Kosova Daily Report #1674, 99-01-26

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1674
Prishtina, 26 January 1999

CONTENTS

[01] LDK Says Hague Tribunal Cannot Be Replaced with Teams Chosen by Serb Regime

[02] The Five Killed Albanians in Rakovin&, Gjakova Area, Identified

[03] Albanian Killed, His Son Wounded, in De^an Village on Monday

[04] Body of Albanian Tortured to Death in Prishtina Hospital Morgue

[01] LDK Says Hague Tribunal Cannot Be Replaced with Teams Chosen by Serb Regime

"Justice cannot be done by making unprincipled concessions to the Serbian military, paramilitary and police forces", the LDK said in a statement issued today.

"The investigation of the war crimes by the Hague Tribunal is a legitimate demand made by the international institutions, and, as such, it should be implemented fully", the LDK said.

The Hague Tribunal for former Yugoslavia has not been allowed to carry on its job in Kosova, nor has any of those who masterminded the crimes in Kosova been brought to justice, the main political force in Kosova said.

Judge Arbour of the Tribunal was turned back from the Kosova border last week, and the bodies of the victims of the Re^ak massacre - 45 Albanian civilians - have not been examined by the Tribunal's investigators.

"The investigation of the Albanians massacred in Re^ak is being carried by a Finnish team, together with Serbs and others chosen [by the Serb regime]. Replacing the expertise of the Hague Tribunal for War Crimes with individuals and institutions preferred by the Serb regime is unacceptable", the LDK presidency concluded.

[02] The Five Killed Albanians in Rakovin&, Gjakova Area, Identified

PRISHTINA, Jan 26 (KIC) - The five Albanians - two men, a woman, and two children - killed by Serbian forces Sunday evening in Rakovin& village of Gjakova have been identified.

LDK sources in Gjakov& said Shaban Taf& Kelmendi (45) and his two sons, Haxhi (11) and Besim (12), as well as husband and wife Hysen Kurti (40) and Sanije Kurti (30) were killed in a tractor wagon.

They were on their way to C&rmjan village of Gjakova, and were hit while doing some fixing in the tractor, sources said.

The bodies of the killed Albanians were taken to the Gjakova morgue on Monday, and transferred by the Serb police to the Prishtina morgue on Tuesday.

There have been conflicting accounts as to the kind of weapons used in the bloody murder of the Albanian civilians. It is not still certain whether they were small or heavy arms.

The bodies found Monday appeared to have been shot several times at close range, the Associated Press said, adding that two victims, the husband and wife, were found slumped in the cab, whereas on the trailer piled with hay and grain lay the bodies of a father and his two sons, about 10 and 12 years old. "The faces of all three were disfigured".

The murder of five Albanians in Rakovin& was the worst atrocity in Kosova after the massacre of 45 Albanian civilians in Re^ak on 15 January.

The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), the main political force in Kosova, and the U^K (Kosova Liberation Army) denounced today the killing of Albanians in Rakovin&, referring to it as yet another Serb massacre.

[03] Albanian Killed, His Son Wounded, in De^an Village on Monday

Skender Mulliqi, who has not received life-threatening wounds, has been taken to the Peja hospital, the human rights organization said.

[04] Body of Albanian Tortured to Death in Prishtina Hospital Morgue

A group of Serbs in plain clothes Hysni and two of his relatives had been arrested in Magur& village of Lipjan on 8 January 1998 and taken to the police station in Lipjan.

The next day, on 9 January 1998, Hysni Murseli was tortured to death in the police station in Lipjan, the CDHRF said. It failed to say what the fate Murseli's relatives was.

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