Kosova Daily Report #1500, 98-07-24

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1500
Prishtina, 24 July 1998

CONTENTS

[01] EDITORIAL - Kosova, a Second Bosnia: Self-fulfilling Prophesy

[02] The Kosova Calamity as a Self-fulfilling Prophesy

[03] The Hoax of World 'Impartiality', the Lack of a 'Unified Voice' amongst Kosovars

[04] What Could Trigger Western Military Response to Serbian Aggression in Kosova?

[05] President Rugova's Press Conference

[06] President Rugova Receives ICRC Representatives

[07] Gunfire of Lower Intensity in Border Villages

[08] Firefighting Resumes in De^an Area

[09] Food Supplies Run Rapidly Short in De^an Villages

[10] Jezerc Village Shelled, at Continued Serb Gunpoint Since Morning Today

[11] Two Unidentified Men Killed on the Street in Peja

[12] For Verbal Dispute, Albanian Lawyer Sentenced Summarily to 60 Days in Prison

[13] Only 8 Albanians Live in Village of 140 Households

[14] Police Seizes 25 Tons of Sugar in Podujeva

[15] Distribution of Arms to Serb Civilians in Prishtina Continues

[01] EDITORIAL - Kosova, a Second Bosnia: Self-fulfilling Prophesy

PRISHTINA, July 24 (KIC) - In the Kosova Daily Report #1000, on 30 October 1996, I ran an editorial entitled "The Kosova Daily Report: Speaking to a Right Audience".

Here are a few excerpts from that editorial: "The struggle of the people of Kosova to conquer their piece of freedom in the volatile Balkans is the thing that matters to us.

The right audience is, of course, the audience that can do something about it."

"The Serbian regime propaganda has created a worthy tradition in placing the blame upon the victims of its villainy: the Albanians of Kosova, who have routinely been branded 'terrorists' merely because of refusing to accept Serbian rule.

Serbian military and police troops have shot peaceful Albanians in broad light, while crying foul on the alleged existence of 'Albanian terrorism'. The danger is that if people are persistently treated like terrorists, they may come to act like ones."

"The Serbian aggression in Bosnia had been dealt with a severe blow in late August 1995, when Nato bombed Serb positions. That was when Serb aggression started to be rolled back. Words and deeds matched then.

Hesitation in the Bosnian case proved fatal. Hesitation and delay in addressing the Kosova issue can prove disastrous."

This is what I said then, and I am quoting it not to boast that I have been proven right, but to remind again those who can still do something about it.

[02] The Kosova Calamity as a Self-fulfilling Prophesy

Kosova will explode; it will be worse than Bosnia. We will not allow a repeat of Bosnia. Kosova is not Bosnia. 250.000 people died there before we stepped in. Less than 500 have died in Kosova, and, last but not least, it is not an independent country. Bosnia was an independent country... Kosovar This is familiar language in the mouths of Western dignitaries and diplomats.

Meanwhile, a self-fulfilling prophesy gathers momentum.

Only 500 have died in Kosova up until now since the beginning of the armed conflict in Kosova began after the Serb military-police crackdown in early March. You have to have 500 times more Albanians slain, and many more than 150.000 Albanians turned into refugees and displaced to have the Bosnia calamity cloned in the Kosova laboratory, the irony goes.

*** As the world stood in silence, Serbia marched in Sarajevo.

The world has been standing idly by while the fate of Sarajevo befell De^an and Rahovec in Kosova. The two towns, with 20.000 inhabitants each in peacetime, are awful, deserted, ghost cities.

Around 500 civilian Albanians - men, women and children - have been slain by Serb military, paramilitary and police forces in winter and early spring. The sado-pacifist European tendency which delighted in Serb brutalities in Bosnia has been resuscitated while Serbs line up Albanians, shoot them in cold blood, in their homes towns and villages in Skenderaj, Gllogovc, Klina, De^an, Gjakova, Rahovec... Some of the killed will never be given a decent burial.

Their bodies have been burned, or even dumped into unknown collective burial sites.

The two million Albanian people of Kosova struggle for their freedom and independence, try to invest their lives with a meaning, in the face of Serbian aggression and genocide.

Fighting and dying is one of the few options Kosovars have been left with to invest their lives with a meaning.

For, as the Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU) said yesterday (Thursday), chances for a peaceful settlement in Kosova are minimal because of the international community's failure to intervene at the start of the conflict.

"The international community has lost its capacity to take initiative in the quest for a peaceful solution to the problem of Kosovo. The situation is deteriorating so fast that the chances of a peaceful settlement have by now become minute,'' it said in a statement.

[03] The Hoax of World 'Impartiality', the Lack of a 'Unified Voice' amongst Kosovars

In so doing, Malcolm noted (see "Impartiality and Ignorance: The Doctrine of Equivalence, in War Report, Number 37, October 1995, pp. 30-33) "they have helped to persuade the rest of the world that neither side has any greater validity for its actions than the other", a doctrine of moral equivalence, with fateful consequences for the nature of Western policy, which has the effect of favoring the Serbs.

"Attacker and defender were reduced to the same status", the British historian said. The doctrine of equivalence is the original sin of diplomacy - the assumption that all parties to a conflict must be treated equally.

The application of the arms embargo on Bosnia was "a classic illustration of the shortcomings of any doctrine of equivalence", Mr. Malcolm said, noting that UN diplomats liked using the phrase "even-handed" to describe that embargo, which was indeed applied to Serbia as well. "But since Serbia, and its proxy forces in Bosnia, had the stockpiles of the fourth largest army in Europe, while the Bosnian government, on the first day of the war, had no army at all, the effects of this even-handedness were far from equivalent", the British scholar and analyst concluded.

It has been this analyst who has chastised the West for ruling out independence for Kosova as a solution. By doing so, the West is doing harm to the Kosovars and indeed to the efforts to secure a resolution to the crisis, he maintains.

"We are impartial here", a member of the Kosova Observer Mission told the author of this editorial a week ago in Prishtina, re- enforcing the hoax of impartiality.

They said in case Serbian moved militarily into Kosova, there would be a military response. The 'Yugoslav' military has embarked on it.

There has been an international observer response.

And, impartiality has been the stock reservoir of diplomatic skill to exonerate inaction over Kosova.

There is no political coherence amongst the Kosova Albanian leaders; they are not speaking with a unified voice - this is the most recent hoax the West has resorted to in a bid to divert attention from its actual lack of will and resolve to act on Kosova.

President Ibrahim Rugova, the newly-appointed Speaker of the Parliament of Kosova Idriz Ajeti, the staunch Rugova opponents Dema^i and Qosja, but also the Kosovar Albanian resistance forces, have all been voicing independence. There is difference in their tones, but the voice is one, and united: independence for Kosova.

[04] What Could Trigger Western Military Response to Serbian Aggression in Kosova?

The Bush administration's 1992 "Christmas warning" to Slobodan Milosevic, reconfirmed by the Clinton administration, said U.S. would respond militarily if Serbia mounted a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosova.

The warning was credited then as a deterrent.

"We're prepared to act alone if necessary,", Under Secretary of Defense Slocombe said in a testimony in the House International Relations Committee yesterday. "There's no question we maintain that we have the right to act unilaterally", Slocombe said, in response to a question put forward by Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, the committee's ranking Democrat.

Bush and Clinton said U.S. would act unilaterally in case of Serb military movement into Kosova.

Clinton's special representative acknowledges that Belgrade initiated confrontation in Kosova. His senior defense officials reaffirms that the U.S. is prepared to act alone if necessary.

It is unclear now what it takes to have the Nato, or indeed the U.S., act militarily to end the Serbian-initiated war in Kosova.

[05] President Rugova's Press Conference

Serbian military and police killed and massacred civilians in the town of Rahovec last week, Rugova said. "This is ruthless ethnic cleansing", he said, adding that the Serb police has not allowed the burial of the killed or access to the area of domestic and international humanitarian organizations.

Thousands of Albanians have fled their homes in Rahovec, whereas thousands of others have been holed up in their home town, the President of the Republic said.

Speaking about the Serb-state terror in Kosova, Rugova said Serb military and police "savage attacks" continued in other parts of Kosova, with the shelling of villages and killing of people as the pattern. The daily-based police repression all over Kosova continues unabated, he added.

Against this background, the President of the Republic demanded "international protection" for Kosova and its people, and resolute action to prevent the spreading of conflict in the region.

The best solution is an independent Kosova, with all guarantees for local Serbs, and an interim stage international protectorate pending a lasting settlement, Rugova said.

Besides groups identified as the U^K (Kosova Liberation Army), there is the population which has stood in defense of its homes, President Rugova said, in reply to a question regarding his position on the U^K.

Asked by the Albanian ATA new agency reporter to comment on the fact that Bosnia is being repeated in Kosova, despite the fact the international community has been saying a second Bosnia would not be allowed, Ibrahim Rugova said the United States of America and the European Union have been taking diplomatic and military steps to prevent Bosnia befalling Kosova. The U.S. President and West European statesmen have vowed to prevent this, he concluded.

[06] President Rugova Receives ICRC Representatives

The ICRC representatives briefed Rugova on their efforts to help the suffering civilian population amidst the dramatic developments in Kosova.

President Rugova said Serb police and military forces have been killing civilians and attacking Albanian settlements, towns and villages, in Kosova.

This is ethnic cleansing in action, Rugova said, referring to what Rahovec and its population experienced in the hands of Serb military and police.

The Kosova President urged the ICRC and other NGOs to do all in their power to assist the tens of thousands of displaced people all over Kosova.

[07] Gunfire of Lower Intensity in Border Villages

There has been a let-up in the intensity of Serb gunfire, but a stepped up movement of Serb military and police has been reported in the municipality of Gjakova.

A Serb police intimidation campaign in town is reported on a daily basis.

Basic staples, such as bread, sugar, cooking oil, but also medicines, are in desperate short supply in Gjakova, which has had its population immensely swelled by displaced Albanians from Gjakova, De^an and other areas of Kosova.

[08] Firefighting Resumes in De^an Area

Osman Cacaj, head of the Information Commission of the LDK chapter in De^an, said skirmishes were fought around the villages of Strellc i Ep&rm, Carrabreg i Posht&m, Prejlep, Shaptej and Grama^el.

Since the brake-out of fighting in this area at least 1.500 grenades landed in the village of Grama^el alone, local sources said.

Most of the houses in the village have been levelled to the ground, whereas the local clinic was destroyed completely in yesterday's shelling.

Mr Cacaj said firefighting yesterday afternoon lasted for over three hours. Excepting material damage on the remaining houses in the four villages, no casualties were reported by today morning.

Meanwhile, the bodies of three Albanian women killed earlier by the Serbs were found lately: Gjyle Hysen Hulaj (90) from Hulaj, Ryve Jashar Morina (79), and Cyme Zek& Shala (70) from Loxha.

[09] Food Supplies Run Rapidly Short in De^an Villages

Scarce food supplies have been rapidly running out, while the area remains sealed off, the head of the Information Commission of the LDK chapter in De^an, Osman Cacaj said today.

Little aid, what Mr Cacaj described as "symbolic", has reached only the Isniq village, whereas other villages have been deprived of relief, partly because of the siege and partly of obstacles by certain people or groups. It is presumed that part of the relief dedicated to the western Kosova areas is being taken to Malisheva, failing to reach the destination.

Residents of Grama^el and Baballo^ were quoted as saying that no relief whatsoever reached them so far.

[10] Jezerc Village Shelled, at Continued Serb Gunpoint Since Morning Today

The LDK Information Commission in Ferizaj said heavy Serb forces on board of a dozen vehicles left the town today morning heading for the villages of Nerodime and Jezerc.

Witnesses told the Commission that a number of armed Serb civilians were involved in the attack on Jezerc. Farmsteads in the village were fired upon with machine guns and mortars for about one hour.

Serb forces have not retreated, but were positioned in several key places keeping Jezerc at gunpoint.

Meanwhile, the LDK chapter in Ferizaj said the Serb police detained in the street in Ferizaj seven local Albanians.

Maliq Haliti, Mustaf& Haliti, Rrahim Haliti, Rexhep Behluli, Sabri Jaha, Gani Abazi and Sylejman Aliu were arrested while on their way back from the local cemetery, where they attended the funeral of a fellow resident. They were all released later in the day.

Sources in Ferizaj said two Albanians, residents of Nerodime village, abducted by Serb forces two days ago, have not yet been released.

Bajram Bajrami (21) and Bujar Bajrami (20) were abducted by Serbs on Tuesday afternoon, at around 17:00.

[11] Two Unidentified Men Killed on the Street in Peja

Eyewitnesses told the LDK chapter in Peja that one of the killed men was around 17 years of age, while the second in his early thirties. Their bodies were only removed today morning at around 8:30, the LDK chapter said, adding that the area where the incident occurred was guarded by Serb policemen during the whole night.

Failing to provide any other details surrounding the death of the two men, the LDK Information Commission in Peja quoted witnesses saying that before being killed they were in a red "Zastava"-made car with Peja license plates.

[12] For Verbal Dispute, Albanian Lawyer Sentenced Summarily to 60 Days in Prison

Mr. Rukiqi was sent to prison immediately.

The Albanian lawyer had gone to the District Court in Prishtina to ask for permission to visit his client, Cen& Dugolli, who is on pre-trial detention.

The Serb investigating judge, Ms Marinkovic, prevented Rukiq from taking notes from his client's dossier.

There was a verbal dispute between the two, Rukiqi saying she should wear a police uniform and go and work there. This was turned into a charge against him.

The police arrested Rukiqi in his office. He was brought to court, and Danica Narinkovic served as the witness in the trial, Bujku concludes.

[13] Only 8 Albanians Live in Village of 140 Households

"It is owing to Ms. Fatime Pllana, a local woman resident in the village, who has cooked for us, that we have been able to stay there," Dedinca said.

Ajet Dedinca, father of four, was killed by Serbs. His body lay uncollected for two days, then the Serbs took it away, 'God knows where', he said.

Serb police in neighboring villages of Janovod& and Palaj ('Vodica') raid the village of Lajthisht& almost on a daily basis, Dedinca said, adding that robber have been active in the village.

Most of the residents of the village have found refuge in the Drenica region, but also in Prishtina, he sad.

[14] Police Seizes 25 Tons of Sugar in Podujeva

The illegally seized amount of sugar is estimated to be worth DEM 40.000, the commission said.

[15] Distribution of Arms to Serb Civilians in Prishtina Continues

The police station in the Lagjja e Muhaxhir&ve neighborhood has been the venue of this activity, the LDK sources said.

Serb authorities have taken the trouble to hiding their distribution of arms to civilians.

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