[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ATROCITIES AGAINST ALBANIAN COMMUNITY IN KOSOVA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ROBERT G. TORRICELLI

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 26, 1996

  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in order to draw this 
country's attention to the most recent atrocities committed by the 
Serbian Government against the Albanian community in Kosova. Time and 
again, the international community is bombarded with reports of 
violence and aggression by the Serbs toward the other ethnic groups in 
the former Yugoslavia. These actions repulse any decent human being 
with a sense of morality, but they pale in comparison next to this most 
recent offense.
  Dr. Alush Gashi, who is respected in international circles as a human 
rights activist, served until lately as an advisor to President Rugova 
of Kosova. He is now being forced to stand trial before a Serbian-
controlled magistrate court on July 1. The charges stem from a time in 
1990 when Dr. Gashi, as the dean of the faculty of medicine at the 
University of Prishtina, opposed the enrollment of 250 Serbian students 
despite the Serbian Assembly's ruling to the contrary. His decision was 
not without validation because these students had apparently failed to 
take the university's entrance exam and were therefore not qualified 
for enrollment. Nevertheless, Dr. Gashi was fired from his position and 
will now be subjected to a fraudulent trial along with all of its 
attendant horrors.
  The Albanian majority in Kosova has been treated brutally by a 
Serbian regime which shows no regard for their fundamental human 
rights. Dr. Gashi's trial is yet one more step in this campaign to 
suppress all opposition to the Serbian domination. By voicing his 
disgust with the deteriorating health conditions faced by the Albanian 
people in Kosova, Dr. Gashi has taken a brave but dangerous step in 
criticizing the Serbian regime. If the rights of Kosova's Albanian 
citizens are to be recognized, though, Dr. Gashi and others like him 
must be permitted to speak out loud.
  For this reason, I urge my colleagues to stand with me against this 
campaign of terrorism and intimidation. We should not continue to 
sanction these unrelenting attacks on the Albanian population with our 
silence. Only vocal opposition and recognition of the human rights 
abuses committed by the Serbs will force the regime to comply with the 
international community's accepted standards of behavior. Dr. Gashi and 
the rest of the Albanian population are depending upon us to act on 
their behalf.

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