 |
|||||||
|
February 22, 2004 ERP KiM Newsletter 22-02-04 Outcry over murders in Kosovo Serbian journalists today refused to accompany UN governor Harri Holkeri and Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova on a photo-opportunity tour of thirty Serb families who have been repatriated to villages in the Klina district. The local Serbs were openly hostile, greeting Holkeri and Rugova with banners carrying slogans such as "We want the truth told," "We are imprisoned" and "Give us our freedom". Kosovo today
in photos
This newsletter is available on our ERP
KIM Web-site: Serbian journalists today refused to accompany UN governor Harri Holkeri and Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova on a photo-opportunity tour of thirty Serb families who have been repatriated to villages in the Klina district. The local Serbs were openly hostile, greeting Holkeri and Rugova with banners carrying slogans such as "We want the truth told," "We are imprisoned" and "Give us our freedom".
ERPKIM Info-Service
Nowicki: UNMIK police reliability at stake
FoNet News Agency,
Belgrade
Nowicki said that the Ombudsperson's Office had questioned the investigation of the attack on the Nis Express bus near Podujevo, which resulted in the death of 14 Serbs, including one infant, and still remained unsolved by police three years later. "It's not important that the police respond to the institution or me but to the families of the victims and the public," said Nowicki. He added that it was very important for the public to have some insight into what had been done in three years. Nowicki stated with regret that after the murders is Staro Gracko, where 14 Serb harvesters were massacred in 1999, as well as after murders of Serbs in Gorazdevac, Obilic and Podujevo, UNMIK police officials only made statements and this was the only news the general public got. "It is important that the public is informed because the reliability of the UNMIK police is at stake," concluded Nowicki Despite all Mr. FEHLER is still UNMIK police head In any democratic country such a terrible record of crimes during the so called peacetime would immediately bring about resignations of the leading persons in Police and justice. However, in Kosovo other rules are in force. The chief of UNMIK police a German Mr. Stephan Feller, often called by Serbs Mr. Failure (Fehler in German means a flaw, error or failure) not only remains the head of impotent UNMIK police but denies any responsibility for the terrible situation in the police and justice.
ERPKIM Info-Service So far unresolved major massacres of Serb civilians in post-war Kosovo under UN and KFOR protectorate: 1. Harvest Massacre: 22 July 99 - 14 Serb
farmers muredered in Staro Gracko, near Lipljan. Despite Serb
testimonies that the murderers came from the neighboring Albanian
village of Mali Alas no one has ever been brought to justice despite UN
Chief promise that they would be found 2. Blowing up of Nis-express bus 17 February 2001
Livadice nr. Podujevo - After the terrorist attack on a Serb civilian
bus (Nis-express) in which 11 people were killed (two of them children)
and 40 wounded a few Kosovo Albanian suspects have been arrested by UN
police. The main suspect Florim Ejupi is direcly linked to the circles
of Kosovo Albanian organized crime, close to the former KLA and its
successor UN/NATO sponosred Kosovo Protection Corps. Despite all
security measures Ejupi ran away from the American detention facility in
Camp Bondsteel. British Sunday Times reveals in its article by Bob
Graham (July 29, 2001: Sunday Times: British troops' error led to bus
bomb) that "UN sources believe that Florim Ejupi had been working for
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His trial would have been a
serious embarrassment, they claim". 3. Murder of the Stolic Family 4. River Massacre of Serb
Children Neither of these major massacres and crimes, beside many other individual ones in which 2.500 Serbs have been killed or abducted without trace since beginning of the UN/KFOR mission in Kosovo have been resolved. What is even more surprising even the Kosovo's ombudsman Mr. Marek Antoni Nowicki could not obtain any official records on the progress of investigations. In any democratic country such a terrible record of crimes during the so called peacetime would immediately bring about resignations of the leading persons in Police and justice. However, in Kosovo other rules are in force. The chief of UNMIK police a German Mr. Stephan Feller, often called by Serbs Mr. Failure (Fehler in German means a flaw, error or failure) not only remains the head of impotent UNMIK police but denies any responsibility for the terrible situation in the police and justice. Despite all these massacres and individual murders Mr. FEHLER continues deceiving the public by intentionally hiding the Kosovo reality and the truth that the UN administered province remains an arena of ethnically motivated crimes which have the goal to drive all remaining Serbs out of Kosovo. After the most recent
murder of two Serbs near Lipljan it has become clear once more that
UNMIK police and its daughter (Kosovo Police) serve only continuation of
ethnic violence and are not capable of granting basic protection to the
vulnerable population. Belgrade
Patriarchate: Still no order and justice in Kosovo and Metohija Information Service of the
Serbian Orthodox Church February 20, 2004
PUBLIC COMMUNIQUE
COUNCIL ON KOSOVO AND
METOHIJA OF THE
HOLY SYNOD OF BISHOPS
OF THE
SERBIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH
The day after the most recent murder of two
Serbs in Kosovo, on Friday, February 7/20, 2004, the Council on Kosovo
and Metohija of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church
held a regularly scheduled meeting in the Serbian Patriarchate in
Belgrade chaired by His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch.
The murder of Zlatomir Kostic and Milijana
Markovic on the outskirts of Lipljan in the direction of Staro Gracko on
the eve of the meeting of this Council has confirmed what the Serbian
Church has been constantly repeating and attesting to before all,
and reality, tragically, constantly confirms its warnings: that despite
all the efforts of the International Community, which we do not deny,
crucifixion and persecution remains a constant in the life of the Serbs
since the arrival of the NATO army and the UN administration in Kosovo
and Metohija. In the shadow of that suffering are the few achievements
of that government as well as the individual efforts of some people
representing it who seek to establish order and justice that simply do
not exist in Kosovo and Metohija. In addition to Thursday's double
murder in Lipljan, the humiliation of monks of Holy Archangels Monastery
in Prizren (carried out in recent weeks by German KFOR); the departure
of the last remaining Serbs from the village of Miroc out of fear for
their safety and the lack of will on the part of KFOR to protect them;
the torching of the belfry of the Orthodox church in Stimlje; the attack
on the church in Gornja Brnjica (on the eve of Christmas); as well as
the further destruction of Zociste Monastery represent but the tip of
the iceberg of injustice which is an eyesore to all justice-loving
people and cries out to the Heavens, injustice as a result of which all
of Kosovo and Metohija and all its inhabitants can have no peaceful
sleep or life.
Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren because of this very crying injustice, and in the attempt to draw attention to it, spent the last two weeks in the USA with a three member delegation, regarding which he has informed the Council in detail. During his visit he met with a large number of U.S. officials and delivered several lectures where those in attendance learned that the manner in which the Clinton administration attempted to resolve the problem in Kosovo and Metohija, unfortunately, has brought neither peace nor justice to the Serbian province. As well, Mr. Joseph K. Grieboski of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy warned the U.S. State Department that this "catastrophe of human rights in Kosovo and its ignoring is arming those who oppose human values and freedoms to rebel against the U.S." If it is so apparent from the U.S. that developments in Kosovo and
Metohija have bad and far reaching consequences, all the more reason why
representatives of the International Community in Kosovo and Metohija,
as well as Serbian statesmen and politicians, need to be aware of this
and to undertake appropriate measures. Therefore, we call upon both to
invest all their efforts and their strength to protect the people, to
capture and punish criminals, and to return Serb refugees to their
homes. Only then can we speak of a better future for Kosovo and Metohija
and the entire region, which is what we all are hoping for.
The Serbian Church advises its faithful people in Kosovo and Metohija
at it remains irrevocably beside them and aware of their troubles and
needs, and that it prays to God the Just and appeals for His help. We
know, too, that the people of Kosovo and Metohija survive in poverty and
therefore appeal to all those who can assist in alleviating that poverty
to do so and to help their brothers.
We also convey our wishes to our people for a blessed Great Fast and
faith in Christ the Resurrected, that is, the same faith and hope that
sustained our ancestors as they survived in Kosovo and Metohija through
the centuries.
Holkeri cancels Covic's visit to Holy Archangels for "security reasons" UNMIK's statement de facto confirms that in the Prizren area, especially in around Holy Archangels Monastery, it is unable to ensure security for a visit by the Serbian delegation, which is in direct contradiction with earlier statements by German KFOR that it no longer needs to provide military escorts for the monks of that monastery due to the supposedly improved security situation. ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, February 21, 2004  The
Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija has learned from a source
in the office of the head of the Serbia-Montenegro and Republic of
Serbia's Joint Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija that Dr.
Nebojsa Covic will be unable to visit Holy Archangels Monastery near
Prizren as planned. Both terms (February 20 and 23) were cancelled by
UNMIK because the police allegedly "is unable to guarantee his safety".UNMIK's statement de facto confirms that in the Prizren area, especially in around Holy Archangels Monastery, it is unable to ensure security for a visit by the Serbian delegation, which is in direct contradiction with earlier statements by German KFOR that it no longer needs to provide military escorts for the monks of that monastery due to the supposedly improved security situation. If UNMIK police is not in a position to guarantee the safety of a Serb from Belgrade, it is logical to ask to what extent it can be expected to ensure the safety of the monks of Holy Archangels whose safety and lives have now been entrusted to it. This latest explanation shows that not only
is the UNMIK police unable to provide for safe contact between official
representatives of the Belgrade government with their own people in
Kosovo and Metohija but despite all its resources it is apparently
unable to ensure the safety of Serbs five years after the arrival of the
UN mission in Kosovo and Metohija. TOP UNMIK police and KFOR manipulations continue In their most recent statements regarding the murder of two Serbs in Lipljan on Thursday night, UNMIK police and KFOR multinational brigade Center representatives stressed that there are no indications that the crime in Lipljan was ethnically motivated. According to the same logic, of course, it is possible to say that there are no indications that these were not ethnically motivated crimes either. ERP KIM Info Service However, if we take into account that on the same night that the two Serbs were murdered in their vehicle near Lipljan, Albanians were shooting at Serb houses in the nearby Serb village of Staro Gracko, it is more than obvious that these are no ordinary crimes; thus, UNMIK police and KFOR statements make no mention of the attacks on the Serb houses - yet another attempt to manipulate the public and cover up their own responsibility. TOP
Rugova kicks off
pre-election campaign in Serb villages
ERP KIM Info Service Today's visit by UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri and so-called Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova to Serb returnee villages in Klina, Istok and Pec municipalities is an unfortunate example of media manipulation of Serb returnees with the intent of strengthening the politically inert Rugova as he launches his pre-election campaign. This visit also serves the purpose of giving the world the impression that standards are being implemented in Kosovo and Metohija, thus collaborating Holkeri's and Rugova's inaccurate reports before international forums regarding the "increasingly improved" situation in Serbia's southernmost province. Holkeri's travelling circus is still making the rounds in Kosovo accompanied by entourage of Albanian journalists (no Serbs) with the sole task of procuring the necessary photos and video footage of Rugova demonstrating his supposed concern for the Kosovo Serbs despite the fact that he has done nothing for them since 1999. While post-war crimes against Serbs remain unsolved and discrimination against the Serbs continues in every domain including government institutions, education, medical care and employment, on the day of the funeral of two Serbs murdered in Lipljan on Thursday Holkeri and Rugova are launching their media campaign to salvage their deeply compromised moral authority. The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija wishes to express its utmost disgust with Holkeri's and Rugova's political marketing efforts at a time when the Serb people still remain exposed to systematic persecution and discrimination. The Diocese and its faithful people are also deeply disappointed by the roles of certain Serb representatives in the Kosovo provisional government who visited these same villages a few days ago upon Holkeri's orders to prepare this theatrical spectacular for the consumption of Albanian and global public opinion. This sad fact proves that some Serb political representatives are working against the interests of their own people and state by using the misfortunes of the desperate and poorly informed people for their own personal and, above all, financial gain - just like in the time of Kosovo's autonomy. TOP Kosovo minister hurt in car blast Ethem Ceku, Kosovo's environment and spatial planning minister, and four others were in a car that blew up shortly after 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Saturday, police spokesman Refki Morina said. All five were hospitalized but their injuries were not life-threatening, hospital officials said. Saturday, February 21, 2004 Posted:
2323 GMT ( 7:23 AM HKT) ERP KIM Info-Service is
the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska
and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace Bishop
Artemije. Additional information on
our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo Serb Community may be found at:
http://www.kosovo.net |
Kosovska
Mitrovica - Kosovo ombudsman Marek Antoni Nowicki assessed on
Saturday that the reliability of the work of UNMIK police is at
stake due to the fact that a number of investigations regarding
attacks against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija remain unsolved. "This
is not the first case of murder but I hope that, unlike in previous
cases, the police will find the perpetrators because the murder was
interethnic," Nowicki told reporters during a visit to Serb
villages near Vucitrn. He added that in such cases police
authorities are not able to immediately inform the public about the
investigation.
