[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 19, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E522-E524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HUMAN RIGHTS IN KOSOVA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 19, 1997

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention to the situation in 
Kosova. As my colleagues are aware, Kosova is a region in the former 
Yugoslavia which is populated by 92 percent ethnic Albanians, but ruled 
by Serbia.
  Since unilaterally withdrawing Kosova's autonomy, Belgrade has 
carried out a harsh campaign of violations of human and political 
rights against the Kosovans.
  Dr. Alush A. Gashi, M.D., Ph.D., is a member of the Kosova Council 
for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms and is an expert on the 
situation in Kosova. On February 6, 1997, he addressed the 
Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
  I am inserting Dr. Gashi's statement to the Commission at this point 
in the Congressional Record.

                      Statement by Alush A. Gashi,


                                   I

       Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for this 
     opportunity to speak with CSCE on the timely and critical 
     subject of repression of human rights and freedoms in the 
     Republic of Kosova.
       It was almost three years ago--on May 9, 1994--that I last 
     appeared before the CSCE. Then as now, I just arrived from 
     Prishtina, the capital of the Republic of Kosova. Then as 
     now, I sadly reported that the human rights situation in 
     Kosova had degenerated. Then as now, I must regrettably tell 
     you that repression, violence and terrorism directed at 
     Albanians has escalated. Then as now, I reaffirmed our 
     commitment to peaceful resistance under the leadership of 
     President Rugova and his government.
       It has been said that the more things change, the more they 
     stay the same. In Kosova, things have gotten much worse.
       Although I speak to you as a human rights activist, I also 
     speak as a citizen of the Republic of Kosova who has 
     experienced first-hand the terrible repression of the 
     Belgrade regime.


                                   II

       Perhaps the U.S. State Department annual human rights 
     report described the human rights crisis in Kosova most 
     accurately. In that report issued a week ago on January 30, 
     1997, the U.S. said: ``The human rights record continued to 
     be poor. The police committed numerous, serious abuses 
     including extrajudicial killings, torture, brutal beatings, 
     and arbitrary arrests. Police repression continued to be 
     directed against  . . . particularly the Albanians of Kosova  
     . . . and was also increasingly directed against any citizens 
     who protested against the government.''
       The State Department reported that Serbian authorities 
     killed 14 Albanians in 1996. Torture and cruel forms of 
     punishment were directed against Albanians. Serbian police 
     frequently extracted ``confessions'' during interrogations 
     that routinely included beating of suspects' feet, hands, 
     genital areas and heads.'' The police use their fists, 
     nightsticks, and occasionally electric shocks,'' the report 
     said, adding that the police ``often beat persons in front of 
     their families'' as a means of intimidating other innocent 
     citizens.
       The report told of an incident last July in which ``several 
     ethnic Albanian vendors in an open market near Prishtina were 
     beaten by Serbian financial police, who accused them of not 
     having their vendor's licenses in order. According to the 
     victims, the police stole all the merchandise from the 
     vendors without even looking at their papers, and then left 
     the scene.''
       Albanian children were not spared. The Council for the 
     Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms documented between 
     January and June 1996 over 200 cases of mistreatment of 
     children at the hands of Serb authorities.
       And the documentation goes on. Police in Kosova use 
     arbitrary arrest and detention. Trials are delayed. There is 
     no justice. Freedom of speech and the press are non-existent. 
     Peaceful assembly and association are unknown under the 
     Belgrade regime. Freedom of movement within Kosova as well as 
     foreign travel, and emigration which are tightly controlled 
     while repatriation, in effect, is prohibited.

[[Page E523]]

       Just last Sunday, The Washington Times reported that death 
     came for a 34-year-old Albanian school teacher with a knock 
     on the door that has become a trademark of the Serbian police 
     state system of terror that has gripped Kosova. Nearly 30 
     Serbian police circled the teacher's house at 6 in the 
     morning before entering.
       The police grabbed the teacher's wife by the neck and 
     demanded she direct them to her husband and ``a hidden gun,'' 
     according to family members. The teacher's father reported 
     that the police found the teacher in his bedroom, handcuffed 
     him, and took him away.
       Two days later, the family discovered their son's body, 
     beaten and bruised, in a state hospital. A Serbian doctor and 
     two Albanian colleagues said he died from trauma, with 
     evident bruises and lacerations on his legs and genitals.
       In short, in Kosova we have the full denial of human and 
     national rights of Albanians imposed by the Serbian regime 
     which has forcefully colonized Kosova and imposed apartheid.


                                  III

       While the state of Serbian terrorism has not relented in 
     Kosova, there are important developments in Belgrade that 
     confirm not everything remains the same. Foremost among these 
     are opposition protest marches and rallies in Belgrade.
       While all of us in Kosova welcome movement toward democracy 
     in Serbia, the last Communist state in Europe, and sincerely 
     support the right of the Serbian opposition to peacefully 
     protest and demonstrate for democratization of Serbia, our 
     people are asking: Where was the Serbian opposition while we 
     were protesting against the Belgrade regime?
       Under the leadership of President Rugova, Albanians in 
     Kosova for almost a decade have peacefully protested against 
     the Belgrade regime. Unfortunately, almost ten years later, 
     the Serbian opposition has not distanced themselves from the 
     Belgrade tyranny or supported stopping violence against 
     Albanians.
       They have not protested or distanced themselves, even when 
     Serbian authorities killed peaceful Albanian demonstrators in 
     various parts of Kosova. The Serbian opposition did not 
     protest when the Serbian regime beat Albanian physicians in 
     front of their patients in Kosova's hospitals, or when 
     Serbian police beat Albanian teachers, killed Albanian 
     parents who were protecting their children in the Albanian 
     education system.
       They did not protest when the Belgrade regime held 
     political trials of Albanians who established the Kosova 
     parliament. Neither did they protest when Serbian authorities 
     arbitrarily dismissed Albanians from their jobs, closed down 
     all mass media in Albanian language, and achieved quiet 
     ethnic cleansing in Kosova through police interrogation and 
     torture.
       Neither did they protest when Serbian apartheid endangered 
     the health and lives of Albanian people in Kosova, which is a 
     crime against humanity, or when the Serbian regime expelled 
     Albanians from their apartments and replaced them with Serb 
     colonizers from other parts of former Yugoslavia.
       Unfortunately, Serbian opposition did not protest and is 
     not protesting now, against the Serbian regime for not 
     letting the parliament and government of Kosova function.
       Serbian opposition rightfully is asking for recognition of 
     their vote, but at the same time is denying the democratic 
     election in which Albanians citizens of the Republic of 
     Kosova voted for their legitimate representatives in the 
     Kosova leadership and gave them a mandate to represent them.
       When we voted in 1992, instead of getting support from the 
     Serbian opposition, some of them were asking to cut off our 
     hands with which we cast our vote, and to cut off our fingers 
     with which we made the ``V'' for victory sign.
       Now, we understand Serbian frustrations at not achieving 
     their aspirations for a greater Serbia. We understand that 
     they may want to distance themselves from the crimes. But we 
     all respect their right to demonstrate and achieve seats in 
     their parliament.
       We have to see their program. They have not yet revealed 
     their policy toward Kosova. We hope and we wish that they can 
     recognize the new reality in Kosova. We hope that the Serbian 
     opposition understands that they cannot live under a 
     double standard. To ask respect of their vote and 
     political will in Serbia and at the same time deny the 
     political will of Albanians in the Republic of Kosova is 
     unacceptable.
       Albanians of Kosova are against violence. They do support 
     the rights of Serbia to demonstrate, and they condemn any use 
     of force against them. After one decade of peaceful protests, 
     Albanians of Kosova once again are inviting the Serbian 
     opposition, which has protested for several months, to join 
     Albanians of Kosova in their demand for full freedom and 
     democracy based on the political will of Albanians in Kosova 
     which has been confirmed by referendum, as well as 
     parliamentary and presidential elections.
       Kosova wants to see a democratic neighbor in Serbia which 
     will end colonization of Kosova. But until that happens, we 
     are in danger of the possibility of transferring the conflict 
     from Belgrade to Kosova.
       The United States attitude toward the Belgrade regime has 
     changed since I last met with you. While the Dayton Accords 
     could not have been achieved without the support of Belgrade, 
     the world has witnessed again the duplicity, dishonest and 
     disdain which the tyrant demonstrates toward agreements with 
     which they disagree.
       Now, just over a year since the Dayton agreement was 
     reached, and the outer wall of sanctions was established, the 
     U.S. has made it clear that it opposes Communist government 
     in Belgrade and supports the opposition protests in Belgrade.
       We were encouraged by State Department statements Monday in 
     which the spokesman, Nicholas Burns, said: ``We have always 
     said that we believe in enhancement of the political rights 
     of the Kosovars.''
       The U.S. should continue to increase its pressure on the 
     Belgrade regime, as it has done in recent days. While this 
     increase of pressure is certainly appropriate, it has 
     resulted along with the success of the opposition protests in 
     convincing the Belgrade Communist regime to once again to 
     play ``the Kosova card.''
       Isn't it ironic. The beginning of the end of former 
     Yugoslavia began in Kosova. And now, as the beginning of the 
     end of Serbia-Montenegro unfolds, the focuses has again 
     shifted to Kosova. In recent days, the Belgrade regime has 
     attempted to stir nationalist passions against the Albanians 
     in Kosova, just as it did at the start of the Balkans 
     calamity in 1989.
       Then as now, Belgrade regime has turned from rhetoric to 
     rampage. As Nicholas Burns reported Monday: ``Let me give you 
     a little bit more information about Kosova because we're very 
     concerned by it. We understand that three ethnic Albanians 
     were killed by Serbian police on Friday. Over 100 ethnic 
     Albanians have been arrested by Serbian police in what 
     appears to be a coordinated police round-up in Kosova itself. 
     Forty are still in custody. There is a basic denial of human 
     and political rights to the Albanian population which will 
     remain . . . a great concern of the United States.'' This 
     insanity must be stopped.
       In Kosova, we have organized our society, our institutions, 
     so we urge the international community to help us by ensuring 
     that Serbia will leave us alone in our state of Republic of 
     Kosova.
       We are part of the solution. We are committed to the 
     peaceful resolution of the crisis and achieving recognition 
     for our right of self-determination. But structural 
     repression against Albanians in Kosova has become unbearable 
     and still, under the leadership of President Rugova, 
     Albanians are continuing their peaceful attempt to decolonize 
     Kosova and establish an internationally recognized 
     independent state of Kosova on the basis of the referendum 
     held on September 26, 1991, as the best way to protect human 
     and national rights of all the population of the Republic of 
     Kosova.
       The independent Kosova will play an important role in 
     establishing friendly relations between the Albanians and the 
     Serbs in the Balkans and also in directly influencing long-
     term stability in the region. Kosova will become a bridge 
     between the state of Albania and the Serbia. This implies 
     special relations and open borders between Kosova and Serbia 
     as well as between Kosova and Albania.
       As Yugoslavia disintegrates, the new reality is that Kosova 
     is an emerging state in the Balkans.
       It would be tragic if a decision over the future of Kosova 
     would be made against the political will of the people of 
     Kosova. That would be tragic for the ideals of freedom but 
     also definitely unacceptable for Kosova.


                                  IV.

       We are asking the United States of America to continue its 
     policy of protecting Kosova. We hope that we have learned 
     from the tragedy of Bosnia that we should not react too late.
       With all the problems, the United States engagement in 
     Bosnia succeeded in stopping the war and mass killings, 
     rapes, prison camps, and the worst misery the world has seen 
     since the Holocaust.
       We are asking the U.S. leadership for a peaceful resolution 
     of the question of Kosova and the total Albanian question in 
     general. Maintaining the ``outer wall'' of sanctions until a 
     final, acceptable peaceful solution for Kosova is reached is 
     essential.
       We are asking the USCSCE to exercise its influence on the 
     Belgrade regime to accept the political reality that exists 
     in Kosova.
       Kosova is a question of international stability. Therefore, 
     we ask the USCSCE for the return of OSCE monitors and a 
     permanent OSCE presence in Kosova.
       Other democratic nations should follow the example of the 
     U.S. which directly engaged in Kosova through its permanent 
     USIS office, and that of many NGOs as well. We wish to see 
     more of such activity.
       Tuesday night, President Clinton said in his State of the 
     Union address that America must build for the next century. 
     We as well are seeking to establish our future and that of 
     our children in the next century.
       How can we accept living under occupation and colonization, 
     fear and violence which Serbia has imposed on Kosova? We are 
     directed toward global goals of the 21st century, while 
     Serbia wants to move us back to the dark ages. Kosova may be 
     the last example of classical colonization. We are asking for 
     support for peaceful decolonization of Kosova. We are asking 
     for democratic support for the destruction of apartheid in 
     Kosova.
       In every crisis of European stability in this century, the 
     United States was the country

[[Page E524]]

     that brought the solution and stability. We hope that the 
     U.S. will not surrender the Balkans to the people who 
     unjustly drew the maps with artificial borders in the 
     Congress of Berlin in the last century. They have placed a 
     time bomb in the Balkans which brought tragedy after tragedy 
     for a hundred years.
       As President Clinton said in the State of Union address, 
     the enemy of our time is inaction. We are asking for U.S. 
     action in protecting Kosova as well as the South Balkans.
       We in Kosova were encouraged by President Clinton's 
     statement: ``Our first task is to help build for the first 
     time an undivided, democratic Europe,'' he said. We are 
     encouraged by this statement because in a democratic Europe, 
     abolition of colonization and apartheid in Kosova will take 
     place.
       So finally, we ask USCSCE and all other U.S. institutions 
     and the international community to support the peaceful 
     policy of Kosova Albanians through dialog and under U.S. 
     leadership with international guarantees.
       We are counting on the only force in the world that has the 
     will to stop it. We are counting on the United States of 
     America.


        The Grim Statistics of Human Rights Violations In Kosova

       Over 150 Albanians, mostly young people, have been killed 
     by the Serbian police and army since 1989. In 1996 alone, 14 
     were killed.
       66 young Albanian soldiers have been killed while serving 
     in the army under very dubious and suspicious circumstances 
     since 1981.
       During the first six months of 1996, some 3,657 ethnic 
     Albanians were mistreated, severely beaten and tortured. By 
     the end of the year there were more than 5000.
       In the beginning of 1997, five Albanians were killed by 
     Serbian police and at least 100 Albanians were arrested 
     without reason within a period of one week. The majority of 
     them are still being held in Serbian custody.
       Between 1981 and 1993, over 3,200 Albanians were sentenced 
     for one to 20 years in prison for political reasons; 30,000 
     received 60-day sentences; and over 800,000 were detained by 
     police.
       147,300 Albanians, almost 80 percent of all employed 
     Albanians, have been fired by the Serbian government.
       450 enterprises were placed under ``emergency 
     administration''.
       4,000 small businesses were shut down for from six months 
     to one year.
       Over one million Albanians have no means of subsistence.
       Over 80 percent of health care facilities are under 
     ``special measures;'' dozens of walk-in clinics have been 
     shut down in villages.
       Over 2,400 Albanian medical personnel have been dismissed, 
     157 of them from the teaching staff of the Faculty of 
     Medicine in Prishtina.
       70,000 Albanian high school students have been barred from 
     their school buildings.
       22,000 teachers have been teaching for seven years without 
     pay.
       837 professors and assistants have been dismissed from the 
     university, representing 95 percent of the teaching and 
     administrative staff.

                          ____________________