and 93", while war was still going in Croatia and Bosnia, Canak said.

[07] Urgent International Intervention Is Needed to Get Serb Special Units Withdraw, LDK Branch Leader Says

Mr. Rrecaj said Serbian forces have continued digging in and setting up new emplacements. They have set up check-points and bunkers in Klina e Ep&rme, Runik, T&rnafc, in the suburbs of Skenderaj, in Llausha, at Kopiliq i Ul&t, Broja and at Marina villages, he said.

The LDK branch leader said permanent emplacements with heavy artillery have been set up in Marina, Broja, Kopiliq i Ep&rm. In the hills between Skenderaj and Llausha the Serb forces have deployed heavy artillery, including multi-barrelled cannons, he added.

Mr. Rrecaj said life has been brought to a standstill and the free movement has been limited drastically.

Serb forces engage in sporadic shooting on a daily basis in the area which has been kept under siege. They use snipers and heavy guns. A number of people have been wounded in the Broja village in the meantime, he said.

The Serbian police beats up and threatens Prekaz and Llausha residents wherever they meet them, and in particular those who commute by bus from Skenderaj to Mitrovica. Drenica residents have been reported ill-treated in other Serbian police check-points throughout Kosova.

The Skenderaj LDK branch chief said the Serb forces have not moved out from the area, although this is required by the international community and the Contact Group.

He said the Serbian forces have turned the Ammunition Factory in Skenderaj into a military garrison, where they have deployed heavy forces and armaments. The factory compounds full of men in uniforms, military and police.

The Serb forces have denied any access to the Jashari family compounds at Prekaz i Ul&t village, he said. It has been impossible to obtain any information about the fate of Sadik Jashari's family.

At least 19 persons, members of Jashari families, have been held missing, he added.

Mr. Idriz Recaj, who got out of the region for the first time after the Serbian onslaught on several Albanian villages in Drenica at the beginning of March, said the social situation in Skenderaj was extremely difficult. Food and medical supplies have been reaching the town of Skenderaj, but transportation to remote villages has been extremely difficult.

The most endangered people in the sealed off are pregnant women.

They cannot be taken to hospitals< nor receive adequate medical treatment, Mr. Rrecaj said.

The Serb forces have been keeping under siege T&rnafc, Klina e Ep&rme, Sk&nderaj, Morin&, Rezall&, Mak&rmal, Llaush&, Turiqefc, Kopiliq i Ul&t, Buroj& and Vojnik villages. The villages are sporadically targeted from distance. All this is aimed at ethnically cleansing the area, the LDK branch chairman said.

He warned that there is realistic ground to say that Serb forces may resume attacks in the area.

Mr. Idriz Recaj said the only way to force Serb forces withdraw and save the Albanian population is for the international community to urgently intervene.

[08] LDK Chairman in Gllogovc Arrested

Sources in Gllogovc said Mr. Krasniqi is still in detention.

[09] Serbian Police Torture Albanian Stu4dent Severely, Use the Knife Against Him

Driton Brahimi, student with the technical secondary school in Gllogovc, was held in the street and taken to the Serbian police emplacement in Komaran. He was beaten severely while in the hands of Serbian police who used a knife to carve a cross with 4 S's (a Serbian symbol) on his leg above the knee.

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