NOTA: Le notizie che seguono non sono in alcun modo esaustive degli
avvenimenti nella provincia di Kosovo-Metohija, e vengono qui
riportate solo come esempi delle informazioni negate alla pubblica
opinione.
IN APPENDICE:
"The black hole of Europe"
Andrew Sutton on the miseries, corruption and human-rights abuses in
Kosovo, the UN's first-ever protectorate - Pristina (THE SPECTATOR
9/11/2002)
=== * ===
DOPO LE "ELEZIONI", STEINER ACCUSATO DI MODIFICARE A POSTERIORI LE
CIRCOSCRIZIONI ELETTORALI ED I RISULTATI
+++ STEINER VERÄNDERT DIE WAHLBEZIRKE NACHTRÄGLICH
ZUBIN POTOK. Der Vorsitzende des Parlaments des Kreises Zubin
Potok, Slavisa Ristic, wirft dem Chef der UNMIK, Michael Steiner, vor.
Das er am Dienstag nach den lokalen Wahlen, durch verändern der
Wahlkreisbezirke, es ermöglicht hat, kleineren Parteien, die bei dem
am Wahltag geltenden Wahlgesetz, des proportionalen Wahlsystems
nicht über den Wahlzensus gekommen wären, und durch verändern
der Wahlbezirke es doch geschafft haben Abgeordnete ins Parlament
zu bekommen.
"Die Bekanntgabe der endgültigen Wahlergebnisse sollte am 31.
Oktober sein, aber Michael Steiner blockierte alles, veränderte die
Wahlbezirke und teilte den Parteien Abgeordnetenmandate zu, die
nicht die nötigen Stimmen erreicht haben.", sagte Slavisa Ristic zu
Tanjug. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 05. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
+++ STEINER SOLL WAHLRESULTATE VERÄNDERT HABEN
LEPOSAVIC/GNJILANE. Dr. Vuko Antonijevic, Mitglied der Partei DSS,
erklärte gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur Tanjug, dass UNMIK-Chef
Michael Steiner die endgültigen Resultate der Stadt Leposavic bei den
Kommunalwahlen in Kosovo und Metochien verändert hat, so dass die DSS
und der SNV keine Regierungskoalition bilden können. "Eigentlich hätte
man keine Wahlen gebraucht, da Steiner schon vor den Wahlen die
Mandate an Parteien und Initiativen verteilt hat die nicht durch den
proportionalen Wahlzensus gekommen wären", erklärte Antonijevic.
In den Orten Zubin Potok und Strpce wird der UNMIK-Chef ebenfalls
beschuldigt, die Wahlresultate verändert zu haben. Unterdessen
blockieren ca. 2000 ethnische Albaner das Stadtparlament von Novo
Brdo, welches seit Tagen von der UNMIK beschützt wird, weil sie über
den Wahlausgang unzufrieden sind. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 7. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
TERRORISMO: UCCISO AVVOCATO ALBANESE-KOSOVARO
+++ ALBANISCHER RECHTSANWALT ERSCHOSSEN
PEC. Gestern spät abends wurde vor seinem Haus in Pec der bekannte
Rechtsanwalt Ibish Hoti erschossen. Das Motiv und der Hergang des
Vorfalls sind noch nicht geklärt. Den Tod von Hoti, bestätigten auch
seine Familienangehörigen. Hoti war ein Rechtsanwalt des Fonds für
humanitäres Recht, welcher seinen Sitz in Belgrad hat. INETNEWS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 05. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
ESPLOSIONE DI FRONTE A CASA DI SERBI A VITINA
SERBIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
INFORMATION SERVICE - November 05, 2002
ERP KIM Info-Service
EXPLOSION IN FRONT OF A SERB HOUSE IN KOSOVSKA VITINA
Serbs in Vitina disturbed by latest Albanian extremist attack
Gracanica, November 4, 2002
Serbian Orthodox priest from Vitina confirmed for the Diocese of Raska
and Prizren Information Service that today, Monday, November 4, at
13:30 hours a powerful explosion occurred in front of the house of
Aleksandar Jacovic (Jachovich) in Kosovska Vitina. No one was injured
and no significant material damage occurred during the attack;
however, the attack was caused great unrest among the remaining Serbs
in Vitina. The Jacovic family is currently living in the old parochial
house after their own house was burned down by the Albanians. However,
the Jacovices have no peace in their new residence, either; this is
the third time that Albanian extremists have planted explosives in
front of their home. The previous two attacks occurred on September 8
and September 28 of this year.
Currently only 250 of the total pre-war population of 3,450 Serb
residents remain in the town of Vitina. The Serb population has
largely abandoned the surrounding the villages and today there are
only about 3,500 Serbs in the entire municipality as compared to
almost 8,000 who lived here before the war. The Serbs who
still live in the town proper, mostly near the Orthodox church, are
exposed to frequent attacks and ethnic discrimination by the majority
Albanian population. A large number of Serb-owned houses and
commercial properties have been illegally usurped after the war while
the remaining Serbs are subject to constant pressure to sell their
property and leave town. The Serbs have no possibility of securing
employment nor do they have free access to medical institutions.
Freedom of movement for the Serb population outside the area where
they live is extremely limited even though people travel not
infrequently and at their own risk.
===
SACCHEGGIATA E DATA ALLE FIAMME CASA DI SERBI AD ORAHOVAC
RADIO KIM
Serb house in Orahovac set on fire
November 5, 2002
Today at approximately 13:00 hours the family home of Nebojsa and
Dragan Dedic was set on fire for the second time in the Serb part of
Orahovac after being previously looted, Radio KIM learned from Serb
sources. UNMIK police failed to determine the cause of the fire while
according to the Serb population this represents yet another in a
series of attacks on the remaining Serbs in Orahovac.
===
FERITO DA UN PROIETTILE QUATTORDICENNE SERBO A MITROVICA
B92, Belgrade
Serbian boy wounded in Kosovska Mitrovica
November 4, 2002
Kosovska Mitrovica (Beta) - Fourteen year-old Dragan Todorovic was
wounded on Sunday evening from a firearm in the northern part of
Kosovska Mitrovica in the quarter known as Bosnjacka Mahala. The boy
was targeted by an unknown attacker from a 9 millimeter handgun.
Todorovic, who was shot in the lower leg, was admitted and operated on
in Mitrovica Hospital and is not in life threatening danger. An
investigation was conducted by UNMIK police.
Danas, Belgrade
Boy wounded following removal of KFOR checkpoints
Not in life threatening danger
November 4, 2002
Kosovska Mitrovica (Tanjug) - The head of the Serb National Council of
Northern Kosovo, Dr. Milan Ivanovic, told Tanjug yesterday that the
wounding of 14 year-old Dragan Todorovic in Bosnjacka Mahala in
northern Kosovska Mitrovica was the result of the removal of the KFOR
checkpoints in this quarter where "Serbs are now unprotected from
Albanians".
"KFOR has been removing checkpoints for some time in this quarter
inhabited by Serbs, Albanians and Bosniacs, resulting in poorer
defense of the Serb population," assessed Dr. Ivanovic. He pointed out
that this was "yet another form of pressure by (UNMIK chief) Michael
Steiner on northern Mitrovica". Todorovic was wounded the night before
last from a handgun by a member of a group of Albanians passing by the
Silent Night (Tiha Noc) Cafe in Bosnjacka Mahala. "The boy was shot in
the right lower leg. He has been operated on in hospital and his
present condition is stable," said Dr. Ivanovic.
===
TROVATE BOMBE E MUNIZIONI A BUJANOVAC
+++ BOMBEN UND MUNITION GEFUNDEN
BUJANOVAC. In der Region des Dorfes Manjevac, an der
administrativen Grenze zwischen Serbien und Kosovo und
Metochien, wurden am gestrigen Mittwoch drei chinesische
Handgranaten, 42 Schuss des Kalibers 7,9 Millimeter und drei
leere Maschinengewehrmagazine gefunden, heißt es in einer
Meldung des Pressezentrums von Bujanovac. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 7. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
PROTESTA PER L'AGGRESSIONE AI DANNI DELLA SCRITTRICE DARINKA JEVTIC
+++ SCHRIFTSTELLERPROTEST WEGEN ANGRIFF
BELGRAD. Die Vereinigung der Schriftsteller Serbiens (UKS)
protestierte gestern wegen des barbarischen Angriffs auf die serbische
Schriftstellerin Darinka Jevtic aus Kosovo und Metochien und forderte
Freiheit und Frieden in dieser Region.
Die Schriftstellerin wurde am Samstag in Pristina angegriffen als sie
auf dem Weg zum orthodoxen Friedhof war um Kerzen anzuzünden.
Ethnisch-albanische Bauarbeiter einer in der Nähe gelegen Baustelle
bewarfen sie dabei mit Steinen und Ziegeln. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 7. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
"ETNICAMENTE RIPULITO" IL CONSIGLIO COMUNALE DELLA CITTA' KOSOVARA
PIU' "ETNICAMENTE MISTA" DI TUTTE
NO SERBS IN KOSOVSKA MITROVICA ASSEMBLY
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Nov. 6 (Beta) - The spokesman of the OSCE mission
in Kosovska Mitrovica, Bernard Vrban, stated on Nov. 6 that the Kosovo
Albanian parties have won all seats in the town assembly.
The local assembly has 41 deputies.
Vrban said that election results "have to be respected, whatever they
are".
Other national communities, the Serbs, Bosniacs and Romas, will not
have representatives in the local assembly. The Serbs in northern
Kosovska Mitrovica boycotted the Oct. 26 local elections.
Only 59 of the 8,600 registered Serb voters went to the ballot
stations.
===
SASSAIOLA CONTRO GRUPPO DI PROFUGHI SERBI
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/
20021107/ap_wo_en_po/kosovo_serbs_stoned_1
Serb refugees attacked by stone-hurling youths
Thu Nov 7, 1:11 PM ET
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia - Stone-hurling youths on Thursday attacked Serb
refugees being escorted by police on a tour of houses and property
they left behind when they fled Kosovo, an official said.
The eight Serbs were attacked by some 25 ethnic Albanians, most of
them in their late teens, in the area of Vitina, some 50 kilometers
(30 miles) east of the province's capital, Pristina, said U.N.
spokesman Andrea Angeli.
A Jordanian officer, among U.N. and local police escorting the group,
was injured by a stone that struck his head, and a Serb refugee was
slightly injured by the shards of a broken car window, Angeli said. A
U.N. police vehicle and a car belonging to a humanitarian organization
were damaged.
Police made one arrest after calming the situation, Angeli added.
The refugees were in the province as part of a U.N.-sponsored
go-and-see program aimed at encouraging those who fled to return.
Some 200,000 Serbs have left the province in war's aftermath in fear
of revenge attacks by majority ethnic Albanians avenging a crackdown
by Serb forces that left thousands of their kin killed. The U.N.
administration running the province has made their return a priority.
Although ethnically motivated incidents have decreased, tensions
between the ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority persist in the
southern Yugoslav province, which was put under U.N. and NATO control
in mid-1999.
ERP KIM Info-Service
SERB CONVOY STONED NEAR GNJILANE
Albanians stoned vehicles with Serbs brought by UMCOR to visit their
homes in the village of Grncar
Three people sustained light injuries
Gracanica
November 7, 2002
Temporarily displaced Serbs from the village of Grncar near Gnjilane
were brought today by the NGO UMCOR * to visit their village in order
to consider the possibility of returning to their homes. They were
accompanied by representatives of UMCOR from Belgrade, Mark Choonoo
and Nenad Ljubicic, the organizers; Sreco Vasic, a representative of
the NGO Voice of Kosovo and Metohija (Glas Kosova i Metohije); and two
moderators, both from Belgrade. After the visit as the convoy of
vehicles transporting the displaced Serbs exited the village they were
met by a group of local Albanians, who pelted the convoy with a shower
of stones. Two vehicles were damaged; two Serbs, Petar Dincic and
Zoran Petrovic, sustained light injuries, as did an UNMIK policeman
who was part of the escort.
* UMCOR = Humanitarian Agency of the United Methodist Church
http://www.umcor-ngo.org/english/countrys/serbia.htm
Ethnic Albanian extremists attack Serbs in Kosovo
KOSOVSKA VITINA, Nov 7 (Tanjug) - About 20 ethnic Albanian extremists
threw stones Thursday in the vicinity of Kosovska Vitina at a group
of eight Kosovo Serbs who had come to inspect their property under
UNMIK police escort. UNMIK spokesman Andre Angelli told Tanjug that
two police officers were injured and one Serb refugee was injured by
glass shards from a broken car window.
Two UNMIK police vehicles and one vehicle of a UN humanitarian
organization were damaged in the attack. UNMIK police intervened and
arrested one possible suspect, Angelli said. The Serbs, who had been
displaced from Kosovo, arrived in the Vitina area from central Serbia
to inspect their homes and to see whether they can return under a
special UN program planned for next year.
===
230MILA PROIETTILI SEQUESTRATI IN POCHI GIORNI NEL KOSOVO "DISARMATO"
DAL 1999
UN police in Kosovo seize 8.5 tons of ammunition
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov 9 (AFP) - UN police in Kosovo seized some
230,000 rounds of shotgun ammunition in three separate operations in
the past week, a UN spokesman said Saturday.
Andrea Angeli said the ammunition, weighing up to 8.5 tons, was mostly
manufactured in Serbia, but some of the rounds were also of Italian
make.
"The largest cargo, 185.000 rounds, was found in a truck coming from
southern Serbia into Kosovo," Angeli said. The remaining ammunition
was found in shops in the southern town of Urosevac and eastern town
of Gnjilane.
UN police say no arrests were made since no attempt had been made to
hide the ammunition.
According to Angeli, shotguns were used in most murders committed in
the province in recent months.
The ammunition will be destroyed in Bondsteel, the largest US military
base in Kosovo, in the coming weeks.
In September 140 shotguns were seized by UN border police and Kosovo
custom service after they were found hidden in a Bulgarian-registered
truck entering Kosovo from Macedonia.
Kosovo, a Serbian province mostly populated by ethnic Albanians, has
been under UN and NATO control since June 1999.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?lang=english
&version=standard&my_categories_class='News'&nav_
category=&nav_id=20074&order=priority&style=headlines
===
ANCHE A TIRANA CONTESTANO LA NUOVA COSTITUZIONE SERBO-MONTENEGRINA
TIRANA AGAINST INCLUSION OF KOSOVO-METOHIJA IN CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER
TIRANA, Nov 9 (Tanjug) - Albanian Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta, who
is also Foreign Minister, has described as "biased all attempts to
include the issue of Kosovo into the preamble of the constitution of
Serbia and Montenegro".
Explaining the Albanian government's position regarding the draft
Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro, in which
Kosovo-Metohija is described as a part of the Republic of Serbia,
Meta told the Albanian news agency ATA that "such a text of the
Constitution is the right of the peoples of these two republics and
their governments to resolve problems linked to their joint future,"
but that this "has no connection whatsoever with the future of
Kosovo."
===
MINE ANTIUOMO PER TERRORIZZARE I SERBI RIMASTI
+++ KLOKOT: WIEDER LANDMIENE BEI DEM ORT KLOKOT GEFUNDEN KLOKOT. Der
Sprecher der Eparchie von Raska-Prizren meldete, dass 50 Meter von
dem Ort ,an dem vor einem Monat Svetlana Stankovic durch eine
Landmine umgekommen ist, wieder eine Landmiene gefunden worden ist.
Miro Nisic aus dem Ort Klokot hat die Landmine gegen 14 Uhr entdeckt
und sofort die KFOR-Truppen benachrichtigt. Die KFOR-Truppen
blockierten sofort die Straße von Vitina nach Klokot, sie wurde erst
heute Morgen gegen 14.30 für den Verkehr wieder freigegeben.
BEOGRAD.COM +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 12. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
STEINER (UNMIK): SULLO STATUS FUTURO DEL KOSOVO OGNI IPOTESI E' BUONA
Steiner says future status of Kosovo remains undecided
BERLIN, Nov 12 (Tanjug) - United Nations civilian mission in Kosovo
UNMIK chief Michael Steiner said in a speech delivered at Berlin's
Humboldt University that the future status of this province is still
undecided.
It is clear that things will not go back to the way they were before
1999 (when the UNMIK mission began), but there will not be a division
of the province, either, he said. Speaking in Berlin, where he met
today with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Steiner did not
specify when Kosovo's status could be decided by a new United Nations
Security Council resolution. No-one could say this at this time, he
said.
===
DOPO LE INGIURIE, I RAPPRESENTANTI SERBI NON VOGLIONO RIENTRARE NEL
"PARLAMENTO DEL KOSOVO"
Ivanovic, Savic will not attend presidency session
PRISTINA, Nov 12 (Tanjug) - Kosovo-Metohija parliament presidency
members belonging to the Return coalition Oliver Ivanovic and Gojko
Savic will not attend the presidency session on Tuesday, Return whip
Rada Trajkovic told Tanjug.
The coalition is protesting against the Kosovo parliament's adoption
of a declaration on the non-observation of the Constitutional Charter
of the future Serbian-Montenegrin state in Kosovo-Metohija.
Trajkovic said that the coalition would not appear at the next
parliament session on Thursday. She said that this would remain the
coalition's stand until they receive a public apology from parliament
speaker Nexhad Daci, who insulted them during the last parliament
session.
"Mr Daci may voice his stand as an MP, but cannot insult us in the
capacity of parliament speaker," Trajkovic said.
===
ALTRE DUE CHIESE CRISTIANO-ORTODOSSE RASE AL SUOLO
il manifesto - 19 Novembre 2002
Kosovo, distrutte due chiese ortodosse
Due attentati dinamitardi hanno distrutto domenica due chiese serbo
ortodosse in Kosovo. I due attentati (foto di Mario Boccia, chiesa
distrutta a Petric nel 2000), di cui ha riferito Andrea Angeli,
portavoce della missione Onu (Unmik) che amministra pro-tempore la
provincia ancora serba [sic], hanno avuto luogo alla vigilia della
visita del segretario Onu, Kofi Annan, da ieri a Pristina. Alle 6 di
mattina è saltata la chiesa di San Basilio di Ostrog, e poche ore
prima era stata devastata una chiesa a Istok. Il vescovo Artemije ha
denunciato sia la campagna terroristica che ha già distrutto 110
chiese ortodosse, sia
l'incredibile decisione Kfor-Nato di rimuovere i posti di controllo
dai siti ortodossi. E pensare che il governatore Onu Michael Steiner
amareggiato, promette «ricostruzione» e « massima vigilanza».
LINKS:
Albanian extremists blow up two Orthodox Churches in Kosovo
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_
id=2859917&startrow=1&date=2002-11-17&do_alert=0
Bishop Artemije: KFOR responsible for church attacks
http://www.kosovo.com/default4.html
Visiting damaged Serbian church in Kosovo, UN envoy pledges action
against religious vandalism
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567
ae00530132/a59716bed3f3e01849256c7500069ff0?OpenDocument
TWO SERB CHURCHES DESTROYED IN KOSOVO
PRISTINA,Nov17 (Beta)-Two Serbian Orthodox Christian churches were
demolished in explosions in Kosovo on Nov. 16 and Nov 17. The church
in Djurakovac was heavily damaged, while the other, in Ljubovo Selo,
was completely destroyed, UNMIK spokeswoman Andrea Angeli has told
BETA. No one was injured in the explosions and investigation is in
progress.
Since KFOR and UNMIK arrived in the province three and a half
years ago, more than a hundred Serb churches have been destroyed in
Kosovo.
Bishop Artemije of the Raska and Prizren diocese said that KFOR
and the international administration were the most responsible for the
latest attacks in Kosovo.
He said that the churches were destroyed because KFOR had stopped
guarding them, claiming that the level of security in Kosovo had
reached an enviable level.
Serb whip in the Kosovo Assembly Rada Trajkovic strongly condemned
the demolition of the two Serb churches and said that the act was the
result of KFOR's tolerance of "Albanian extremism and terrorism."
She told BETA that "Islamic fundamentalism has installed itself in
Kosovo and Metohija and the process of Serb suppression in the
province is not diminishing." She recalled that not a single church
had been destroyed even in WW2.
Coordinating Center for Kosovo chief Nebojsa Covic said that the
security situation in Kosovo had deteriorated and that Belgrade would
call on UNMIK chief Michael Steiner to request that KFOR begin
guarding Serb holy places and provide escorts for Serb pupils living
in enclaves," the Belgrade media reported.
UNMIK chief Steiner who visited the two destroyed churches with
Kosovo Premier Bajram Rexhepi announced that KFOR would consider
stepping up security.
===
FAMIGLIA DI CONTADINI BERSAGLIATA DA COLPI D'ARMA DA FUOCO
+++ SERBISCHE FAMILIE BEI FELDARBEIT BESCHOSSEN
KOSOVSKA VITINA. Albanische Banditen eröffneten gestern Feuer auf
eine serbische Familie, die ihr Feld nahe des Dorfes Vrbovac bei
Kosovska Vitina im östlichen Amselfeld bestellte. Nach ersten
Erkenntnissen gab es keine Verletzten, meldet der Kirchen- und
Volksrat von Gnjilane. STIMME KOSOVOS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 17. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
L'ATTENTATO CONTRO LE CHIESE E' STATO COMPIUTO "DA PROFESSIONISTI"
(KFOR)
+++ ANAN IN PRISTINA. "FACHMÄNNISCHE" KIRCHEN-ZERSTÖRER
PRISTINA. Der UN-Generalsekräter Kofi Anan traf heute in Pristina
ein, dem Verwaltungszentrum der von der NATO besetzten serbischen
Provinz Kosovo und Metochien. Anan will die Vertreter der
ethnisch-albanischen "Kosovo-Regierung" treffen. Der italienische
KFOR-General Fabio Mini sagte heute in Pristina, dass die gestern
hochgegangenen Sprengsätze in zwei orthodoxen Kirchen in
Metochien "fachmännisch verlegt worden" sind. Albanische Banditen
sprengten und plünderten rund 140 christliche Kirchen und Klöster
in Kosovo und Metochien seit dem NATO-Einmarsch 1999. Es handelt
sich ausschließlich um orthodoxe Heiligtümer, während die
katholischen Kirchen in der Provinz von der Wut der Gewalttäter
verschont blieben. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 18. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
UNMIK: NEL 1999 C'ERANO CAMPI DI CONCENTRAMENTO UCK CON PRIGIONIERI
SERBI IN KOSMET, ORA NON PIU'.
I 1944 DESAPARECIDOS VANNO DUNQUE CERCATI NELLE FOSSE COMUNI?
UNMIK OFFICIAL: NO CAMPS IN KOSOVO
GRACANICA, Nov. 13 (Beta) - The head of the UNMIK office for missing
and abducted persons, Jose Pablo Baraibar, said in Gracanica on Nov.
13, that the investigation being conducted by UNMIK and the Serbian
authorities has so far revealed that currently there are no camps in
the province where Serbs are being held.
During a meeting with representatives of the Association of Families
of the Missing and Abducted in Kosovo, Baraibar said that
"undoubtedly, private prisons and camps did exist in 1999," but he
added that according to the investigation, such camps no longer
existed.
Baraibar also said that the UNMIK office had not found any survivors
from the missing list, adding that so far, 4,800 bodies had been
exhumed in the province, of which 2,500 still had to be identified.
He stressed that investigation results have so far revealed that out
of 171 bodies discovered in the past three months, 35 belonged to
Serbs.
Baraibar also said that the search for missing persons would continue
in Kosovo and outside its borders.
The members of families of the missing and abducted Serbs have
fiercely criticized the hitherto results of the investigation. The
association requested that UNMIK and KFOR members be held accountable,
since the largest number of Serbs disappeared after their deployment
in the province in 1999. The association has a list of 1,944 missing
Serbs.
===
KOFI ANNAN DEDICA POCHI MINUTI AI DESAPARECIDOS SERBI DEL
KOSOVO-METOHIJA
Annan meets with family representatives of missing persons in Kosovo
BELGRADE, Nov 20 (Tanjug) - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan met in Belgrade late Tuesday, at Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica's request, with a delegation of family members of missing
persons in Kosovo-Metohija. Delegation member Simo Spasic told
reporters the meeting the family members "have been waiting for three
years" lasted ten minutes only.
"Are the lives of 1,300 people worth this much?" asked Spasic, adding
that the U.N. Secretary-General was offered a list of names of 300
"kidnappers", including the names of Kosovo Albanian community
leaders and former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army Hasim Taci
and Agim Ceku.
"It seems to me that they are more worried about the cooperation with
The Hague than about our tragedy," said Spasic, expressing his
dissatisfaction with the meeting with Annan, who had, according to
Spasic, expressed his regrets over the disappearance of Serbs, and
members of all other nationalities during the armed conflicts in the
Balkans.
=== appendice ===
http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table
=old§ion=current&issue=2002-11-09&id=2462
THE SPECTATOR (UK), Saturday, November 9, 2002 FEATURES
The black hole of Europe
Andrew Sutton on the miseries, corruption and human-rights abuses in
Kosovo, the UN's first-ever protectorate - Pristina
I reached what remained of the fire-ravaged train just as the downpour
started. Inside, two burly Kosovar Albanian railwaymen in orange
boiler suits sat on a twisted iron spar, smoking and sheltering from
the weather.
Before the war, this train took Serb men from their village to the
quarry where they mined for coal. Then, one day, KLA fighters prised
away a section of track near the northern town of Vushtrri, sending
the train down an embankment. The workers survived the wreck, but
snipers lay in wait.
'Some of them escaped,' one of the railwaymen said, and swore
obscenely.
Such are the levels of seething hatred still present in Kosovo. When
the United Nations arrived in 1999, it took on a province ravaged by
Milosevic's forces, and with an infrastructure bombed to rubble. The
job was never going to be easy, and, recognising that more was
required than the usual complement of peacekeepers, advisers and
itinerant statesmen, the UN took a momentous step: Kosovo became its
first-ever protectorate, a nation adopted by 185 parents.
Three years on, it is hard to find anyone, either local or
'international', in this wretched province who has a good word to say
about the organisation.
And it is not just the well-documented corruption and bungling that
have led some of Kosovo's graffiti-writers to daub anti-UN slogans
where once they scrawled fulsome thanks. Many of the province's
sorrows result from deliberate policies of the United Nations Mission
in Kosovo (Unmik); policies designed by technocrats for politicians.
Take an alarming example from the Unmik police. The 49-nation force
was cobbled together to show the locals how it's done, but the
trouble is, not all the boys in blue berets seem to know how it's done
themselves.
'You have people coming from some countries who don't know what it
means to really police. They haven't done it themselves. They get
here and they pass the testing,' said one officer, who asked not to be
named. 'Very few people are rejected, very few.' Never mind that some
of these policemen have never driven in their jobs before, or have
never worked in a city, or barely speak English (let alone Albanian).
It would be politically inconvenient to set the standard too high -
what if people were to start failing to reach it?
Worse, what if it turned out that some countries' police are better
trained than others? In the minds of the UN functionaries who set the
rules, these perils are terrifying. If in doubt, give the officer his
gun and hope for the best.
This policy has had consequences: recently a six-year-old girl and her
older brother were killed here, knocked down by a Ghanaian policeman
who lost control while driving his high-powered police car at more
than twice the speed limit. A short walk from Pristina's tiny airport,
there is a chilling sight. Behind a thin chain-link fence, row upon
row of wrecked red-and-white Toyotas bear tragic witness to the fact
that such accidents are not rare.
The car lot is only one of the many dirty secrets created by Unmik's
love of policy that is made for show. Last month the BBC Radio Four
programme Face the Facts reported on the unexploded ordnance that
still litters parts of Kosovo. The UN established a new acronym,
staffed it with bureaucrats and decided that the province would be
safe by 31 December 2001. Sure enough, when that day came, experts
from all mine-clearance charities were ordered to stop work, and the
UN declared the land 'pristine'. It was a convenient lie, and it has
ensured civilian deaths for many years to come.
Kosovo was meant to be a showcase of the world's governments working
together as equals to sow peace and goodwill, but the view from the
ground is very different. The Kosovo people have long harboured a
suspicion that Unmik is not here to help them, but to serve the UN's
own political imperatives. Stick together at all costs, Unmik's motto
became, whether it's working or not. That fatal car went, presumably,
to Unmik's mechanical graveyard. The driver was released after two
weeks in custody.
Migjen Kelmendi, a respected Kosovar intellectual turned newspaper
editor, concedes that many locals still hold unrealistic expectations
of Unmik, but he pleads for the officials to come down from 'their
towers'. 'We have never lived in a democracy - we don't know how it
looks. We need an interpreter to tell us how it looks in a normal
Western country,' he says.
But this is a very distorted vision of what a Western country should
look like. Three years after the UN set up shop here, unemployment
stands at 57 per cent and corruption is rife. Last month the head of
Kosovo's 'Ombudsperson' institution, Marek Antoni Nowicki, warned of
a human-rights 'black hole' opening up in Europe's backyard. In
private, his deputy, Donna Gomien, accuses the UN of indifference
towards human-rights abuses perpetrated by its own staff; of
effectively allowing personnel accused of brutality to shield behind a
wall of official silence. Cases are dealt with as internal
disciplinary matters, names are not divulged, and any disciplinary
action that is taken remains secret, even from the Ombudsperson
whose role it is to monitor abuses of authority.
'We have people coming in here saying, "I got beaten up by this guy
from Oklahoma who kept saying, 'I'm immune, I'm immune, you can't do
anything to me,' while he was breaking his teeth and his ribs,"' says
Ms Gomien. While cases such as that are rare, no provision for redress
exists for the victims of any Unmik or Nato agency or agent. 'These
people have nothing and they're told, "Sure you can have civil
restitution - go to Ohio or Islamabad, jurisdiction rests there now,
and, by the way, have you found an Urdu-speaking lawyer?"'
There are, of course, many dedicated and competent people within Unmik
and numerous other agencies and charities which are working hard for a
better Kosovo. People who travel thousands of miles from their
families to a land of power-cuts and water shortages. Their efforts -
and, of course, those of the Kosovo people - are helping to put the
province back on its feet.
But the lure of an 'international' salary, which can exceed that of a
US senator, ensures that many people come here for the wrong motives.
Those who are trying to build a better Kosovo often find themselves
hindered at every turn by Unmik's perverse bureaucratic practices. 'UN
volunteers are the hardest workers ...they are young, exuberant people
who really want to make a difference, so they are always working
hard,' says Eleanor Beardsley, a press officer. They are often
assigned the grimmest and most dangerous jobs, such as working in a
morgue at constant risk of HIV infection. But Unmik's best people can
never be promoted because they are not allowed to compete for jobs
held by a salaried official.
Migjen Kelmendi sums up the situation perfectly: 'We really need
participation and help of the international community, [but] it looks
as if they are bunkering themselves within their own reality. They are
starting to create a castle of their own.' Unlike the deaths of the
Serb workers, the fate of Kosovar people injured or killed by reckless
police, uncleared mines or an enraged soldier is the result not of
bloody vengeance, but of the studied indifference of bureaucrats who
refuse to see past their own utopian
'realities'. The UN has amply demonstrated that you do not need to pay
peanuts to get the three monkeys.
avvenimenti nella provincia di Kosovo-Metohija, e vengono qui
riportate solo come esempi delle informazioni negate alla pubblica
opinione.
IN APPENDICE:
"The black hole of Europe"
Andrew Sutton on the miseries, corruption and human-rights abuses in
Kosovo, the UN's first-ever protectorate - Pristina (THE SPECTATOR
9/11/2002)
=== * ===
DOPO LE "ELEZIONI", STEINER ACCUSATO DI MODIFICARE A POSTERIORI LE
CIRCOSCRIZIONI ELETTORALI ED I RISULTATI
+++ STEINER VERÄNDERT DIE WAHLBEZIRKE NACHTRÄGLICH
ZUBIN POTOK. Der Vorsitzende des Parlaments des Kreises Zubin
Potok, Slavisa Ristic, wirft dem Chef der UNMIK, Michael Steiner, vor.
Das er am Dienstag nach den lokalen Wahlen, durch verändern der
Wahlkreisbezirke, es ermöglicht hat, kleineren Parteien, die bei dem
am Wahltag geltenden Wahlgesetz, des proportionalen Wahlsystems
nicht über den Wahlzensus gekommen wären, und durch verändern
der Wahlbezirke es doch geschafft haben Abgeordnete ins Parlament
zu bekommen.
"Die Bekanntgabe der endgültigen Wahlergebnisse sollte am 31.
Oktober sein, aber Michael Steiner blockierte alles, veränderte die
Wahlbezirke und teilte den Parteien Abgeordnetenmandate zu, die
nicht die nötigen Stimmen erreicht haben.", sagte Slavisa Ristic zu
Tanjug. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 05. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
+++ STEINER SOLL WAHLRESULTATE VERÄNDERT HABEN
LEPOSAVIC/GNJILANE. Dr. Vuko Antonijevic, Mitglied der Partei DSS,
erklärte gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur Tanjug, dass UNMIK-Chef
Michael Steiner die endgültigen Resultate der Stadt Leposavic bei den
Kommunalwahlen in Kosovo und Metochien verändert hat, so dass die DSS
und der SNV keine Regierungskoalition bilden können. "Eigentlich hätte
man keine Wahlen gebraucht, da Steiner schon vor den Wahlen die
Mandate an Parteien und Initiativen verteilt hat die nicht durch den
proportionalen Wahlzensus gekommen wären", erklärte Antonijevic.
In den Orten Zubin Potok und Strpce wird der UNMIK-Chef ebenfalls
beschuldigt, die Wahlresultate verändert zu haben. Unterdessen
blockieren ca. 2000 ethnische Albaner das Stadtparlament von Novo
Brdo, welches seit Tagen von der UNMIK beschützt wird, weil sie über
den Wahlausgang unzufrieden sind. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 7. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
TERRORISMO: UCCISO AVVOCATO ALBANESE-KOSOVARO
+++ ALBANISCHER RECHTSANWALT ERSCHOSSEN
PEC. Gestern spät abends wurde vor seinem Haus in Pec der bekannte
Rechtsanwalt Ibish Hoti erschossen. Das Motiv und der Hergang des
Vorfalls sind noch nicht geklärt. Den Tod von Hoti, bestätigten auch
seine Familienangehörigen. Hoti war ein Rechtsanwalt des Fonds für
humanitäres Recht, welcher seinen Sitz in Belgrad hat. INETNEWS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 05. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
ESPLOSIONE DI FRONTE A CASA DI SERBI A VITINA
SERBIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF RASKA AND PRIZREN
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
INFORMATION SERVICE - November 05, 2002
ERP KIM Info-Service
EXPLOSION IN FRONT OF A SERB HOUSE IN KOSOVSKA VITINA
Serbs in Vitina disturbed by latest Albanian extremist attack
Gracanica, November 4, 2002
Serbian Orthodox priest from Vitina confirmed for the Diocese of Raska
and Prizren Information Service that today, Monday, November 4, at
13:30 hours a powerful explosion occurred in front of the house of
Aleksandar Jacovic (Jachovich) in Kosovska Vitina. No one was injured
and no significant material damage occurred during the attack;
however, the attack was caused great unrest among the remaining Serbs
in Vitina. The Jacovic family is currently living in the old parochial
house after their own house was burned down by the Albanians. However,
the Jacovices have no peace in their new residence, either; this is
the third time that Albanian extremists have planted explosives in
front of their home. The previous two attacks occurred on September 8
and September 28 of this year.
Currently only 250 of the total pre-war population of 3,450 Serb
residents remain in the town of Vitina. The Serb population has
largely abandoned the surrounding the villages and today there are
only about 3,500 Serbs in the entire municipality as compared to
almost 8,000 who lived here before the war. The Serbs who
still live in the town proper, mostly near the Orthodox church, are
exposed to frequent attacks and ethnic discrimination by the majority
Albanian population. A large number of Serb-owned houses and
commercial properties have been illegally usurped after the war while
the remaining Serbs are subject to constant pressure to sell their
property and leave town. The Serbs have no possibility of securing
employment nor do they have free access to medical institutions.
Freedom of movement for the Serb population outside the area where
they live is extremely limited even though people travel not
infrequently and at their own risk.
===
SACCHEGGIATA E DATA ALLE FIAMME CASA DI SERBI AD ORAHOVAC
RADIO KIM
Serb house in Orahovac set on fire
November 5, 2002
Today at approximately 13:00 hours the family home of Nebojsa and
Dragan Dedic was set on fire for the second time in the Serb part of
Orahovac after being previously looted, Radio KIM learned from Serb
sources. UNMIK police failed to determine the cause of the fire while
according to the Serb population this represents yet another in a
series of attacks on the remaining Serbs in Orahovac.
===
FERITO DA UN PROIETTILE QUATTORDICENNE SERBO A MITROVICA
B92, Belgrade
Serbian boy wounded in Kosovska Mitrovica
November 4, 2002
Kosovska Mitrovica (Beta) - Fourteen year-old Dragan Todorovic was
wounded on Sunday evening from a firearm in the northern part of
Kosovska Mitrovica in the quarter known as Bosnjacka Mahala. The boy
was targeted by an unknown attacker from a 9 millimeter handgun.
Todorovic, who was shot in the lower leg, was admitted and operated on
in Mitrovica Hospital and is not in life threatening danger. An
investigation was conducted by UNMIK police.
Danas, Belgrade
Boy wounded following removal of KFOR checkpoints
Not in life threatening danger
November 4, 2002
Kosovska Mitrovica (Tanjug) - The head of the Serb National Council of
Northern Kosovo, Dr. Milan Ivanovic, told Tanjug yesterday that the
wounding of 14 year-old Dragan Todorovic in Bosnjacka Mahala in
northern Kosovska Mitrovica was the result of the removal of the KFOR
checkpoints in this quarter where "Serbs are now unprotected from
Albanians".
"KFOR has been removing checkpoints for some time in this quarter
inhabited by Serbs, Albanians and Bosniacs, resulting in poorer
defense of the Serb population," assessed Dr. Ivanovic. He pointed out
that this was "yet another form of pressure by (UNMIK chief) Michael
Steiner on northern Mitrovica". Todorovic was wounded the night before
last from a handgun by a member of a group of Albanians passing by the
Silent Night (Tiha Noc) Cafe in Bosnjacka Mahala. "The boy was shot in
the right lower leg. He has been operated on in hospital and his
present condition is stable," said Dr. Ivanovic.
===
TROVATE BOMBE E MUNIZIONI A BUJANOVAC
+++ BOMBEN UND MUNITION GEFUNDEN
BUJANOVAC. In der Region des Dorfes Manjevac, an der
administrativen Grenze zwischen Serbien und Kosovo und
Metochien, wurden am gestrigen Mittwoch drei chinesische
Handgranaten, 42 Schuss des Kalibers 7,9 Millimeter und drei
leere Maschinengewehrmagazine gefunden, heißt es in einer
Meldung des Pressezentrums von Bujanovac. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 7. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
PROTESTA PER L'AGGRESSIONE AI DANNI DELLA SCRITTRICE DARINKA JEVTIC
+++ SCHRIFTSTELLERPROTEST WEGEN ANGRIFF
BELGRAD. Die Vereinigung der Schriftsteller Serbiens (UKS)
protestierte gestern wegen des barbarischen Angriffs auf die serbische
Schriftstellerin Darinka Jevtic aus Kosovo und Metochien und forderte
Freiheit und Frieden in dieser Region.
Die Schriftstellerin wurde am Samstag in Pristina angegriffen als sie
auf dem Weg zum orthodoxen Friedhof war um Kerzen anzuzünden.
Ethnisch-albanische Bauarbeiter einer in der Nähe gelegen Baustelle
bewarfen sie dabei mit Steinen und Ziegeln. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 7. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
"ETNICAMENTE RIPULITO" IL CONSIGLIO COMUNALE DELLA CITTA' KOSOVARA
PIU' "ETNICAMENTE MISTA" DI TUTTE
NO SERBS IN KOSOVSKA MITROVICA ASSEMBLY
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Nov. 6 (Beta) - The spokesman of the OSCE mission
in Kosovska Mitrovica, Bernard Vrban, stated on Nov. 6 that the Kosovo
Albanian parties have won all seats in the town assembly.
The local assembly has 41 deputies.
Vrban said that election results "have to be respected, whatever they
are".
Other national communities, the Serbs, Bosniacs and Romas, will not
have representatives in the local assembly. The Serbs in northern
Kosovska Mitrovica boycotted the Oct. 26 local elections.
Only 59 of the 8,600 registered Serb voters went to the ballot
stations.
===
SASSAIOLA CONTRO GRUPPO DI PROFUGHI SERBI
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/
20021107/ap_wo_en_po/kosovo_serbs_stoned_1
Serb refugees attacked by stone-hurling youths
Thu Nov 7, 1:11 PM ET
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia - Stone-hurling youths on Thursday attacked Serb
refugees being escorted by police on a tour of houses and property
they left behind when they fled Kosovo, an official said.
The eight Serbs were attacked by some 25 ethnic Albanians, most of
them in their late teens, in the area of Vitina, some 50 kilometers
(30 miles) east of the province's capital, Pristina, said U.N.
spokesman Andrea Angeli.
A Jordanian officer, among U.N. and local police escorting the group,
was injured by a stone that struck his head, and a Serb refugee was
slightly injured by the shards of a broken car window, Angeli said. A
U.N. police vehicle and a car belonging to a humanitarian organization
were damaged.
Police made one arrest after calming the situation, Angeli added.
The refugees were in the province as part of a U.N.-sponsored
go-and-see program aimed at encouraging those who fled to return.
Some 200,000 Serbs have left the province in war's aftermath in fear
of revenge attacks by majority ethnic Albanians avenging a crackdown
by Serb forces that left thousands of their kin killed. The U.N.
administration running the province has made their return a priority.
Although ethnically motivated incidents have decreased, tensions
between the ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority persist in the
southern Yugoslav province, which was put under U.N. and NATO control
in mid-1999.
ERP KIM Info-Service
SERB CONVOY STONED NEAR GNJILANE
Albanians stoned vehicles with Serbs brought by UMCOR to visit their
homes in the village of Grncar
Three people sustained light injuries
Gracanica
November 7, 2002
Temporarily displaced Serbs from the village of Grncar near Gnjilane
were brought today by the NGO UMCOR * to visit their village in order
to consider the possibility of returning to their homes. They were
accompanied by representatives of UMCOR from Belgrade, Mark Choonoo
and Nenad Ljubicic, the organizers; Sreco Vasic, a representative of
the NGO Voice of Kosovo and Metohija (Glas Kosova i Metohije); and two
moderators, both from Belgrade. After the visit as the convoy of
vehicles transporting the displaced Serbs exited the village they were
met by a group of local Albanians, who pelted the convoy with a shower
of stones. Two vehicles were damaged; two Serbs, Petar Dincic and
Zoran Petrovic, sustained light injuries, as did an UNMIK policeman
who was part of the escort.
* UMCOR = Humanitarian Agency of the United Methodist Church
http://www.umcor-ngo.org/english/countrys/serbia.htm
Ethnic Albanian extremists attack Serbs in Kosovo
KOSOVSKA VITINA, Nov 7 (Tanjug) - About 20 ethnic Albanian extremists
threw stones Thursday in the vicinity of Kosovska Vitina at a group
of eight Kosovo Serbs who had come to inspect their property under
UNMIK police escort. UNMIK spokesman Andre Angelli told Tanjug that
two police officers were injured and one Serb refugee was injured by
glass shards from a broken car window.
Two UNMIK police vehicles and one vehicle of a UN humanitarian
organization were damaged in the attack. UNMIK police intervened and
arrested one possible suspect, Angelli said. The Serbs, who had been
displaced from Kosovo, arrived in the Vitina area from central Serbia
to inspect their homes and to see whether they can return under a
special UN program planned for next year.
===
230MILA PROIETTILI SEQUESTRATI IN POCHI GIORNI NEL KOSOVO "DISARMATO"
DAL 1999
UN police in Kosovo seize 8.5 tons of ammunition
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Nov 9 (AFP) - UN police in Kosovo seized some
230,000 rounds of shotgun ammunition in three separate operations in
the past week, a UN spokesman said Saturday.
Andrea Angeli said the ammunition, weighing up to 8.5 tons, was mostly
manufactured in Serbia, but some of the rounds were also of Italian
make.
"The largest cargo, 185.000 rounds, was found in a truck coming from
southern Serbia into Kosovo," Angeli said. The remaining ammunition
was found in shops in the southern town of Urosevac and eastern town
of Gnjilane.
UN police say no arrests were made since no attempt had been made to
hide the ammunition.
According to Angeli, shotguns were used in most murders committed in
the province in recent months.
The ammunition will be destroyed in Bondsteel, the largest US military
base in Kosovo, in the coming weeks.
In September 140 shotguns were seized by UN border police and Kosovo
custom service after they were found hidden in a Bulgarian-registered
truck entering Kosovo from Macedonia.
Kosovo, a Serbian province mostly populated by ethnic Albanians, has
been under UN and NATO control since June 1999.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?lang=english
&version=standard&my_categories_class='News'&nav_
category=&nav_id=20074&order=priority&style=headlines
===
ANCHE A TIRANA CONTESTANO LA NUOVA COSTITUZIONE SERBO-MONTENEGRINA
TIRANA AGAINST INCLUSION OF KOSOVO-METOHIJA IN CONSTITUTIONAL CHARTER
TIRANA, Nov 9 (Tanjug) - Albanian Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta, who
is also Foreign Minister, has described as "biased all attempts to
include the issue of Kosovo into the preamble of the constitution of
Serbia and Montenegro".
Explaining the Albanian government's position regarding the draft
Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro, in which
Kosovo-Metohija is described as a part of the Republic of Serbia,
Meta told the Albanian news agency ATA that "such a text of the
Constitution is the right of the peoples of these two republics and
their governments to resolve problems linked to their joint future,"
but that this "has no connection whatsoever with the future of
Kosovo."
===
MINE ANTIUOMO PER TERRORIZZARE I SERBI RIMASTI
+++ KLOKOT: WIEDER LANDMIENE BEI DEM ORT KLOKOT GEFUNDEN KLOKOT. Der
Sprecher der Eparchie von Raska-Prizren meldete, dass 50 Meter von
dem Ort ,an dem vor einem Monat Svetlana Stankovic durch eine
Landmine umgekommen ist, wieder eine Landmiene gefunden worden ist.
Miro Nisic aus dem Ort Klokot hat die Landmine gegen 14 Uhr entdeckt
und sofort die KFOR-Truppen benachrichtigt. Die KFOR-Truppen
blockierten sofort die Straße von Vitina nach Klokot, sie wurde erst
heute Morgen gegen 14.30 für den Verkehr wieder freigegeben.
BEOGRAD.COM +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 12. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
STEINER (UNMIK): SULLO STATUS FUTURO DEL KOSOVO OGNI IPOTESI E' BUONA
Steiner says future status of Kosovo remains undecided
BERLIN, Nov 12 (Tanjug) - United Nations civilian mission in Kosovo
UNMIK chief Michael Steiner said in a speech delivered at Berlin's
Humboldt University that the future status of this province is still
undecided.
It is clear that things will not go back to the way they were before
1999 (when the UNMIK mission began), but there will not be a division
of the province, either, he said. Speaking in Berlin, where he met
today with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Steiner did not
specify when Kosovo's status could be decided by a new United Nations
Security Council resolution. No-one could say this at this time, he
said.
===
DOPO LE INGIURIE, I RAPPRESENTANTI SERBI NON VOGLIONO RIENTRARE NEL
"PARLAMENTO DEL KOSOVO"
Ivanovic, Savic will not attend presidency session
PRISTINA, Nov 12 (Tanjug) - Kosovo-Metohija parliament presidency
members belonging to the Return coalition Oliver Ivanovic and Gojko
Savic will not attend the presidency session on Tuesday, Return whip
Rada Trajkovic told Tanjug.
The coalition is protesting against the Kosovo parliament's adoption
of a declaration on the non-observation of the Constitutional Charter
of the future Serbian-Montenegrin state in Kosovo-Metohija.
Trajkovic said that the coalition would not appear at the next
parliament session on Thursday. She said that this would remain the
coalition's stand until they receive a public apology from parliament
speaker Nexhad Daci, who insulted them during the last parliament
session.
"Mr Daci may voice his stand as an MP, but cannot insult us in the
capacity of parliament speaker," Trajkovic said.
===
ALTRE DUE CHIESE CRISTIANO-ORTODOSSE RASE AL SUOLO
il manifesto - 19 Novembre 2002
Kosovo, distrutte due chiese ortodosse
Due attentati dinamitardi hanno distrutto domenica due chiese serbo
ortodosse in Kosovo. I due attentati (foto di Mario Boccia, chiesa
distrutta a Petric nel 2000), di cui ha riferito Andrea Angeli,
portavoce della missione Onu (Unmik) che amministra pro-tempore la
provincia ancora serba [sic], hanno avuto luogo alla vigilia della
visita del segretario Onu, Kofi Annan, da ieri a Pristina. Alle 6 di
mattina è saltata la chiesa di San Basilio di Ostrog, e poche ore
prima era stata devastata una chiesa a Istok. Il vescovo Artemije ha
denunciato sia la campagna terroristica che ha già distrutto 110
chiese ortodosse, sia
l'incredibile decisione Kfor-Nato di rimuovere i posti di controllo
dai siti ortodossi. E pensare che il governatore Onu Michael Steiner
amareggiato, promette «ricostruzione» e « massima vigilanza».
LINKS:
Albanian extremists blow up two Orthodox Churches in Kosovo
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_
id=2859917&startrow=1&date=2002-11-17&do_alert=0
Bishop Artemije: KFOR responsible for church attacks
http://www.kosovo.com/default4.html
Visiting damaged Serbian church in Kosovo, UN envoy pledges action
against religious vandalism
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567
ae00530132/a59716bed3f3e01849256c7500069ff0?OpenDocument
TWO SERB CHURCHES DESTROYED IN KOSOVO
PRISTINA,Nov17 (Beta)-Two Serbian Orthodox Christian churches were
demolished in explosions in Kosovo on Nov. 16 and Nov 17. The church
in Djurakovac was heavily damaged, while the other, in Ljubovo Selo,
was completely destroyed, UNMIK spokeswoman Andrea Angeli has told
BETA. No one was injured in the explosions and investigation is in
progress.
Since KFOR and UNMIK arrived in the province three and a half
years ago, more than a hundred Serb churches have been destroyed in
Kosovo.
Bishop Artemije of the Raska and Prizren diocese said that KFOR
and the international administration were the most responsible for the
latest attacks in Kosovo.
He said that the churches were destroyed because KFOR had stopped
guarding them, claiming that the level of security in Kosovo had
reached an enviable level.
Serb whip in the Kosovo Assembly Rada Trajkovic strongly condemned
the demolition of the two Serb churches and said that the act was the
result of KFOR's tolerance of "Albanian extremism and terrorism."
She told BETA that "Islamic fundamentalism has installed itself in
Kosovo and Metohija and the process of Serb suppression in the
province is not diminishing." She recalled that not a single church
had been destroyed even in WW2.
Coordinating Center for Kosovo chief Nebojsa Covic said that the
security situation in Kosovo had deteriorated and that Belgrade would
call on UNMIK chief Michael Steiner to request that KFOR begin
guarding Serb holy places and provide escorts for Serb pupils living
in enclaves," the Belgrade media reported.
UNMIK chief Steiner who visited the two destroyed churches with
Kosovo Premier Bajram Rexhepi announced that KFOR would consider
stepping up security.
===
FAMIGLIA DI CONTADINI BERSAGLIATA DA COLPI D'ARMA DA FUOCO
+++ SERBISCHE FAMILIE BEI FELDARBEIT BESCHOSSEN
KOSOVSKA VITINA. Albanische Banditen eröffneten gestern Feuer auf
eine serbische Familie, die ihr Feld nahe des Dorfes Vrbovac bei
Kosovska Vitina im östlichen Amselfeld bestellte. Nach ersten
Erkenntnissen gab es keine Verletzten, meldet der Kirchen- und
Volksrat von Gnjilane. STIMME KOSOVOS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 17. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
L'ATTENTATO CONTRO LE CHIESE E' STATO COMPIUTO "DA PROFESSIONISTI"
(KFOR)
+++ ANAN IN PRISTINA. "FACHMÄNNISCHE" KIRCHEN-ZERSTÖRER
PRISTINA. Der UN-Generalsekräter Kofi Anan traf heute in Pristina
ein, dem Verwaltungszentrum der von der NATO besetzten serbischen
Provinz Kosovo und Metochien. Anan will die Vertreter der
ethnisch-albanischen "Kosovo-Regierung" treffen. Der italienische
KFOR-General Fabio Mini sagte heute in Pristina, dass die gestern
hochgegangenen Sprengsätze in zwei orthodoxen Kirchen in
Metochien "fachmännisch verlegt worden" sind. Albanische Banditen
sprengten und plünderten rund 140 christliche Kirchen und Klöster
in Kosovo und Metochien seit dem NATO-Einmarsch 1999. Es handelt
sich ausschließlich um orthodoxe Heiligtümer, während die
katholischen Kirchen in der Provinz von der Wut der Gewalttäter
verschont blieben. TANJUG +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 18. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
===
UNMIK: NEL 1999 C'ERANO CAMPI DI CONCENTRAMENTO UCK CON PRIGIONIERI
SERBI IN KOSMET, ORA NON PIU'.
I 1944 DESAPARECIDOS VANNO DUNQUE CERCATI NELLE FOSSE COMUNI?
UNMIK OFFICIAL: NO CAMPS IN KOSOVO
GRACANICA, Nov. 13 (Beta) - The head of the UNMIK office for missing
and abducted persons, Jose Pablo Baraibar, said in Gracanica on Nov.
13, that the investigation being conducted by UNMIK and the Serbian
authorities has so far revealed that currently there are no camps in
the province where Serbs are being held.
During a meeting with representatives of the Association of Families
of the Missing and Abducted in Kosovo, Baraibar said that
"undoubtedly, private prisons and camps did exist in 1999," but he
added that according to the investigation, such camps no longer
existed.
Baraibar also said that the UNMIK office had not found any survivors
from the missing list, adding that so far, 4,800 bodies had been
exhumed in the province, of which 2,500 still had to be identified.
He stressed that investigation results have so far revealed that out
of 171 bodies discovered in the past three months, 35 belonged to
Serbs.
Baraibar also said that the search for missing persons would continue
in Kosovo and outside its borders.
The members of families of the missing and abducted Serbs have
fiercely criticized the hitherto results of the investigation. The
association requested that UNMIK and KFOR members be held accountable,
since the largest number of Serbs disappeared after their deployment
in the province in 1999. The association has a list of 1,944 missing
Serbs.
===
KOFI ANNAN DEDICA POCHI MINUTI AI DESAPARECIDOS SERBI DEL
KOSOVO-METOHIJA
Annan meets with family representatives of missing persons in Kosovo
BELGRADE, Nov 20 (Tanjug) - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan met in Belgrade late Tuesday, at Yugoslav President Vojislav
Kostunica's request, with a delegation of family members of missing
persons in Kosovo-Metohija. Delegation member Simo Spasic told
reporters the meeting the family members "have been waiting for three
years" lasted ten minutes only.
"Are the lives of 1,300 people worth this much?" asked Spasic, adding
that the U.N. Secretary-General was offered a list of names of 300
"kidnappers", including the names of Kosovo Albanian community
leaders and former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army Hasim Taci
and Agim Ceku.
"It seems to me that they are more worried about the cooperation with
The Hague than about our tragedy," said Spasic, expressing his
dissatisfaction with the meeting with Annan, who had, according to
Spasic, expressed his regrets over the disappearance of Serbs, and
members of all other nationalities during the armed conflicts in the
Balkans.
=== appendice ===
http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table
=old§ion=current&issue=2002-11-09&id=2462
THE SPECTATOR (UK), Saturday, November 9, 2002 FEATURES
The black hole of Europe
Andrew Sutton on the miseries, corruption and human-rights abuses in
Kosovo, the UN's first-ever protectorate - Pristina
I reached what remained of the fire-ravaged train just as the downpour
started. Inside, two burly Kosovar Albanian railwaymen in orange
boiler suits sat on a twisted iron spar, smoking and sheltering from
the weather.
Before the war, this train took Serb men from their village to the
quarry where they mined for coal. Then, one day, KLA fighters prised
away a section of track near the northern town of Vushtrri, sending
the train down an embankment. The workers survived the wreck, but
snipers lay in wait.
'Some of them escaped,' one of the railwaymen said, and swore
obscenely.
Such are the levels of seething hatred still present in Kosovo. When
the United Nations arrived in 1999, it took on a province ravaged by
Milosevic's forces, and with an infrastructure bombed to rubble. The
job was never going to be easy, and, recognising that more was
required than the usual complement of peacekeepers, advisers and
itinerant statesmen, the UN took a momentous step: Kosovo became its
first-ever protectorate, a nation adopted by 185 parents.
Three years on, it is hard to find anyone, either local or
'international', in this wretched province who has a good word to say
about the organisation.
And it is not just the well-documented corruption and bungling that
have led some of Kosovo's graffiti-writers to daub anti-UN slogans
where once they scrawled fulsome thanks. Many of the province's
sorrows result from deliberate policies of the United Nations Mission
in Kosovo (Unmik); policies designed by technocrats for politicians.
Take an alarming example from the Unmik police. The 49-nation force
was cobbled together to show the locals how it's done, but the
trouble is, not all the boys in blue berets seem to know how it's done
themselves.
'You have people coming from some countries who don't know what it
means to really police. They haven't done it themselves. They get
here and they pass the testing,' said one officer, who asked not to be
named. 'Very few people are rejected, very few.' Never mind that some
of these policemen have never driven in their jobs before, or have
never worked in a city, or barely speak English (let alone Albanian).
It would be politically inconvenient to set the standard too high -
what if people were to start failing to reach it?
Worse, what if it turned out that some countries' police are better
trained than others? In the minds of the UN functionaries who set the
rules, these perils are terrifying. If in doubt, give the officer his
gun and hope for the best.
This policy has had consequences: recently a six-year-old girl and her
older brother were killed here, knocked down by a Ghanaian policeman
who lost control while driving his high-powered police car at more
than twice the speed limit. A short walk from Pristina's tiny airport,
there is a chilling sight. Behind a thin chain-link fence, row upon
row of wrecked red-and-white Toyotas bear tragic witness to the fact
that such accidents are not rare.
The car lot is only one of the many dirty secrets created by Unmik's
love of policy that is made for show. Last month the BBC Radio Four
programme Face the Facts reported on the unexploded ordnance that
still litters parts of Kosovo. The UN established a new acronym,
staffed it with bureaucrats and decided that the province would be
safe by 31 December 2001. Sure enough, when that day came, experts
from all mine-clearance charities were ordered to stop work, and the
UN declared the land 'pristine'. It was a convenient lie, and it has
ensured civilian deaths for many years to come.
Kosovo was meant to be a showcase of the world's governments working
together as equals to sow peace and goodwill, but the view from the
ground is very different. The Kosovo people have long harboured a
suspicion that Unmik is not here to help them, but to serve the UN's
own political imperatives. Stick together at all costs, Unmik's motto
became, whether it's working or not. That fatal car went, presumably,
to Unmik's mechanical graveyard. The driver was released after two
weeks in custody.
Migjen Kelmendi, a respected Kosovar intellectual turned newspaper
editor, concedes that many locals still hold unrealistic expectations
of Unmik, but he pleads for the officials to come down from 'their
towers'. 'We have never lived in a democracy - we don't know how it
looks. We need an interpreter to tell us how it looks in a normal
Western country,' he says.
But this is a very distorted vision of what a Western country should
look like. Three years after the UN set up shop here, unemployment
stands at 57 per cent and corruption is rife. Last month the head of
Kosovo's 'Ombudsperson' institution, Marek Antoni Nowicki, warned of
a human-rights 'black hole' opening up in Europe's backyard. In
private, his deputy, Donna Gomien, accuses the UN of indifference
towards human-rights abuses perpetrated by its own staff; of
effectively allowing personnel accused of brutality to shield behind a
wall of official silence. Cases are dealt with as internal
disciplinary matters, names are not divulged, and any disciplinary
action that is taken remains secret, even from the Ombudsperson
whose role it is to monitor abuses of authority.
'We have people coming in here saying, "I got beaten up by this guy
from Oklahoma who kept saying, 'I'm immune, I'm immune, you can't do
anything to me,' while he was breaking his teeth and his ribs,"' says
Ms Gomien. While cases such as that are rare, no provision for redress
exists for the victims of any Unmik or Nato agency or agent. 'These
people have nothing and they're told, "Sure you can have civil
restitution - go to Ohio or Islamabad, jurisdiction rests there now,
and, by the way, have you found an Urdu-speaking lawyer?"'
There are, of course, many dedicated and competent people within Unmik
and numerous other agencies and charities which are working hard for a
better Kosovo. People who travel thousands of miles from their
families to a land of power-cuts and water shortages. Their efforts -
and, of course, those of the Kosovo people - are helping to put the
province back on its feet.
But the lure of an 'international' salary, which can exceed that of a
US senator, ensures that many people come here for the wrong motives.
Those who are trying to build a better Kosovo often find themselves
hindered at every turn by Unmik's perverse bureaucratic practices. 'UN
volunteers are the hardest workers ...they are young, exuberant people
who really want to make a difference, so they are always working
hard,' says Eleanor Beardsley, a press officer. They are often
assigned the grimmest and most dangerous jobs, such as working in a
morgue at constant risk of HIV infection. But Unmik's best people can
never be promoted because they are not allowed to compete for jobs
held by a salaried official.
Migjen Kelmendi sums up the situation perfectly: 'We really need
participation and help of the international community, [but] it looks
as if they are bunkering themselves within their own reality. They are
starting to create a castle of their own.' Unlike the deaths of the
Serb workers, the fate of Kosovar people injured or killed by reckless
police, uncleared mines or an enraged soldier is the result not of
bloody vengeance, but of the studied indifference of bureaucrats who
refuse to see past their own utopian
'realities'. The UN has amply demonstrated that you do not need to pay
peanuts to get the three monkeys.