Human Rights Watch Condemns Violence in Kosovo
To: MINELRES list submissions <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 05 Mar 1998 10:37:21 -0800
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Subject: Human Rights Watch Condemns Violence in Kosovo
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Panayote Elias Dimitras <[email protected]>
Human Rights Watch Condemns Violence in Kosovo
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Ave. 34th floor
NY, NY. 10118
Telephone: 212-216-1270
Facsimile: 212-736-1300
E-mail: [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information contact:
In New York, Holly Cartner (212) 216-1277
In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz, (322) 732-2009
Human Rights Watch Condemns Violence by Security Forces in Kosovo
Calls on International Community to Investigate
(New York - March 3, 1998) Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned
by credible allegations from local human rights organizations and
the international media that the Serbian security forces committed
gross abuses against the civilian population in military actions that
took place from February 28 to March 1 in Kosovo. As many as
twelve people may have been summarily executed. We urge the U.S.
government, European Union and OSCE to coordinate and intensify
diplomatic pressure on the Yugoslav authorities to avert an escalation
of violence, and to undertake an immediate investigation to determine
the nature of the violations.
The violence took place over the weekend February 28-March 1 in the
Drenica region of Kosovo. According to media reports, two Serbian
policemen were killed in an ambush by ethnic Albanians on Friday,
February 27, in Likosane village near Glogovac. The next day, Serbian
security forces with armored vehicles and attack helicopters swept
through the region, sealing off between seven and ten ethnic Albanian
villages. The security forces conducted house to house raids,
ostensibly looking for members of the Kosova Liberation Army, a
shadowy ethnic Albanian military organization that has taken credit for
a series of violent attacks against Serbian authorities in Kosovo over
the past year.
Local human rights groups, Albanian and international media reported
that the security forces used indiscriminate force against civilians,
especially in the villages of Cirez and Likosane. Witnesses told
reporters that helicopters and APCs sprayed village rooftops with
gunfire before security forces entered the village on foot, firing
indiscriminately into private homes, although reports also indicate
that the police were coming under fire from unidentified individuals,
possibly from the private homes. Sixteen ethnic Albanians were killed,
according to the Serbian authorities, although Albanian media outlets
say the number may be as high as thirty. Foreign journalists have
seen the bodies of six victims, including a pregnant woman, Rukia
Nebihi, who had been shot in the face, and four brothers from the
Sejdiu family, two of whom had been shot in the back.
According to the Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human
Rights and Freedoms, ten members of the Ahmeti family and two of
their guests, Behram Fazliu and Shaban Muja, were killed by Serbian
security forces after having been detained, although this has not been
independently confirmed. According to the Serbian government, the
police confiscated a large amount of weapons and arrested a number
of people, although their whereabouts and the charges against them
are currently unknown. Four Serbian policemen were also killed during
the action.
Human Rights Watch recognizes that the authorities may have to use
force when confronted with an armed attack, but this force may only
be applied to the extent necessary to perform their duties. Even if the
hostilities in Kosovo rise to the level of an internal armed conflict,
international humanitarian law clearly protects civilians and other
individuals who are not taking part in the hostilities, including those
who
have been taken into detention. Human Rights Watch has not
conducted an on-site investigation, but credible reports suggest that the
Serb security forces may have either indiscriminately attacked civilian
groups or even targeted individuals not involved in the fighting. Human
Rights Watch is especially concerned that the ten members of the
Ahmeti family and their two guests may have been killed by
extrajudicial execution.
On March 2, a large crowd of ethnic Albanians (estimates range from
30,000-100,000 people) gathered at 10:00 a.m. in the center of
Kosovo's capital, Prishtina, for a one-hour peaceful demonstration
against the violence in Drenica. At 10:55 a.m., the police intervened
with tear gas and water cannons, and began to beat the protesters.
Local media report that at least two hundred people have sought
medical attention for injuries sustained at the hands of the police,
although the total number is still undetermined. A number of
demonstrators were run over by police APCs, and at least four people
were injured when a civilian car rammed into the crowds.
Human Rights Watch has confirmed that the police beat a number
of ethnic Albanian journalists, including Veton Surroi, editor-in-chief
of the daily Koha Ditore, Ibrahim Osmani, journalist of AFP and the
Voice of America, Avni Spahiu, editor-in-chief of the daily Bujku,
Agron Bajrami, a journalist at Koha Ditore, and Sherif Kunjufca, a
journalist with Albanian Television. Police forces broke into the offices
of Koha Ditore and beat people who had taken refuge inside. Police
officers forced photographer Fatos Berisha to jump from a second
story window. Police also broke into the offices of the daily Bujku.
Human Rights Watch unequivocally condemns the use of force in
Prishtina on March 2 against those who had gathered peacefully to
express discontent with the government's abusive and violent
policies in Kosovo. Human Rights Watch is also deeply concerned
by credible allegations that the security forces in Drenica may
have targeted innocent civilians and performed extrajudicial executions.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Yugoslav government to allow
international observers into the Drenica region to determine the
nature of the violations of international human rights and humanitarian
law. The government should also make public the names of all
individuals who have been taken into custody and provide information
about the charges made against them. Based on the Serbian police's
use of torture against detainees in the past, there is reason to fear
that those in detention may be subjected to physical abuse.
Human Rights Watch urges the international community to undertake
an immediate investigation into the Drenica events. In addition, Kosovo
should be a primary focus of the newly-appointed Special
Representative of the OSCE to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
Felipe Gonzales.
_______________________________________
Greek Helsinki Monitor & Minority Rights Group - Greece
P.O. Box 51393
GR-145190 Kifisia
Greece
Tel. +30-1-620.01.20
Fax +30-1-807.57.67
e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
________________________________________
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