UNMIK/FR/010/01
FEATURE RELEASE 001
- 2 February, 2001
Detainees in Serbian Prisons
The FRY Upcoming
Amnesty Law: The Beginning of a Long Road to Freedom
For some the shadows of a long agonizing night may soon be dispelled,
with hope trailing in its wake, when an Amnesty Law is introduced into the
FRY Parliament this month. Under its provisions, up to 200 Kosovar
Albanians imprisoned in Serbia could be released. But for others the
pain of separation remains: the proposed Amesty Law seems to exclude those
Kosovar Albanians indicted for "terrorism"-and this encompasses most of
those arrested during the NATO bombing campaign from 24 March and 15
June 1999 - and is a major concern to Shukrie Rexha, president,
Association of Political Prisoners (APP), Pristina.
Given the
Amnesty Law's limited applicability, the new SRSG Hans Haekkerup is
demanding that Belgrade return all of Kosovo's prisoners immediately. The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that currently
there are 672 Kosovo Albanian prisoners in Serbia, all of whom ICRC
workers visit regularly. The figures are based on Serbian Ministry of
Justice numbers which include people arrested on charges of anti-state
activities before the NATO campaign. The ICRC, which has been visiting the
detainees since July 1999, is the lead organization both in identifying
the missing and on gaining access to the prisoners. The ICRC also passes
"Red Cross" messages between prisoners and their families: since July 1999
over 25,000 messages have been delivered.
A recent visit to five
families of detainees with workers from the ICRC Gjakova office brings
home the bitter agony of separation, and the importance of the SRSG's
pledge to work for the return of all prisoners in Serbia. The ICRC
workers were on their daily rounds delivering messages and a detention
certificate to prisoners' families.
Visar Kastrati arrived early
that morning at the ICRC Gjakova office to receive news of his brother,
Ulber, 23, imprisoned in Belgrade Central Prison. Visar has
undergone a long journey of separation: from his parents who died before
the war, from his two brothers -one murdered in Dubrava prison, his body
found nearby in Rahoc, the second wounded in Dubrava and now languishing
in Belgrade Central Prison. Ulber and his murdered brother were one of 143
men from Gjakova, who received rubber stamp justice at the notorious Nis
trial. The 143 had been arrested in May 1999 in Gjakova during the NATO
airstrikes. On 24 May 2000 a Serbian court, in a widely-criticized trial
that accused the men of "terrorism" sentencing them to a total of 1,632
years.
Visar is rightly concerned for his brother, his only
relative left alive. APP president, Shekrie Rexha, explains: "To this day
the men wounded in Dubrova still have bullets in their bodies. Last week
one of them, Bedri Kikalaj from Prilep, Decan, wrote a letter through 3
released men from Belgrade Central Prison (each paid DM15,000 for their
release) imploring help. And one of them, whom we interviewed and gave
medical help to, had bullets and shrapnel buried in him ."
Qazim Sejdiaj, 58, and his son, Luan Sejdiaj, 27, were among more
than 1,300 Kosovo Albanians so far released from prison since the end of
the NATO bombing. Both had been arrested by Serbian paramilitary and
police on 4 May 1998 whilst sitting in their living room during fighting
between KLA and the Yugoslav Army. They were imprisoned in several jails,
including Peja and Lipjan before being transferred to Nis (they were
in a 4 m x 5 m cell with 32 people) on 10 June 1998. "Seven other men were
also tried in a one-hour trial where we were accused of terrorism," Luan
recounts matter-of-factly.
This summary dispensation of justice is
corroborated, among numerous examples, by the Washington-based
International Crisis Group Report, Albanians in Serbian Prisons, dated 26
January 2000. The report states: "Judges in Prokuple court conduct
up to six trials each day, most of which last less than an hour... in
Serbian without interpreters, and during which the judges routinely ignore
the defendants' claims that their confessions were extracted
involuntarily."
Luan Sejdiaj says his cousin paid lawyers to
arrange a two-year sentence for his father and a two and a half year
sentence for himself: "If my cousin hadn't paid a lawyer we would have
received a minimum 10-year sentence." He also admitted paying for their
release: he was freed during the Nis riots with two other people. "My
neighbours, who received 10 year sentences, are still in Serbian jails as
they had no money to bribe the advocates," he admits.
Such
corruption is commonplace, according to Rexha: "From the end of the war
people convicted of "terrorism" have been released after bribing lawyers
for sums ranging from DM 7,000 to DM 130,000. This game is going on
continuously."
On 16 January 2001 Sali Sadrie, 61, went on an ICRC
visit to see his son, a former KLA fighter, in Voljevo prison, Serbia.
Sitting in his newly rebuilt home in Popov village, he said his visit had
been unmonitored: four people, including himself, without the
constant presence of guards, had spent 2 and a half hours with their
relatives. Sadrie's son Suleiman was arrested with four other men, all
unarmed, whilst training in the mountains near Popov village on 23 May
1998. They were condemned to 7-8 years for alleged terrorism,
the commander to 9 years. Later they were transferred to Belgrade and
tried again with 2 years added to their sentences.
The next ICRC
visit was delivering a message to Bekim Ragoni, 29, one of 143
"terrorists" condemned at Nis trial. "Hello everyone, " the letter
began asking of news of various family members. "Please send me a sports
newspaper," Bekim asks. The letter's contents querying about mundane
family matters reflects the censorship befalling prison correspondence:
yet another iron ring around the prisoners' necks making them gasp for
air.
The last Red Cross message was delivered to a poor Roma family in
Piskot village. Musa Sinaraj was in her courtyard with her three small
children - 2, 4 and 6 years. Being illiterate she did not know
circumstances of her husband's arrest or trial. "He had trouble with a
Serbian neighbour," was all she could say.
The anxiety and pain
felt by detainees' families over many hours, days, months may be reaching
a watershed. On 24 January 2001 the new SRSG, in one of his first public
pronouncements, said: "Those prisoners who would not fall within the scope
of the Amnesty Law should be returned to Kosovo and have their cases
processed through a judicial review here conducted under the supervision
of UNMIK." UNMIK would make sure that those reviews are initiated without
delay and in accordance with international human rights and judicial
standards. Other international efforts include the U.S. State Department's
repeated urgings to Belgrade to account for and release all Albanian
prisoners in Serbia. The EU has made similar appeals.
UNMIK has
taken up the prisoners' cause since the very ouset. Mr. Haekkerup's
predecessor, within days of his arrival in July 1999, created a special
commission, headed by the Special Representative of the UN Office of the
High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR), to deal exclusively with the
missing and detainees. Since October 1999 a UNMIK Subcommittee on the
Missing and Detainees has met bimonthly to share information and take up
prisoners' families concern.
Meanwhile, there are also positive
signs in Belgrade. Human rights advocate, Natasha Kandic, director,
Humanitarian Law Centre, Belgrade, believes that the Amnesty Law will be
accompanied by a Supreme Court review of cases tried for "terrorism" as
the political climate has changed. Kandic asserts: "A new Federal
Minister of Justice will consider all appeals relating to the
so-calledGjakova terrorists and the Gjakova group will be released based
on a Supreme Court decision." She expects 200-300 prisoners to be released
under the Amnesty Law. Olivier Jenard, Deputy Head, ICRC, Kosovo,
however, believes a Supreme Court review of the terrorism
cases could take many months.
Current international efforts
spearheaded by Hans Haekkerup are probably the begining of a process, not
yet the end of a bitter, tragic episode. But time is of the essence. APP
president S. Rexha sums up the mood of the people: "Every effort of the
international community to build a rule of law state and establish peace
will be in vain without the release of all Albanian prisoners because we
don't consider the war is over in Kosovo until people in Serbian jails are
brought back to Kosovo."
For a selection of photographs, please contact Mr. Ky Chung at 038
504-604 ext. 5467
Contact: A. George
(038) 504 604 Ext.
5864
E-mail: george@un.org