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16 April 1999
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Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Kosovo briefings, 16 April 1999
Situation of Human Rights in Kosovo,
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Mme Chairperson, Distinguished delegates,
One week ago I had the opportunity to brief you on the activities undertaken by my Office in regard to the crisis in Kosovo, and to present to you some of the early results of our work on the ground. Today I would like to update you on developments in the past week pursuant to Resolution 1999/1 which you adopted on Tuesday.
The movements of the Special Rapporteur, my personal Representative, and OHCHR staff can be summarized as follows:
(A) The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Jiri Dienstbier, visited Skopje from the 8th to 14th and had a number of meetings with institutional partners, as well as with persons who briefed him on the situation.
(B) My personal Representative, Mr. Michel Moussalli, in addition to working with the Special Rapporteur, also held meetings and interviews and heard personal testimonies from refugees in Skopje. He then travelled on to Tirana, accompanied by OHCHR staff. In
Tirana, he met institutional partners and also persons able to provide information about the situation in and around Kosovo.
(C) There are now seven OHCHR staff in Skopje; six OHCHR staff in Tirana; two OHCHR staff in Podgorica. Two of the OHCHR staff in Tirana plan to join the two staff already in Montenegro. Thanks to offers of assistance from the Governments of Switzerland and Norway, we hope to augment these numbers soon. We are also grateful to the Governments of Germany and the Netherlands for financial assistance for this emergency redeployment. Other governments have also indicated that they may assist.
OHCHR staff have been establishing contacts with local human rights and other organizations that can assist staff in identifying credible witnesses able to analyze the situation and provide recent information and verification of allegations of human rights violations. In addition, staff have carried out interviews with refugees in the camps and villages. Human rights data is being collected and coordinated with other organizations such as the OSCE and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to avoid duplication and to maximize the effect of our efforts. Staff are also occupied with the logistics of establishing our presence in the three locations.
As I have stated previously to the Commission, the purpose of our presence on the ground, and of our deployment of staff to the three cities I mentioned, is to gather information on the human rights situation, to consult with institutional partners about that situation, and to report to this Commission. The factual profile of developments over the past week may be summarized as follows:
Refugees and Displaced Persons
Dennis McNamara of UNHCR will give details of the over half a million people who have fled Kosovo province. The number of internally displaced persons within Kosovo is estimated at several hundred thousands, and thousands of them are believed to be in hiding, spending the nights without shelter in the freezing cold with very little or no food and fresh water.
OHCHR staff report that there are indications that thousands of people are hiding in the forests and icy mountain areas in central and southern Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians express great concern at the lack of food and security of these IDPs and have urged the international community to assist them. This is particularly alarming in view of reports that more than half of the people forced out of their homes in Kosovo are children.
Ethnic Cleansing
Detailed accounts of serious human rights violations, allegedly perpetrated in Kosovo by Serbian police and paramilitary forces, continue to be received and collected by OHCHR teams in the field. Recently arriving Kosovo Albanians continue to report that they were forced to leave at gunpoint, in some cases following threats from paramilitary forces, regular police or gangs of armed and often masked Serb civilians. There are also reports of people fleeing or being displaced due to aerial military action.
Refugees interviewed at the Brazda camp stated they had been ordered to leave their homes in Pristina by armed special police forces and that they had been given five minutes notice. Some of them said that notes had been placed on the front doors of their apartment buildings, identifying the Albanians living there. In some cases the keys of the house and identity papers of the whole family were confiscated by the police. Many persons said that they knew that their houses had been looted after their departure.
According to refugees who arrived in the past few days, villages in Kosovo are being emptied of Albanian inhabitants.
A doctor from Obilic stated that on 24 March, when he was on his way home to Grobovac, his bus was stopped by the police. Men wearing masks entered the bus, one of them pointed his gun toward the doctor and, after searching him, confiscated the stamp with his physician=s legitimation, hit him and ordered him to go. The man stated that after the bombing started, paramilitary forces took control of Pristina. All streets were blocked and no-one dared to venture out or go to work. On 27 March, paramilitaries came to his neighbourhood, ordering everyone to leave their homes immediately.
Arbitrary and Summary Executions
In the last few days there have been alarming reports of large-scale summary executions of ethnic Albanians in four identified locations (Djakovica, Orahovac, Ljubenic, and Kotlina). Cases of individual arbitrary killings continue to be reported. The Special Rapporteur and my personal Representative have received testimonies from refugees about such killings.
A 65 year old man, who was a judge in Pristina, reported that on 27
March paramilitaries broke into his house and his entire family was forced out. They were all searched and their ID papers, money and valuables were confiscated. Together with other people from their neighbourhood, they were ordered to walk to the Pristina railway station. On the way to the station, a woman carrying a baby tried to run away. One of the paramilitaries immediately opened fire and shot her dead. The fate of the infant is not known.
OHCHR staff are now interviewing persons who have witnessed summary executions. One refugee we interviewed had found the body of an Albanian colleague killed by gunfire and decapitated. Witnesses further report that in some villages, entire families have been killed. Some others have reportedly been killed by sniper fire.
Treatment of Women
A witness interviewed reported that while on the train to the Macedonian border, when the train stopped in Kosovo Polje he saw three police in standard blue camouflage uniform take three Albanian females aged between 18 and 22, into another railway compartment. He heard one police officer saying AYou have no documents, we=ll have to punish you.@ Another witness testified that Serb police threatened to undress her sister if she refused to hand over all her money.
Other reports give accounts of the rape of ethnic Albanian women and girls in Kosovo, especially in Djakovica. OHCHR staff is seeking reliable accounts from women refugees. To that end, staff are contacting local women and children=s NGOs and have made contacts with some female refugee doctors who will assist OHCHR in identifying women and children to interview.
Treatment of Children
Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict reported to the Commission yesterday on the situation of children. He expressed grave concern about the situation of children who have remained in Kosovo and reported that many children have been traumatized by the violence and expulsion and the killings they have witnessed.
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
We have received reports that groups of expellees have been directed by the regular Serbian army (VJ) to certain locations to be used as human shields. One such report concerned an ammunition depot (Fabrika E Gypave) near Urosevac, where persons were directed by the VJ stating they would have to stay there to prevent NATO bombing. OHCHR staff will continue to interview persons from Urosevac about these allegations over the next few days.
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
There is widespread reporting of separation of family members, particularly young male members of the family. These family members have not been seen or traced.
Civilians killed or wounded in military action
A significant number of innocent civilians have been killed in the course of military action. On 13th April, for example, a train was hit by an air strike in southern Serbia. On 14th April about seventy five internally displaced persons were also killed in aerial military action. The Government of FRY has claimed that 500 civilians have been killed as a result of aerial military action.
Conclusion
In closing, I call again on the responsible authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well as on the international community to take all necessary measures to put an end to violations of fundamental human rights of the people of Kosovo, and in particular to protect the lives and security of all civilians and non-combatants in the area. I join the call made by the Secretary-General to release the two Australian humanitarian workers immediately. I also encourage the UN and other international humanitarian agencies and national governments to keep up their efforts to alleviate the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been forced to leave their homes. I will continue to keep the Commission informed on future developments in the coming weeks. I once again strongly urge that all efforts be intensified to achieve a peaceful resolution of the situation.
I thank you.
Human Rights, Kosovo briefings, 16 April 1999
Situation of Human Rights in Kosovo,
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Mme Chairperson, Distinguished delegates,
One week ago I had the opportunity to brief you on the activities undertaken by my Office in regard to the crisis in Kosovo, and to present to you some of the early results of our work on the ground. Today I would like to update you on developments in the past week pursuant to Resolution 1999/1 which you adopted on Tuesday.
The movements of the Special Rapporteur, my personal Representative, and OHCHR staff can be summarized as follows:
(A) The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Jiri Dienstbier, visited Skopje from the 8th to 14th and had a number of meetings with institutional partners, as well as with persons who briefed him on the situation.
(B) My personal Representative, Mr. Michel Moussalli, in addition to working with the Special Rapporteur, also held meetings and interviews and heard personal testimonies from refugees in Skopje. He then travelled on to Tirana, accompanied by OHCHR staff. In
Tirana, he met institutional partners and also persons able to provide information about the situation in and around Kosovo.
(C) There are now seven OHCHR staff in Skopje; six OHCHR staff in Tirana; two OHCHR staff in Podgorica. Two of the OHCHR staff in Tirana plan to join the two staff already in Montenegro. Thanks to offers of assistance from the Governments of Switzerland and Norway, we hope to augment these numbers soon. We are also grateful to the Governments of Germany and the Netherlands for financial assistance for this emergency redeployment. Other governments have also indicated that they may assist.
OHCHR staff have been establishing contacts with local human rights and other organizations that can assist staff in identifying credible witnesses able to analyze the situation and provide recent information and verification of allegations of human rights violations. In addition, staff have carried out interviews with refugees in the camps and villages. Human rights data is being collected and coordinated with other organizations such as the OSCE and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to avoid duplication and to maximize the effect of our efforts. Staff are also occupied with the logistics of establishing our presence in the three locations.
As I have stated previously to the Commission, the purpose of our presence on the ground, and of our deployment of staff to the three cities I mentioned, is to gather information on the human rights situation, to consult with institutional partners about that situation, and to report to this Commission. The factual profile of developments over the past week may be summarized as follows:
Refugees and Displaced Persons
Dennis McNamara of UNHCR will give details of the over half a million people who have fled Kosovo province. The number of internally displaced persons within Kosovo is estimated at several hundred thousands, and thousands of them are believed to be in hiding, spending the nights without shelter in the freezing cold with very little or no food and fresh water.
OHCHR staff report that there are indications that thousands of people are hiding in the forests and icy mountain areas in central and southern Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians express great concern at the lack of food and security of these IDPs and have urged the international community to assist them. This is particularly alarming in view of reports that more than half of the people forced out of their homes in Kosovo are children.
Ethnic Cleansing
Detailed accounts of serious human rights violations, allegedly perpetrated in Kosovo by Serbian police and paramilitary forces, continue to be received and collected by OHCHR teams in the field. Recently arriving Kosovo Albanians continue to report that they were forced to leave at gunpoint, in some cases following threats from paramilitary forces, regular police or gangs of armed and often masked Serb civilians. There are also reports of people fleeing or being displaced due to aerial military action.
Refugees interviewed at the Brazda camp stated they had been ordered to leave their homes in Pristina by armed special police forces and that they had been given five minutes notice. Some of them said that notes had been placed on the front doors of their apartment buildings, identifying the Albanians living there. In some cases the keys of the house and identity papers of the whole family were confiscated by the police. Many persons said that they knew that their houses had been looted after their departure.
According to refugees who arrived in the past few days, villages in Kosovo are being emptied of Albanian inhabitants.
A doctor from Obilic stated that on 24 March, when he was on his way home to Grobovac, his bus was stopped by the police. Men wearing masks entered the bus, one of them pointed his gun toward the doctor and, after searching him, confiscated the stamp with his physician=s legitimation, hit him and ordered him to go. The man stated that after the bombing started, paramilitary forces took control of Pristina. All streets were blocked and no-one dared to venture out or go to work. On 27 March, paramilitaries came to his neighbourhood, ordering everyone to leave their homes immediately.
Arbitrary and Summary Executions
In the last few days there have been alarming reports of large-scale summary executions of ethnic Albanians in four identified locations (Djakovica, Orahovac, Ljubenic, and Kotlina). Cases of individual arbitrary killings continue to be reported. The Special Rapporteur and my personal Representative have received testimonies from refugees about such killings.
A 65 year old man, who was a judge in Pristina, reported that on 27
March paramilitaries broke into his house and his entire family was forced out. They were all searched and their ID papers, money and valuables were confiscated. Together with other people from their neighbourhood, they were ordered to walk to the Pristina railway station. On the way to the station, a woman carrying a baby tried to run away. One of the paramilitaries immediately opened fire and shot her dead. The fate of the infant is not known.
OHCHR staff are now interviewing persons who have witnessed summary executions. One refugee we interviewed had found the body of an Albanian colleague killed by gunfire and decapitated. Witnesses further report that in some villages, entire families have been killed. Some others have reportedly been killed by sniper fire.
Treatment of Women
A witness interviewed reported that while on the train to the Macedonian border, when the train stopped in Kosovo Polje he saw three police in standard blue camouflage uniform take three Albanian females aged between 18 and 22, into another railway compartment. He heard one police officer saying AYou have no documents, we=ll have to punish you.@ Another witness testified that Serb police threatened to undress her sister if she refused to hand over all her money.
Other reports give accounts of the rape of ethnic Albanian women and girls in Kosovo, especially in Djakovica. OHCHR staff is seeking reliable accounts from women refugees. To that end, staff are contacting local women and children=s NGOs and have made contacts with some female refugee doctors who will assist OHCHR in identifying women and children to interview.
Treatment of Children
Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict reported to the Commission yesterday on the situation of children. He expressed grave concern about the situation of children who have remained in Kosovo and reported that many children have been traumatized by the violence and expulsion and the killings they have witnessed.
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
We have received reports that groups of expellees have been directed by the regular Serbian army (VJ) to certain locations to be used as human shields. One such report concerned an ammunition depot (Fabrika E Gypave) near Urosevac, where persons were directed by the VJ stating they would have to stay there to prevent NATO bombing. OHCHR staff will continue to interview persons from Urosevac about these allegations over the next few days.
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
There is widespread reporting of separation of family members, particularly young male members of the family. These family members have not been seen or traced.
Civilians killed or wounded in military action
A significant number of innocent civilians have been killed in the course of military action. On 13th April, for example, a train was hit by an air strike in southern Serbia. On 14th April about seventy five internally displaced persons were also killed in aerial military action. The Government of FRY has claimed that 500 civilians have been killed as a result of aerial military action.
Conclusion
In closing, I call again on the responsible authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well as on the international community to take all necessary measures to put an end to violations of fundamental human rights of the people of Kosovo, and in particular to protect the lives and security of all civilians and non-combatants in the area. I join the call made by the Secretary-General to release the two Australian humanitarian workers immediately. I also encourage the UN and other international humanitarian agencies and national governments to keep up their efforts to alleviate the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been forced to leave their homes. I will continue to keep the Commission informed on future developments in the coming weeks. I once again strongly urge that all efforts be intensified to achieve a peaceful resolution of the situation.
I thank you.