Kosova Daily Report #1498, 98-07-22

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1498
Prishtina, 22 July 1998

CONTENTS

[01] 16 More Albanians Said to Have Been Slain by Serb Forces in Rahovec

[02] Startling Testimonies about Serb Carnage in Rahovec

[03] Names of Five More Killed in Loxh& Made Known Two Weeks After Serb Attack

[04] Serb Forces Open Machine Gune Fire on Reshtan Village

[05] Fresh Serb Military Troops Arrive in Kosova

[06] Serb Military Convoys Move Around Kosova

[07] Serb Police Convoy Heads for Village in Ferizaj, Police Builds up in Gjilan

[08] Life Made Miserable for Gjakova Residents inside Serb Siege

[09] Serbian Police Shells Village of Jezerc in Ferizaj

[10] Albanians Tortured on Obscure Charges of Being Associated with the U^K

[11] Albanian Detainee, Tortured in Serb Police Hands, Dies in Hospital

[01] 16 More Albanians Said to Have Been Slain by Serb Forces in Rahovec

The LDK and the Council for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHRF) chapters in Prizren obtained accounts by many Rahovec residents who had fled their homes.

Such accounts indicated 16 more Albanians are known to have been killed. (The KIC had two reports yesterday which put the kown death-toll by then at 34).

Eye-witnesses said 9 victims were first slain and then burned by Serb forces. Ramadan K&rndali (72), Qemail Rama (60), Faik Rama (52), Nesim Rama (30), Eqrem Rama (42), Sylka Rama, Fetije Mullaabazi (f), Mejreme Mullaabazi (f) and Baki Shehu were first executed, then covered with straw and burned.

Reports said at least six Albanians were found killed in Rahovec: Mazair Mullaabazi (30), Nahit Shehu (60), Hasan Kafexhiu (80), Qazim Sokoli, Nijazi Sokoli, and the 14-year-old daughter of Januz Shehu.

The daughter-in-law of Ramadan Abazibra is known to have been killed, too.

Amongst the many wounded, the following have mentioned by name: Ali Spahiu (65), G&zim Shehu (26), Bilbil Rama (19), Kimete Mejzini (f, 28), a pregnant woman, Rexhep Sylka (80) and Vehbi Shehu (65).

Eye-witnesses speak of a huge number of Rahovec residents having been kidnapped by Serb forces. Amongst the kidnapped is also Rexhep Morina and his entire family from the village of Bellacerk&.

Some 40-50 Albanians are being held in Serb police detention as 'suspects', eye-witnesses said, adding that the detainees have been subjected to brutal, inhumane treatment.

Meanwhile, heavy Serb military, police and paramilitary re- enforcement have been sent in Rahovec, locals sources said.

Private, Albanian-owned lorries, seized by Serbs, have been reported used to transport Serb paramilitaries into the area.

In the shutters of a lorryload of Serb paramilitaries, the four Cyrillic S's-sign was written with blood, just like the name 'Serbia'.

Eye-witnesses said many houses, economic and public community buildings have been destroyed or damaged by heavy Serb artillery and other shells.

Amongst the burned-out buildings are the wheat mill owned by Asllan Hoxha, a factory owned by Selman Osa, the "Isa Boletini" elementary school buildings, as well as the town bus station in Rahovec, accounts quoted by the LDK and CDHRF chapters in Prizren said.

More Detained Albanians Taken by Serb Forces from Rahovec to Prizren

PRISHTINA, July 22 (KIC) - At around midday today (Wednesday), a lorryload of Albanians detained in Rahovec was taken to Prizren, the LDK Information Commission said.

Local sources said last night Albanian families in Prizren gave shelter to Albanians from Rahovec who had been taken to Prizren jail and released.

[02] Startling Testimonies about Serb Carnage in Rahovec

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the LDK official told the KIC today that Serb forces advancing in the town first bombarded the town and killed indiscriminately its residents, then they executed and mutilated those who had failed to run away.

The LDK official said he could approach an edge of his town on Monday. Throughout the neighboring municipality of Malisheva he could see hundreds of his fellow residents in a bid to run to escape the terror and find a shelter for women and children.

He recalled that the fighting had started on Friday afternoon when the police opened fire in the streets and houses of the town. The U^K forces came to help the local population the same afternoon and the fighting in the streets lasted until after midnight, he said.

The fighting continued on Saturday morning at around 5 a.m. Heavy Serb forces were deployed in the area during the whole night.

Special police units were even brought there in helicopters, he said.

"On Sunday morning, most of the population was still in town. When the Serbs started pounding houses with mortars everyone wanted to get out. The police shot at people indiscriminately," he said, noting the town was bombarded for many hours from several bases.

The Rahovec LDK Presidency member said that by Saturday afternoon, at around 5, the Serbs started advancing towards the town. En route to it they leveled to the ground around 80 percent cent of the houses in the adjacent village of Bellac&rk&. Serb troops - army, police and paramilitaries - moved into the town in tanks, armored vehicles in late Saturday afternoon.

"Albanian resistance fighters could repel the Serb attacks until the army entered the town. The joint Serb forces were destroying everything in the town. Most of the population had not fled the town amidst continued shelling. The Serbs killed anyone they'd encounter in the streets...Then the Serbs entered the basements and other places people were hiding in, forcing them out and shooting them on their back. The Serbs doused houses in petrol and set them ablaze," witnesses said.

The LDK activist said he believed the casualty-toll in Rahovec is very high. The media have only reported about identified victims.

Other killed people still in the streets and houses in the town have not yet been identified. "There are children, old people and even pregnant women amongst the killed", he said.

He quoted witnesses as saying they had "seen people lynched on telephone poles, others tied to the back of cars moving on opposite directions until they were split in two. Mutilated people, with limbs slashed, eyes pulled out... some were forces to lay down on stacks of straw, then the police dousing them with petrol and burning them".

The LDK official said he believed that there are several thousand residents of Rahovec still in the town, living under constant fear of being massacred. Hundreds are feared dead, and many others wounded and ill, he said, adding that it is impossible to have them evacuated and treated. Those who were able to flee the town have found refuge in the neighboring municipality of Malisheva as well as in relative safety in other villages of Rahovec.

It is also believed the many Albanians have been arrested by Serb forces. Witnesses claim they had seen about 40 on board of a Serb military truck heading in the direction of Prizren. In another lorry of the "Progress" firm, 37 Albanians, men and women, were seen taken to the same destination. Another truckload of men and women was seen entering Prizren. Bodies of 12 men were taken to the town morgue in Prizren, the LDK official said.

He said furthered he had interviewed some of the Rahovec residents sheltered in Malisheva, who said they had no words to describe their experiences. One of them said that on Sunday night a group of 400 to 500 people who were hiding inside the town Tekke made an attempt to leave the town, but run into Serb forces once they walked out. The man said he believed he was the only one who could make it out of the town. "I saw a Serb police armored vehicle running to the crowd. I run away, so I do not know what happened to them, but I could hear painful cries and firearm", he told the senior official of the LDK chapter in Rahovec.

[03] Names of Five More Killed in Loxh& Made Known Two Weeks After Serb Attack

The LDK Information Commission in De^an reported yesterday that the following Albanians were killed that day, too: Ryve Morina (80), and her husband Jashar Haxhia, Cyme Zeka and her husband Zek& Shala (79), as well as a Slav Muslim woman in her mid-seventies.

LDK sources said Xhafer Sadik Baxhaj (32), resident of Loxh&, is considered as missing.

[04] Serb Forces Open Machine Gune Fire on Reshtan Village

Serbs fired from their police station in Suhareka as well as in Shiroka.

In the evening hours, from 21:00 through 22:00, Serbs opened machine gun fire against Reshtan for a second time. Later in the night, shooting was reported in the streets of the town of Suhareka.

[05] Fresh Serb Military Troops Arrive in Kosova

Around midday today a convoy of 10 lorryloads and 3 busloads of Serb soldiers drove from Serbia, along the Podujeva-Prishtina roadway, inside Kosovar territory.

An eye-witness told the KIC that at 12:30 the soldiers from the three buses of this convoy had gotten off and were taking a rest near the police station in Lluzhan, 18 km north of Prishtina.

The area was sealed off by armed Serb forces which stood guard at the time.

[06] Serb Military Convoys Move Around Kosova

A bit earlier in the day, the convoy was seen leaving Ka^anik, the south- eastern border town, for Ferizaj, local LDK sources said.

Meanwhile, reports from Vushtrri ('Vucitern') said a convoy of Serb military, consisting of two lorryloads, an PAC, a liaison car, and a police car, left the town at 9 o'clock in the morning for the village of Gojbul&, which is mainly inhabited by Serbs.

Heading the convoy was Vucina Janicievic, the Serb police chief department in Vushtrri, LDK sources said.

[07] Serb Police Convoy Heads for Village in Ferizaj, Police Builds up in Gjilan

A police buildup has been reported there.

Serb police arrested yesterday Shabi and Halit Reka, and their mother, while trying to leave their native village of Nerodime e Ep&rme, LDK sources in Ferizaj said. Their fate or whereabouts are unknown.

Meanwhile, a huge Serb police build-up has been reported in the past couple of days in the town of Gjilan, LDK sources there said, adding that they were by and large new arrivals from Serbia.

Two busloads of police, fully armed, settled in the police headquarters in Gjilan last night.

Police patrols have roaming the town streets today, local sources said.

The life of the population in Gjilan has been further complicated by the shortage of staples amidst the Serb commercial commodities blockade.

Flour, milk and cooking oil is in short supply in the town, sources said.

[08] Life Made Miserable for Gjakova Residents inside Serb Siege

The LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said the echo of huge explosions coming from Rahovec and border area villages could be heard in the town overnight and today morning.

The Commission said fighting in the areas bordering on Albania have been reportedly continuing. The fighting was of a lower intensity today, it said.

Stepped up movement of Serb forces were reported during the whole course of yesterday afternoon and evening and today morning around Gjakova and the Gjakova-Prizren-Rahovec roadway in particular.

Serb police patrols manning up to 30 men roamed Tuesday evening the streets in town. Police intruded into a few shops or pubs still operating in Gjakova. A Serb police vehicle playing Serb Chetnik songs from a loudspeaker drove for hours in the street of the town.

Groups of armed Serb civilians were seen walking around the part of the town with blocks of flats in which Serb live too in the 98 percent Albanian inhabited town.

There has been a sharp shortage of basic supplies, including bread, in the town, reports said.

[09] Serbian Police Shells Village of Jezerc in Ferizaj

Sporadic shelling continued later in the day, the Commission added.

[10] Albanians Tortured on Obscure Charges of Being Associated with the U^K

During the 30 hours of detention in Novi Pazar, the Albanians were denied food, Daci said.

The injuries the Albanians received are evident in their hematomas about the face and body, he said.

The four Albanians have hospitalized in Rozhaje, the Albanian activist in Montenegro told the KIC.

[11] Albanian Detainee, Tortured in Serb Police Hands, Dies in Hospital

The late Rexhep Bislimi, activist with the Ferizaj chapter of the Prishtina- based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF), was arrested by the Serb police on 6 July. He was later taken to the Prishtina hospital in a critical condition - with several broken ribs and hematomas all over his body - apparently as a result of brutal torture while in custody.

During the whole time in the intensive care ward of the Prishtina hospital the Serb police has been strictly guarding the room Rexhep Bislimi was being held in. He underwent a kidney surgery and was for days under a comma before passing away.

The funeral of Rexhep Bislimi is due for Wednesday afternoon in his native town of Freizaj.

Rexhep Bislimi, who served several years in Serb jails for his political beliefs, was father to three children.

A number of Albanians have died of torture while in Serb custody in Kosova over the past years.

Kosova Information Center

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