CRISIS IN YUGOSLAVIA

 

 

CRISIS IN YUGOSLAVIA: SERBIAN PERSECUTION OF ALBANIANS IN KOSOVA

BACKGROUND

Kosova lies in the south of Yugoslavia, bordered by Serbia proper on the North and Albania on the south. Over 90% of its 2 million people are of Albanian extraction, and most of the rest are Serbs. Albanians also live in other provinces of Yugoslavia: Macedonia, 1 million; Serbia proper, 100,000; and Montenegro, 50,000.

The enmity of Serbs for Albanians is historic. Kosova has the misfortune of being the site of Serbia’s greatest national shrine, Kosova PoIje, the FieId of Blackbirds” where the flower of Serbian chivalry fell before the Turks in 1389. Ironically, the Christian Albanians fought side by side with the Serbs in that great bathe, which ended Serbia’s hopes of being a dominant power in medieval Europe.

THE KOSOVA PROBLEM SINCE WW II
The 1946 Yugoslav Constitution recognized the separate political identity of Kosova. At the same time it divided Albanian-inhabited lands among Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro. In 1963, under the influence of Serbian secret police boss Alexander Rankovic, Kosova was incorporated as a commune in Serbia In 1974, after Rankovic’s fall, Kosova was reinstated as an autonomous province of Serbia, and given adequate representation in Yugoslav Federal bodies.

Increasing persecution by Serbian government troops led in 1981 to massive student demonstration in Kosova. The Serbian police and troops killed at least 22 Albanians, with thousands more beaten, wounded or arrested.

Serbian determination to strip Kosova of all remaining self-government accelerated the disorders. In 1989, the Serbian overlords forced the Kosova parliament to vote away its own powers, as Yugoslav tanks patrolled the street. Six days of Rioting ensued, with over 100 Albanians killed and more than 900 arrested.

In April 1990, facing more demonstrations, Serbia passed a special law extending prior emergency measures. The Kosova Assembly responded on July 2 with a declaration of independence. Three days later Serbia suspended the Assembly. Serbia also seized some 75 enterprises, including hospitals and energy plants. On September 5, after a general strike, the dissolved Assembly met secretly, proclaimed Kosova a Republic within the Yugoslav federation, and adopted a Constitution. By September 17 its 111 Albanian members were arrested or had fled into hiding or exile.

On September 28, 1990 Serbia adopted a new Constitution for all of Serbia, including Kosova, which completely eliminated all Kosova autonomy. As of mid-1991, all of Kosova’s police, judiciary, economic, social, educational and cultural activities are firmly• under Serbian control.

Under this control, Serbian police have expelled nearly all Albanian physicians, dismissed 7000 students, replaced Albanian judges with Serbs, and engaged in random beating and house searches, some involving killings. The Serbian government closed Albanian radio and television and has promoted anti-Albanian apartheid in the region. The new Serbian judges named by the Communist Party have been given life tenure.

The tremendous amounts of human rights abuses after the 1944-45 Communist takeover of all Albanian-inhabited areas resulted in thousands of deaths, jailings and torture of the Albanian people. From 1981 to 1988, official statistics admit the arrest and jailing of over 7000 persons, and the incredible figure of 586,000 Albanians who have gone through the hands of the police for one reason or another. During 1989 and 1990, demonstrators protesting the constitutional changes forced by Serbia on Kosova were again met by brutal police force with some 99 dying as of March 31, 1990. The Serbian Communist regime has created a “colonial” atmosphere in Kosova reminiscent of the prewar colonial governments in Africa and Asia.

Other Coercive and Abusive Methods Used by the Serbian Communist Regime to Subjugate the Albanians in Kosova

Policies of economic strangulation have been included in Serbia’s takeover of Kosova. The Kosova economy has been integrated into that of Serbia. “Compulsory administrationa has been imposed on most of Kosova’s economic centers (over 100) resulting in the collapse of Kosova’s economy. Over 75,000 Albanian families have no members employed. That could mean as many as 400,000 to 500,000 Albanians suffering from food shortages, and there is a very real danger of starvation. Many believe that the Serbian Government is intentionally trying to bring the Albanian population to its knees through hunger.

Some 239 Albanian intellectuals were “isolated” during 1990 alone, including beatings, torture and humiliation.

People have been kidnapped and their lives threatened for refusing to cooperate with the police. Further, the Serbian Government is openly distributing weapons to the Serbian minority in Kosova, while collecting legally possessed weapons from the Albanians. There is great danger of a completely lopsided bloody civil war or even a massacre in Kosova.

Serbian officials say the Kosova purges are required to remove from responsible positions persons who refuse to recognize that Kosova is subject to laws of Serbia. This position rests on the false premise that Kosova’s autonomy was curtailed in accordance with lawful constitutional procedures.

Recommendations

The Albanian American Civic League urges all friends of democracy and human rights to join in support of the following recommendations:

1. President Bush and Department of State should continually raise the issue of Serbian human rights abuses and violation of the Helsinki Accords in all international forums, such as the United Nations Human Rights Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

2. The United States should demand the creation of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry to study, convene public hearings and report on the situation in Kosova, as soon as possible.

3. The United States government should refuse any further aid and Ex-Im Bank loan guarantees to Yugoslavia, and decline to support loans from the IMF and World Bank, until the Serbian government restores full human rights to the Kosovars, permits democratic self-government in Kosova, releases all political prisoners and withdraws army and state terrorist units from Kosova.

4. The United States government ought to express its support for the creation of Kosova as a full Republic within the Yugoslav federation or confederation, including a special effort to encourage economic growth, health care and educational opportunity within Kosova once that status has been achieved.

5. Organizations fostering freedom and democracy in the world ought to make a special effort to reach out to kosova’s Albanian democratic leaders, inviting them to international conferences where their story can be more widely heard.

6. The Voice of America and Radio Free Europe should make a special effort to bring the facts of Serbian repression in Kosova to all their European listeners.