The weekly Koha (The Times) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. Edited by Veton

Surroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Yugoslavia, Koha

soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the

name of Koha Ditorë. With the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on

http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.

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Koha Digest # 33 (1994)

EDITORIAL

MENU: SPECIAL WAR

by VETON SURROI

This is a special war. KOHA is fighting a special war and the reasons are known.

This is what a Kosovan analyst exclaimed when he listened to a news retransmitted byKOHA, that Milosevic had announced his preparedness to meet Dr. Rugova to Owen, andthat this had been relayed to Rugova by Owen in their last meeting. The comment of one ofthe Albanian analysts, with a stressed nose pronunciation of the vowels, found good receptionamong the nose pronouncers of vowels. They went through another historical day bydiscovering the net of the special war, of course happy of having been vigilent again in regardto the domestic and foreign enemy. As always.

Among the turbulent of the Serbian political life in Kosova it seems as if the news also gotthe dimension of the special war net. Now, of "a war undertaken by the world againstMilosevic to soften him in respect to the Kosova issue". Therefore, the leaders of the "SerbianResistance in Kosova" (resistance to whom?) declare that before he meets Rugova, Milosevicshould meet with them, "the authentic leaders of the Serbian interests in Kosova". In theSerbian politics, or a part of it, this news is one of those that resembles treason, cultivated inthe Serbian political mythology as much as the scent of temyan.

The most honest in this speedy chain reaction were some LDK officials. They declared thatthey knew nothing. So much time has passed from the initial proclamation that we are infavor of the dialogue, that when there are news coming from reliable international sourcesabout this, a huge atmosphere of doubt arises. The doubt is directed towards the source ofinformation, and at the same time, I believe, also towards the neutralization of the internaldoubt about the permanent solutions for Kosova. The people in Kosova who in the past fouryears were told that peace would come to them on a tray, don't want to give up easily on theidea that tomorrow, Kosova will awake free.

But, the doubt also captivates the Serbian side, because somewhere in the back of the mind,the dirty conscience "for the Serbian truths on Kosova" is parked. Any claim that "Kosova hasbeen and will remain Serbian" hides the negation, hides the enormous doubt about this claim.And these are manifested today.

For these two reactions, there is no need for a special war. Information from the source isenough, and for all those people who live in the fog it is difficult to understand even the basicfacts. This is also one of the problems of the time we are living in: when the information from

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the source is treated as special war, then the collective opinion is somewhere far, faraway.Maybe in the condition which was described by the political official when he said "we knownothing".

KOSOVA

ABDUCTION AGAINST THE PRESIDENT

by YLBER HYSA / Prishtina

The abduction and mistreatment of the member of the Independent Trade Union of the formerpolicemen of Kosova Bilall Idrizi would be "routine" case of maltreatment in the chronicle ofviolence in Kosova, if it weren't for so many details that made this case specific.

B. Idrizi (32), Chairman of the Executive Council of the Second Association of the TU of thePrishtina police branch, was summoned to the "Center" police station where he used to work.After a couple of hours, Commander-assistant Borislav Kajzer told him that he should comeback tomorrow, since Pavlovic, the policeman who had signed the summon for theinformative talk, was not there. After 16 hrs., coming out from the building, a whitetwo-doors "Golf" with Prishtina registration plates pulled over, took him into the car and thiswas the start of Idrizi's Odyssey's trip. First of all, his head was covered by a jacket and hewas threatened to be killed. There were three people in the car, one of them covering Idrizi'shead. Later, Idrizi claimed that he knew these people as employees of the State SecurityService (SSS), and he even knew one of the by name, Slavisa Filic, field security operator.After travelling at least one hour, the abducted was brought into an unknown building, whilehis head was still covered, he could hardly breathe. In this building, seemingly a good placefor such things, (and not unknown to the former workers of State Security, as they themselvesclaim, mentioning Brezovica, Lipovica, Prolom Banja, Rudare, etc.), Idrizi was forced toundress and afterwards started the ten hours long beastly mistreatment. He was beaten by fourpolicemen (the fourth one joined them in the building) threatening him and his family withdeath, and then he was electrocuted, in the genital organs too. During break-time when hewas not beaten nor interrogated, which lasted no more than a couple of minutes, he wasforced to lean on the wall supported on three fingers. The kidnappers were interested to knowabout his activities in the TU, his connections and functioning, and he was asked manyquestions about TU and political activists, mainly from the LDK, the Presidency and its MainBoard, and also about Anton Kolaj, Hajzer Hajzeraj and some other prisoners. The strangestthis was that after the kidnappers asked him whether he had identified them, and after he toldthem that they belonged to the SSS, they replied to him by cursing and told him that theyreceived only part of their salary at the SSS and that they were "paramilitaries", working ontheir own!

After a lot of beating, Bilall was ordered, all the time under the terrible violence and deaththreats, to sign the following statement: "I, Bilall Idrizi, as ordered by Anton Kolaj, haveundertaken and finalized preparatory activities for the attempt agasinst the life of thePresident of the Republic Ibrahim Rugova, and I was also ordered to gather information andforward it to the Secret Service of Albania". After too many things, he was forced to sign it,even though he states that he has written down the full name and last name, without using anysignature, thus proving that he was forced to sign it. And after all of this happened, he was

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asked how will his colleagues take this, Idrizi replied that they would believe the evidence ofviolence used against him. Once again beaten, he was finally taken into the car andsomewhere after 4 or 5 in the morning he was taken out from it, somewhere close toÇagllavica, on which occasion they told him that they were about to kill him "...because youdidn't take advantage of your given chance"!

After this, B. Idrizi barely came to Prishtina, and got himself a medical certificate on thesuffered injuries which served him as base to present criminal charges against Filic and thethree other policemen, as well as Milan Lakovic, head of the SSS in Prishtina and hisassistant Momir Jeftic.

After all these problems, he was forced to emigrate for security and health reasons.

The abductions are not a non experienced practice of violence in Kosova, this had evenoccurred to the Premier Bukoshi while he was still in Kosova, and when it comes to thepolice TU, this is the third case made public. But, the "Idrizi case" is very specific. This time,the Serbian police went even farther, trying to link it with, nothing less but the "attempt"against the life of President Rugova which was allegedly initiated by Anton Kolaj. Theanalyses of the Police TU members potentiate that the main aspect of this case is to presentthe public the alleged existence of the parallel so called "ministry of interior of Albanians"and secondly, to devaluate the Albanian peaceful policy lead by the Albanian political forces.Apart from this, the aim is to divide these forces (since Kolaj is the initiator) and deterioratethe Government-LDK relations. The other purpose, as the TU claims, is the intimidation ofthe members aiming at ruining the association and also intimidate the political activists.Finally, the statistics clearly prove that the members of this TU were the real victims ofdifferent violence applied by the Serbian police. Thus, there is a total of over 700 casesevidenced against this TU, starting from physical mistreatment, going through murder and upto the evictions and others. Their offices have been searched over 20 times. In theseoccasions, the doors and furniture have been demolished, materials, typewriters andcomputers were confiscated and they were never given back to them, despite some Courtorders! Some days ago, another member of this TU, Isak Ejupi from Gjilan was also arrested,only two days after his mother died; several days ago, Bib Biblekaj, activist of the GjakovaTU, was beaten by the police and had two ribs broken, as a result. As its is evident, the trenddoesn't seem to stop. In reality, criminal charges were pressed even before and grounded onthe Criminal Code of Serbia, but it has never happened to see any of these cases being solvedin Court.

In reality, asked why was Bilall Idrizi the one chosen for such a treatment, his colleagueselaborate some theses. First, he is an in law of Ibrahim Rugova's relative and this could be amotive for the Serbian SSS to get "inside the familial circle" of the President of Kosova!During his activities, he had been only twice at the seat of the Presidency and didn't spent anytime with Rugova, nor did he have any special links to him. But maybe the calculation wasthat one of the weakest chain rings could bring one to the top. He was also asked about AntonKolaj, even though he has no relation to him and had never been to Albania! But according tothe calculation of the Serbian Security, Bilall Idrizi was the right man to make an attempt,because he had finalized the "Anti-subversive Action Course" in Belgrade (in 1983). He hadbeen interrogated quite a lot in this respect. On the other hand, all of this occurred whileRugova is out of the country.

What even more mystified this case among the local analysts was the publication of one

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article in Bujku (Nov. 2, 1994), only five days after the Idrizi case, which spoke of thepossibility of an attempt against the life of Rugova organized by the former interior ministerof Albania, Ruçi, while Rugova was in Tirana in 1991. It is not known whether this would bea motive for the "Idrizi case" in the sense of the creation of an "alibi" not to be mixed withevents that could have occurred and for which there should not be any responsibility.

Even more, one fact is very strange, and this is that after the SSS policemen got the statementsigned by Idrizi, they told him, laughing, that they are not crazy and they are well acquaintedwith the "principle- the paper can stand anything", making an allusion thus, that thisstatement couldn't be materialized! Why is then the "Idrizi case" created?

Anyhow, the mystifications in lack of proof are "terra magnifica" and trying to find a logic ofa parallelism can only nourish them. Nevertheless, the ones who created the "Idrizi case", theparallels, the familial relationships, divisions, the actuality of the situation, are calculationsand motives to act as it has been acted. Such a political pressure analyzed from the ethicmoment is known as "a filthy game", and for all those who try to find a logical explanation toall of this, this is only the iceberg in the filthiness of the game of the rule called "Kosova"!

VIOLENCE AGAINST POLICE TRADE UNION OF KOSOVA (1990-1994)

applied violence

physically

mistreated

evicted fm

aptm.

killed fled the

country

TOTAL

PRISHTINA 59 24 0 177 283

MITROVICA 13 15 1 69 98

PEJA 28 13 0 107 148

PRIZREN 12 7 0 65 84

GJAKOVA 17 5 0 33 55

FERIZAJ 3 3 0 18 24

GJILAN 3 0 0 34 37

TOTAL 135 67 1 523 749

Source: The Independent Trade Union of the Police of Kosova

INTERVIEW

ACADEMICIAN ZVONIMIR SEPAROVIC

THE CRIMES COMMITTED IN KOSOVA SHOULD BE JUDGED IN THE HAGUE

Interviewed by AUGUSTIN PALOKAJ / Zagreb

Academician Zvonimir Separovic is Chairman of the Victimologues' Association of Croatia,member of the European Academy of Sciences and Culture and Professor of Criminal law atthe Faculty of law of the University of Zagreb, and Minister of Exterior of Croatia in timeswhen it was being recognized internationally. He is a human rights advocate and an expert onthe situation in

Kosova. He has written the book "Kosova the victim" in 1991.

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KOHA: You were Minister of Exterior in the worst of the times: the war was going on, therewas the process for the recognition of the state, the beginning of The Hague Conference, etc.Do you think that the posture of the international community towards the conflict in theFormer Yugoslavia has changed in the meantime?

SEPAROVIC: It is hard to say. The war is still going on. Anyhow, some changes are evident.The international factors have different positions from the ones they had then. You know thatthe USA was on the side of Yugoslavia at the beginning of the war. It was practically Bakerwho gave Markovic and Kadijevic the green light to save Yugoslavia even with the assistanceof the army. The Americans were against secession. When the Bush administrationunderstood that this was an aggression, then the administration changed its posture. Eventhough USA was disturbing Europe and trying to prevent it from recognizing Croatia andSlovenia, they not only recognized our two republics but Bosnia and Herzegovina too, thusopening this problem. Therefore, as Germany is accused of early recognition of Croatia andSlovenia, thus someone in the future could accuse the USA for the early recognition of B&H,which was in a crisis and disintegration process. Naturally, I think that this was a positivehistorical step when the only super-power recognized one entity as Bosnia is and should be.The EC recognized Croatia and Slovenia after the strong pressure of the German foreignminister Genscher and the Vatican. The biggest success of the EC was the acceptance of theprinciple of the non alteration of the borders by violence and not to acknowledge the faitaccompli.

KOHA: There was much discussion whether it was a civil war or an aggression. How didyou, as a direct participant of these meetings experience this in times when the situation wasdeteriorating?

SEPAROVIC: These manipulations were stopped by Badinter's Commission, whose role wasdecisive. The opinion of this commission was that this was not a secession nor civil war, butthe destruction of a federation after which act the states are formed within their territory andhave the right to exist and the borders are not administrative but are true.

KOHA: According to the International Law, in a federation that is being ruined, all units havethe right to establish a state. Since Kosova was a federal unit of the former Federation, whatdo you think, as a jurist, does this right also belong to Kosova?

SEPAROVIC: The situation is not as simple as in the cases of the other ex-Yugoslavrepublics. The Badinter Commission didn't expand this right to the ex-provinces becauseMilosevic, in a brutal act took away the autonomy of Kosova, which was contrary to theYugoslav 1974 Constitution. It is clear that Kosova especially, which is absolutely dominatedby an ethnic biological element - the Albanian one, has the right to self-determination and theright of the Albanian people to self-determination should have been potentiated even more. Ifone day the results of Milosevic's politics are annulled, then the decision on the suspension ofthe autonomy will also be annulled because the Serbian aggression started in Kosova before itstarted in Slovenia and Croatia.

KOHA: However, the problem of Kosova is often compared to Krajina. Even PresidentTudjman had declared that Kosova is Serbia's internal problem.

SEPAROVIC: I think that this is a catastrophic posture of President Tudjman. The problem

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of Kosova, even before this war had been Europe's problem. The world was informed aboutthe apartheid in Kosova, and this is why Tudjman's statement is harmful for Croatia and itwas result of his agreement with Milosevic to divide Bosnia and not to have Tudjmaninvolved in the Kosova issue. I have often stressed the need of forming an anti-Serb coalition,not against the Serbian people, but against the Serbian aggression and fascism. This coalitionwould be comprised of important factors: Muslims, Albanians, Croats, Slovenes, if theywould be interested. In The Hague conference I made efforts to have the Kosova Albanians'representatives invited. Every time the rights of the Serbs were requested, I have alwaysreplied that Serbia is the one which is most flagrantly and brutally violating the rights of theAlbanians. With his statement, Tudjman has in a way legalized Milosevic's policy, and this ismiserable.

KOHA: The Hague Tribunal has started operating. You have approached the court with therequest to organize trials for crimes against peace?

SEPAROVIC: Differing from Nuremberg (1944-46) and Tokyo (1947), where the trials werefor crimes of war, humanity and peace, in this tribunal the third category doesn't exist. Thiswas not done by chance. Lord Owen himself has declared that there is a civil war going onhere, and if it is a civil war then there is no aggression and there is no crime against peace. Itis positive to have the trial start with the case of Dusko Tadic, who has committed enormouscrimes in Omarska, but in order to have the truth about this war, the Courts should trialMilosevic, Adzic, Karadzic, Mladic, Arkan, Seselj, Knezevic, etc., all of those who haveplanned and lead the war and aggression against other people, who have destroyed Vukovar,have been destroying Sarajevo in the past three years, are keeping under occupation the wholeof Kosova, whilst the international community is trying to legitimate what they have done.For this reason, I will personally sue Lord Owen and Boutros Boutros Ghali who are the mostresponsible for their clear pro-Serbian policy. This is the perfidious British-French-Russianpolitics.

KOHA: Does the Croatian side have war criminals and will it hand them over to The HagueTribunal. When Goldstone was in Zagreb, the Croat representatives told him that the victimand the aggressor must be differentiated.

SEPAROVIC: The humanitarian international law is universal. It condemns any violence,despite the perpetrator. Therefore we couldn't state that there wouldn't be any crimes on thesides of the Muslims and Croats if they weren't attacked. Basiun's fact-finding Comission hasascertained that all parties have committed crimes, and that is a notorious fact. ThisCommission has also ascertained that the largest number of victims is among the Muslims inBosnia and the largest number of crimes was committed by Serbian military and para-militaryunits. However, only the Serbs have committed the crime against peace, by starting theaggression. If it is documented that some Croat has killed civilians or has committed othercrimes, then this would be categorized as an ordinary crime and that person should be tried bya local court. We must also have in mind the right to self-defence, and that the state had beenattacked. The Croatian and Muslim people have been denied the right to self-defence and thisgoes also for the Albanians, whose arms have been collected. There was also criminalsamong Croats and Muslims, but this should not be used for the explanation that aggressorSerbia gives grounded on the principle - all are guilty.

KOHA: You have also written about the violation of human rights in Kosova, Do you thinkthat these will also find a place on Goldstone's desk?

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SEPAROVIC: I believe they should and if the Albanians help me collect the material proof,then I myself will approach the International Tribunal in The Hague. We shan't forget that theWar Tribunal was established to judge war crimes, but also the violations of the humanitarianright and the crimes against humanity, in which we could include the Serbian police actionsin Kosova, in which the aggression actually started. Even though there is no open war inKosova, there are many cases of violations of the humanitarian right, and as a territory, itbelongs to the Former Yugoslavia. The Albanians should invite Goldstone to come toKosova, give him materials and should go to The Hague and ask for their rights, even if theyare rejected.

KOHA: Lately in Croatia, there is almost no talking about Kosova. Why?

SEPAROVIC: Maybe the Albanians in Croatia are partially guilty for this. We haven'treceived any reports on violations of human rights in Kosova. I am willing to write the sequelof "Kosova the Victim", because it is still a victim of the Serbian aggression. There werepeople in Croatia who asked: "Where were the Albanians when Vukovar was attacked, whydidn't they stand up and fight against the Serbs and Croatia would have had it more easier?".Similar accusations came against us from Slovenia, when the Yugoslav Army's tanks attackedSlovenia from our territory.

KOHA: I am sorry to interrupt... but as Albanians say, where were the Croats and Sloveneswhen the special units were taking over Kosova?

SEPAROVIC: This could be a chain, and therefore we must stop these mutual accusations. InCroatia, we have always protested against the violence in Kosova. In times when I wasMinister of Exterior I had met with Veton Surroi, the Albanian ambassador to Vienna andPresident Berisha, last year in the UN Conference of Human Rights, where I wasrepresentative of the Victimologists' Society of the World. I told them that I will alarm theworld about the situation in Kosova.

KOHA: Going back to the situation in Croatia. You have organized several manifestationsagainst the conversations with the Serbs.

SEPAROVIC: It is a big shame for the world not being able to sort out things with a fascistpolicy, which has no respect for the rights of the others, but thinks only of itself, creatingitself space by ethnically cleansing lands and massive murders. It is catastrophic to see howthe Croatian side is having negotiations with those criminals who are so brave, as to come toZagreb wearing a Chetnik uniform, and what is more interesting they don't accept to talkanywhere else but the Russian Embassy in Zagreb and the UNPROFOR base. Milosevic isthe most dangerous political figure in the Balkans in this century, but it is evident that theworld is going around his politics, and it wouldn't be strange to see him being awarded with aPeace Nobel Prize. Clinton had called him "Hitler of our days", but he softened his politicsand this is the reason why his party lost the elections for the Congress. These conversationsare taking place against the interest of the Croatian people, because the Chetniks still holdVukovar, Skabanja and other territories in which no Croatian refugee has come back to.Talking to Milosevic would mean to give him amnesty, to recognize him some rights and toaccept him as a participant in the peace process.

KOHA: As an intellectual, do you have any contacts with Serbian intellectuals and how doyou evaluate these contacts?

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SEPAROVIC: There are people on the side of the Serbs who are against Milosevic's policy,as Srdja Popovic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, etc., but it is evident that the majority of the people isfollowing Milosevic and the myth on Greater Serbia, as masses of millions followed Hitler.The politics that forgets the victim is not acceptable. I remember that one human right activistfrom Belgrade had told me that we should accept the reality. His name was Ivan Jankovic. Toaccept reality is the same as to respect the force and the violence and this can't stand.

KOHA:You are a scientist, a diplomat and have been actively involved in politics. How doyou feel about the events as a diplomat and how as an intellectual?

SEPAROVIC: Even when I got involved in politics I was lead by the humane spirit. Mypeople and country were attacked, and in that case, no one can be indifferent. In politics, thereis a borderline which has to do with formalities, tactics which imply the level of knowledge toprotect the interests of one state. This I have tried to do as Minister, but there were oftenunbearable situations. I remember asking Cyrus Vance why hasn't he undertaken anymeasures to save the wounded in Vukovar. Tudjman told me that I had not been tactful, whenI put this question. My political philosophy is that when it comes to human rights, one can'tbe neutral, but must be objective.

KOSOVA

THE (NON)PREDICTABILITY OF MILOSEVIC

by GORDANA IGRIC /AIM/ Belgrade

Milosevic wants direct conversations with the leader of Kosova Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova.The news was published by the Albanian weekly "KOHA", it was transmitted by BETAagency and finally published in "Borba" on Nov. 15, 1994.

The state media did not mention the news of the day, there was no denial from the Presidencyof Serbia, and it was impossible to get any official reaction from the Socialist Party of Serbia.

Nevertheless, the information didn't pass through in silence. The first to react was the SerbianRenewal Movement (SPO). In the regular press conference, Milan Komnenic, President ofthe Executive Council of the SPO stated that this party was in favor the conversations withthe Albanians, if there is an initiative coming from official Belgrade. According to him, thepresent situation in Kosova does not favor Serbia, which is getting exhausted politically andeconomically. He also warned that Milosevic should listen to the Kosova Serbs, who areafraid, believing that they are being used.

"I don't know whether the news is true, but we believe that there should be talks witheveryone, in order to find a solution. Without any tensions or temperature. This, however,should not be called a negotiation, but a conversation", said the chairman of the ExecutiveBoard of New Democracy, Radivoje Lazarevic.

Tomislav Nikolic, vice-chairman of the Serbian Radical Party considers that one year agosuch an offer would be senseless.

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"Now, everything is possible, Milosevic is acting in a (un)predictable way. Thus, he ispreparing the terrain in Serbia and follows the reactions of the people. Or, maybe he is forcedto accept and give them broad autonomy. If the news is correct, then this is not a wise step, itencourages the separatists and in a way legalizes them a negotiators. We don't need suchconversations. It would be better if he spoke to the Serbs. Otherwise, direct conversationswithout the presence of the public is Milosevic's style", concludes Nikolic.

The Chief of Cabinet of Zoran Djindjic, Chairman of the Democratic Party, Goran Vesic,doesn't want to give any suppositions whether the news is true or not. The Serbian state mustfirst start the dialogue with the Kosova Serbs, to tell them what it is planning and what wouldtheir perspectives be. First, the state must by all means elaborate a program which would besupported by all parties, as a reply to the fact that the Albanians have taken over the economicpower and given up on the political one.

"No one pays taxes and the state must by all means enter the economic life. Serbs should behelped to stay, because they are overloaded with burdens. After this is over, then could theconversations with Albanians start, but only at the level of the respect of the rights of theminorities, which Yugoslavia is obliged to respect, because it has signed the internationalacts. As far as I can see, Rugova doesn't have the support of the West for his separatisttendencies and thus I believe that the Albanians must show willingness to participate in thepolitical processes in Serbia. As you know, nothing should be asked from the state if youdon't participate in the census, elections and don't pay taxes. This is a very complicatedsituation and the solution will come slowly."

Milorad Jovanovic, port parole of the Democratic Party of Serbia said that his party had avery bad experience with KOHA, therefore it shouldn't be trusted. In other words, he remindsthe public that two months ago this magazine had written about the Serb-Albaniannegotiations as something certain, and that the Serbian delegation was comprised of MihajloMarkovic, Dusan Mitevic and Vojislav Kostunica, leader of the DPS.

"This is not serious, but they very well know why do they act thus. I believe that this news isnot realistic, because there is some order in such things. The negotiations never came fromthe top, but start at the low level. The Albanian party only wants to see the reactions of theSerbian side. According to our evaluation, none of the sides is ready for negotiations. First thetopic should be determined, so we don't have a repetition of the situation between Granic andJovanovic, who met in order to agree upon the topic to be discussed. For the time being, thepostures are so faraway and maximalist (from the Albanian side) that there can be nodiscussion about them at all".

Direct conversations between the two of them or more people, it doesn't matter. Let theconversations start. This is what the people at the Civic League of Serbia (CLS) think, andremind of the initiatives they started, even though both parties were deaf to those calls.

"For the time being, this is only a small news. The wishes are one thing, and the real goals aresomething totally different. Until we don't see the initiating postures of both sides, weshouldn't get exited", says Miljenko Dereta, Chairman of the Executive Council of the CLS."I believe that Milosevic's categorical posture was adapted to Rugova. The decision relies onthe Albanian side. Their posture must change in regard to the participation in the political lifein Serbia.

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Finally, Andras Agoston, chairman of the Vojvodina Hungarians' Democratic Party (VHDP)was careful and brief: "I don't know whether the news is true, but I am in favor of thedialogue. This would be a good thing".

KOSOVA

EXTRA-TRADE-UNION CRISIS OF THE TRADE-UNION

by ASTRIT SALIHU / Prishtina

The 5th Convention of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Kosova (UITUK) differs alot from the previous one. This Convention changed the whole managing structure. Apartfrom Hajrullah Gorani, chairman, by personal decision, the following have been excludedfrom all combinations: Aziz Abrashi and Shaban Kelmendi (vice-chairmen), Burhan Kavaja(chairman of the executive council) and Adil Fetahu (Secretary General). It shouldn't beforgotten that Avdi Uka, representative of the Stantërg miners, demonstratively left the room.

This Convention was also characterized with the open discussion of chairman HajrullahGorani about the relations of the UITUK and our political parties and especially the LDK,which caused many polemics not only during the assembly, but also after it was over.

Even though during the Convention there were no discussions about the resignations of someof the most important people of the UITUK, it is indicative that after the Convention, thesame people came out with statements, which prove that there are internal frictions inside theUITUK post festum. Vice-chairman Aziz Abrashi, for example, declared that this is "amanipulation, since our resignations were presented after a non obligative agreement,together with the Chairman, who had also declared that he won't be one of the candidates forthat post, and who supported the renewal of the UITUK with new people". Whenmanipulations inside the UITUK are mentioned, its Chairman is not spared also in the case ofhis speech, especially the part related to the relations with the political parties.

"We were not informed and never consulted about this", says Burhan Kavaja, while AdilFetahu claims: "In regard to the qualifications stressed in the Report of the UITUK Chairman,on the postures of the political parties towards the UITUK, these are personal evaluations ofthe author and not the other executives or membership". The Chairman of the UITUK, whenasked about this part of his report, said: "The trade-union has no Central Committee orPolitburo to hide my opinion. This is my opinion and I wasn't expecting it to be adopted andapproved by anyone. And you know it has been adopted unanimously with several remarks inregard to the relations of the UITUK and the political parties". And despite this explanation ofthe chairman, Burhan Kavaja and Aziz Abrashi evaluate the report as a "political pamphlet",and completely disagree with it.

Adil Fetahu is of the same opinion, who says that "there might have been a caprice orpersonal misunderstanding between the chairman of the UITUK and some LDK official, butnot the UITUK and the LDK".

Some days later, "Bujku" published a reaction of the Stantërg TU, whose members "distancedthemselves from the Chairman's evaluations of the LDK", ascertaining, in the same reaction,

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that the "elections had been manipulated" and that it hasn't been worked according to theforeseen tempo and the materials we had prepared for discussion, but all of it has been atactics to act as it was acted". However, on the other side, Gorani considers all the attacksagainst him as "an expression of the style of the democratic life and this shouldn't be takentragically and the things must not be idealized. We still suffer from the totalitarism syndrome,because any competition is taken tragically".

However, Gorani's posture towards the political parties, concretely the LDK is not his caprice,but it is a problem that already has some history behind.

The flow of events by the end of 1990 has determined all relations between the TU and theparties, or more concretely the UITUK and the LDK. On Dec. 7, 1990, then a member of thepresidency of the LDK addressed the presidency with some informations about the activity ofthe UITUK in the West and its Chairman, under the directives of, as called, "Movement forthe Republic of Kosova".

In that communique, among others, it is stated that Gorani in meetings claims that hecooperates with the LDK and that he shares the opinion of Ibrahim Rugova". On the sameday, from Prishtina comes an answer with Rugova's name on it, but without his signature,which states: "...in respect to many envoys, who without any authorization act among ouremigrants in Western Europe, asking for material assistance, creating needless expenses, wemake the public aware that they do this on their own initiative and for their personalinterest(...). Such envoys should not be trusted and should not be offered hospitality".

The distantiation between the UITUK and the LDK at the end of 1990 will be reason of allthe problems which will appear later in the relations between the UITUK and the LDK. Eventhough this should have been published and discussed earlier, they remained hidden in silenceuntil the 5th Convention. If nothing else, then this Convention proved once more that there isa lack of coordination among our organizations. Which will be the further development in therelations between the UITUK and the LDK, it will be determined by the possible flexible orexclusive posture of these organizations.

All of what has been said takes us to the conclusion that something is moving inside theUITUK. The fact that its leaders left, proves this. But, is this a "crisis" or "renewal of people"inside the UITUK is a question which awaits an answer. Maybe Gorani is right to negate thediagnosis of the changes as crisis, since no Albanian political party so far has been spared onchanges in people. The reason of all changes remains in the fact that in our political scene,and this goes for the TU as well, nothing is moving. So far, no positive change has takenplace in the past four years. This is why Adil Fetahu speaks of the "crisis" in the UITUK andstresses that it is "a consequence of the situation the Albanian workers are facing, but also theconditions in which the UITUK is acting". Meanwhile, the changes at the top of the UITUK,are only a direct consequence of this situation. All of them are not that important compared tothe tasks awaiting the new leadership in the next four years of the UITUK and the problems itwill have to face or solve.

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MACEDONIA

CENSUS: THE ENDLESS GAMES WITH NUMBERS

by IBRAHIM MEHMETI / Shkup

There is doubt that the census in multi-ethnical states is a very complicate operation,especially in places where politics is a part of the mathematics and where the size of anindividual is measured according to the size of his people, and the case of Macedonia provesit the best.

After many problems which started in 1991, when the regular census should have taken place,which was annulled because the Albanians boycotted it, and after a series of postponementsof the publication of its results, first announced on August 15, then October 15 (one daybefore the beginning of the parliamentarian elections) and November 12 (one day before thethird round of elections in which one third of the Albanians MPs was elected), finallyNovember 14 was chosen as the day the preliminary results were published. The publicationof the results, instead of putting an end to all the dilemmas will cause more dilemmas andabove all, mistrust.

According to the results published by the Republican Institute of Statistics, on June 20, 1994there were 1.936.877 inhabitants. Out of them, 1.288.330 (66,5%) are Macedonians; 442.914(22,9%) Albanians; 77.252 (4%) Turks; 43,732 (2,3%) Gypsies; 39.260 (2%) Serbs; 8.467(0,4%) Vlahs; 34.960 (1,8%) others and 1.962 (0,1%) nationally undefined.

According to the presented results, there are 138.319 people residing and temporarily workingabroad, and according to the applied methodology, these people are not included in the totalnumber of the inhabitants of Macedonia, and this is one new moment in these census. Out ofthis number 90.357 are Macedonians, 36.053 Albanians (!?), 4.363 Turks, etc.

From these figures, it comes out that Macedonia has 2.057.196 inhabitants, however theproportion does not change much when the figures of people living in Macedonia and outsideit, especially the ratio between Macedonians and Albanians. According to both figures, itcomes out that there are 1.378.687 Macedonians and 478.967 Albanians.

The experts' group which followed the census expressed its satisfaction with the way the datawas elaborated and claims that these are "results that can be trusted". This evaluation was tothe satisfaction of the Macedonians but not of the Albanians.

One day after the results were published, the first to react was the Albanian People'sDemocratic Party, evaluating the results as unacceptable. The same day came the reaction ofA. Xhaferi's PPD fraction. As one of the arguments to doubt about the results, this fractionpresented the data on the participants in the Referendum for the autonomy of Albanians inMacedonia, a total of 361.627 people. According to their calculations, if to this number oneadds the number of the people who don't have the right to vote, then the number appearingwill be much bigger than the one presented by the Institute of Statistics.

The largest Albanian party, the PPD, the one which was most involved in the census, startingfrom the adoption of the Census Law and up to the participation in census commissions, alsoreacted, in a press conference on November 17, lead by Muhamed Halili, the PPD

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Coordinator in the Parliament. PPD expressed its dissatisfaction with the results of thecensus, for the reasons mentioned during the census, and also because of the fact that out of192 people employed in the Institute of Statistics, there is only one Albanian with lowqualifications, and because the incomplete census of the population in the Albanianmunicipalities, especially Dibër, where the majority of the population remained unregisteredbecause of the violations of the Census Law. This is why the PPD evaluated these figures asunrealistic and stating that they don't represent the real structure of the population inMacedonia.

In regard to this, Halili says: "We have materials in writing sent to us by our municipalcommissions, in the municipalities where we had the majority. We haven't elaborated all thedata, however there are indications that the census hasn't included at least 10% of the peoplein Tetova, a considerable number of people in Kërçovë. The situation is similar in themunicipalities of the town of Shkup. The data in possession of the PPD will be published assoon as the reports are completed.

Apart from all these details that cause dissatisfaction, there is another one, very important onewhich is hard to believe. This is the figure of Albanians abroad. According to the Institute,there are over 30 thousand Albanians abroad and over 90 thousand Macedonians, whichmakes the ratio 3:1 in favor of the Macedonians, same as in the domestic census. This is veryhard to believe, especially having in mind that the Macedonians do not tend to leave theirhomeland (at least not in large numbers), and that the Albanians became famous preciselybecause of this. This might be illustrated by the fact that the census abroad was organized inMacedonian Clubs, which means that the Albanians are automatically excluded.

The Republican Institute of Statistics is apparently conscious of these eventual problemswhich could be dragged at least in the next ten years, and this is why it postponed thepublication of the results so many times. In an attempt to stop the reactions, the Instituteopenly admitted that the final number of the population was partially obtained by fictivecalculations (as in Dibër). When the results were made public, the Director of the Institute,Svetlana Antonovska, tried to excuse the delay by saying that those were result of manyproblems such as: the double census, the register of all people born after the critical day (June20), the emigrated, the dead, people lacking necessary documents, etc. There were about 12thousand people in these categories, and it took time to "clean up" the lists.

How much can these words be trusted, knowing that the Institute is ethnically clean, it isanother issue, but the fact that these figures are relevant for the Council of Europe, prove thatthere is nothing much to do in this respect. The head of the experts' group, Werner Haug,clearly stated that the "counting game" has ended and that speculations about differentnationalities belongs to the past. These figures represent an object of doubt for the Albanians,but it is evident that Europe will not pay for a reprise of the census, especially knowing thatthis one cost 1,9 million ECUs. It is also because of the fact that the reaction of the Albaniansare more and more anaemic and it seems as if everyone were fed up with this endless gamewith numbers and nerves.

Why is it so much insisted on the exact figure of the Albanians by both sides?

The more or less known reply is that this has to directly do with the status of Albanians in theMacedonian Constitution. The Albanians, who themselves got trapped by mentioning veryoften that they represent a people as big as the Macedonians, linking this number to the issue

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of their status, seem to find themselves in a new field, because now it is clear that theevaluation of the international institutions can't be denied so easily.

ALBANIA

THE EXTENDED "NO"

by MERO BAZE / Tirana

The first consultations haven't brought anything new and no step forward. In the mostcapricious way, five political parties have offered five different solutions, emphasizing thatnone of them will give up on the option, while Berisha insists on the adoption of new draftConstitution by Referendum. His argument is that giving up on the referendum would be toignore the people. Berisha said that he accepted the challenge and is convinced that thepercentage of "yes" in the next referendum will increase.

In Berisha's analysis about the "no" to the constitution, he affirms that a part of the negativevotes are due to the bad management, the slowness of the reformations, the corruption on alllevels, etc. Second of all, according to him, there is a problem with the content of theConstitution, especially regarding the state and the Constitutional Court. Berisha said that thearticle referring to religious communities has influenced negatively, not only among theAlbanians, but also some international circles and that it seems that it will not be included inthe next draft. The third reason is the extreme leftists and rightists politicizing the project. Hesaid that there must be a higher rhythm of reforms and struggle of the administration againstcorruption. On the other hand, the extraordinary session of the Democratic Party (DP) harshlycriticized the government and its reconstruction was requested. The chairman of the DP,Eduard Selami has accused the government that it has made the realization of the programand promises given to the electorate almost impossible.

The Socialists, request extraordinary elections. To them, the problem of the Constitution isthe problem of the next parliament. The electoral test of the referendum has given them areason to start a political offensive. The compromise about the new Constitutionalcommission will be accepted only if the Socialists dominate. Berisha considers this unreal,because the Referendum voted for the Constitution and not the political mandate of thepolitical parties. But there are few chances to bring the Socialists to the negotiating table."Zëri i Popullit", on its first page claims that the Socialists are legitimate in the dictate of thepolitical life of the country. The only chance to oblige the DP to have extraordinary electionswould be the blockade of the parliament with the draft-Constitution. The chances toovercome the crisis will depend on the postures of the small political parties.

The first serious effort to start this procedure was made after Arbnori informed that there wasa new Commission which will elaborate the new draft Constitution, comprised of 8representatives of the DP, 4 of the Socialist Party, 2 of the Republican Party, 2 of theSocial-Democratic party, 1 the Party of Human Rights, 1 the Democratic Alliance and 1 theRight Democratic Party. But the next day, in the session of the People's Assembly(Parliament), all the parties, apart from the Democrats and Social-Democrats were against thecomposition of the commission.

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Arbnori said that the delegations of the parties had agreed to the creation of the newCommission, which was strongly denied by the head of the delegation of the Socialist Party,Dokle. According to him, the Socialist Party is of the opinion that the President should beexcluded from all procedures of the adoption of the Constitution, since his option wasrejected. He also said that it is the opinion of the SP that it is the competence of theparliament to determine the procedures for its adoption, and that it shouldn't accept anyviolation or change suggested by other institutions.

On the other hand, DP's chairman, Eduard Selami, said that it was absurd to try and deny thePresident the right to see himself engaged in the adoption of the Constitution. Regarding theconsensus, Selami said that there was a positive feeling which clearly appeared in the contactsthat different parliamentarian groups have had.

The MP of the Democratic Alliance, Arben Imami, expressed his anger towards thecommunique of the Parliament, which included one representative of his party in thisCommission. He said that this was unfair and unjust and that they should have been consultedbeforehand. He insisted that the project should come back to the Parliament and the return ofthe legitimacy of the parliament, rejecting categorically a possibility to have a newreferendum. In conclusion, he said that this issue should not be part of the agenda for the timebeing.

The MPs of the Right Democratic Party Baleta and Kalakula opposed strongly thecommunique of the Parliament, stating that they will continue being independent MPs, andnot a parliamentarian group. Baleta said that this Parliament has had it, it is not legitimate andis not competent to vote a Constitution. The option of this party is to organize theConstitutional Assembly, as the only way to solve the legal and institutional gap which hascaptivated the country after the referendum. Baleta concluded by saying that all politicalforces in the country should be consulted about the Assembly, not only the parliamentarianones.

The Social-Democrats said that consensus and the legal way are the only modus to adopt theconstitution. According to this party, the Constitution should be adopted by the parliamentfirst and then eventually offered to the people for adoption in a referendum. The consensuscan't be reached in the Parliament, without the previous meeting of the political parties.

Berisha called upon the Democratic Party and asked it to give up on the idea of the"strongest" in politics, and asked it to find a basis for an alliance with all parties, but theSocialist one. Berisha asked his party to expand its alliances with all parties opting forpolitical progress, not underestimating anyone. It seems as if there were a positive reflectiontowards the recognition of the parliamentarian groups of the Right Democratic Party and theDemocratic Alliance, which split from the DP after they were included in Arbnori's project onthe Commission. On the other hand, there is a reflection on the lost right by the DP. Berishastated that the ex political prisoners and ex-proprietors were dissatisfied with the fact that thestate couldn't compensate them the losses and suffered damages, because of the government'snegligence. It seems as if the absence of the right during the Referendum cost the DP toomany votes.

The Chairman of the Association of former political prisoners Kurt Kola had been held indetention in the past three months, since the hunger strike started. He was now released andwas told to go back to work. The attempt to stabilize the relations with the right is quiet and

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systematic. "Rilindja Democratike" is, on a daily basis, publishing the names of theex-political prisoners and politically persecuted who will be compensated; new bridges ofcooperation are being established will other small parties, Balli Kombëtar and The AlbanianAnti-Communist League. The situation remains difficult in the case of the real and potentialopponents of Berisha's political line, who joined forces against him in the case of theConstitution. In their majority its the leftists and the supporters of Archbishop Yanulatos whodon't forgive him the 6 November challenge.

After a relative silence, appearing on ERT (Greek state TV), Yanulatos explained how he hadconvinced the Orthodox Albanians to vote against the Constitution. First of all, he hadconvinced all of them to become members of the Autocephalous Albanian Orthodox Church,he made an official statement and published it (mainly in pro-Greek media, deeply againstBerisha). Second, they informed about this problem all international ecumenic organizations,which immediately assisted them. Third, there were many people in the field explaining to allof them that the last word was that of God, and the wish to be free. Three days before thereferendum, they met in Tirana, in a meeting where about 350 people were assisting, and inwhich the "anti-Constitutional and illegal article about the Church had been reworded". Thisfound a strong support of the Orthodox Albanians and proved that they are united. Now itseems that Berisha has an open southern front. The Constitution was refused almost in alltowns. Only the rightists are decisive to expel Yanulatos from Albania, as a Greek citizenwho is illegally at the head of the Albanian Orthodox Church. The fact that Berisha is givingup on this article, is an attempt to forget what has happened and try to bring back theOrthodox to voting as citizens and not religious followers.

On January 28, the European Council will discuss the request of Albania for full membership,and the missing Constitution is a strong reason for the Albanian delegation to maybe stand infront of a closed door. This is why the small parties are requesting to adopt a Constitutionbefore Jan. 28, 1995, and request to exchange their good-willingness with the concession ofthe DP to bring back the Constitution to the Parliament and let it decide. The DP might evenaccept this option, since it seems as if it must evade the referendum path and risk theblockade of the parliamentarian life. In order to come to this, the DP must get rid of two hugestones: the extraordinary elections and the Constitution. The Socialist would want the DP tocarry the stones, because it wants it exhausted. The Socialist feel stronger than before theReferendum and want to use the victory. If the DP insists on a referendum and if it achieves aconsensus with the other parties, then the risk of politicizing of the new project is certain and"No" will be certain again. If it forgets the Constitution and offers the possibility of theextraordinary elections, then most likely Albania won't have a Constitution maybe even afterthe mandate of the next Parliament expires. After all of these, it seems as if until January 28there will be no Constitution and the "No" will be extended to the columns of representativesof the European Council.