Der Spiegel, one of the most readen magazine in Germany
DER SPIEGEL (Germany), Saturday, September 21, 2002
KOSOVO
The Cruelest Cleansings
Renate Flottau
-A strange grave lies in the midst of a large meadow
in the village of Crni Luk. There are no names on the
four gravestones, and the inhabitants of village of
3,000 react with distrust to questions about the dead.
"This is where we buried the charred remains of the
Krasniqi clan," says a young Albanian man and adds
immediately with a wave of his hand: "But I do not
know more than that."
Twenty-four Albanians were shot, among them 13
children, and their houses were burned down. But the
victims are not buried in the heroes' cemetery at the
end of the village, where under a sea of Albanian
flags rest its former inhabitants killed in clashes
with the Serbs. They are not buried there because,
according to protected testimony by eyewitnesses, the
Krasniqis were apparently executed by their
compatriots only after the arrival of KFOR
international peacekeeping forces in the Yugoslav
province of Kosovo.
-"After the war the cruelest cleansings took place
among the Albanians. Under the pretext that they were
'Serbian collaborators', the leaders of the KLA
liquidated their political opponents; old blood feuds
were settled, and Albanian civilians were executed by
the Albanians themselves."
The number of the victims is estimated to be more than
a thousand. The perpetrators or instigators were
usually former senior KLA leaders; after the war they
were integrated nearly without exception into the KLA
successor organization, the civilian Kosovo Protection
Corps.
-Also awaiting trial since not long ago are once
legendary KLA commanders Sami Lushtaki and Rustem
Mustafa ("Remi"). The latter is accused, along with
three other KLA officers, of having raped Albanian
women and killed at least five civilians in private
prison camps during and after the war.
-Daut Haradinaj, the notorious brother of the former
KLA commander Ramush Haradinaj (who in the meanwhile
became head of the third largest political party, the
Alliance for the Future of Kosovo), is accused with
five other members of the Kosovo Liberation Army of
the murder of four members of the Liberal Party (LDK)
of Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova.
-Shortly before the end of the war Thaci was sentenced
in absentia by a Serbian court in Pristina to ten
years' imprisonment. Belgrade presented the chief
prosecutor in The Hague with a disk with 27,000 pages
on the alleged war crimes committed by the top KLA
triumvirate.
The UN police get tougher with Albanian war criminals
in Kosovo. New unrest possible, because for many these
criminals are still heroes
A strange grave lies in the midst of a large meadow in
the village of Crni Luk. There are no names on the
four gravestones, and the inhabitants of village of
3,000 react with distrust to questions about the dead.
"This is where we buried the charred remains of the
Krasniqi clan," says a young Albanian man and adds
immediately with a wave of his hand: "But I do not
know more than that."
Twenty-four Albanians were shot, among them 13
children, and their houses were burned down. But the
victims are not buried in the heroes' cemetery at the
end of the village, where under a sea of Albanian
flags rest its former inhabitants killed in clashes
with the Serbs. They are not buried there because,
according to protected testimony by eyewitnesses, the
Krasniqis were apparently executed by their
compatriots only after the arrival of KFOR
international peacekeeping forces in the Yugoslav
province of Kosovo.
The four Krasniqi brothers were considered "loyalists
to the Serbian regime" and worked in Serbian
companies; one of them was even as a journalist for
the Serbian language newspaper "Jedinstvo". Under the
Milosevic regime they enjoyed privileges; afterwards,
this was their death sentence.
The extermination of this family, like other Albanian
crimes, could have been quickly hushed up. For since
the United Nations made the Kosovo their protectorate
in July 1999, they had proceeded against presumed war
criminals from the numbers of the Kosovo Albanians
only with velvet gloves. But now, more than three
years after the NATO takeover, the international
community finally dares to also confront its recent
allies. Its investigators have even arrested some
leaders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who
are suspected of committing murder.
"Everyone in Kosovo knows but none dares to speak
about it," says the former prime minister of the
exiled Kosovars and current chairman of the New Party
for Kosovo, Bujar Bukoshi. "After the war the cruelest
cleansings took place among the Albanians. Under the
pretext that they were 'Serbian collaborators', the
leaders of the KLA liquidated their political
opponents; old blood feuds were settled, and Albanian
civilians were executed by the Albanians themselves."
The number of the victims is estimated to be more than
a thousand. The perpetrators or instigators were
usually former senior KLA leaders; after the war they
were integrated nearly without exception into the KLA
successor organization, the civilian Kosovo Protection
Corps.
Allegedly a former KLA commander and two of his fellow
soldiers, according to their indictment, instigated a
war criminal to kill the former KLA commander Ekrem
Rexha known as "Drini". This moderate Albanian had
announced the publication of a book on war crimes in
Kosovo, including those committed by the KLA. A few
hours after Drini's death KLA deputies visited his
widow in order to get "the computer with records on
the announced book". However the international police
responsible for postwar crimes was faster.
Also awaiting trial since not long ago are once
legendary KLA commanders Sami Lushtaki and Rustem
Mustafa ("Remi"). The latter is accused, along with
three other KLA officers, of having raped Albanian
women and killed at least five civilians in private
prison camps during and after the war.
Daut Haradinaj, the notorious brother of the former
KLA commander Ramush Haradinaj (who in the meanwhile
became head of the third largest political party, the
Alliance for the Future of Kosovo), is accused with
five other members of the Kosovo Liberation Army of
the murder of four members of the Liberal Party (LDK)
of Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova.
After arresting an influential KLA commander near the
town of Dragas, the police stated that at the same
time bomb attacks in the region stopped.
Recently another senior KLA member from Prizren was
brought before the investigating judge. He is accused
not only of having committed criminal activities but
also of being the top agent of the Albanian secret
service. The hard disk of his computer in the
meanwhile has become a treasure trove of information
on war crimes, extortion and Albanian secret service
plans.
"We are slowly moving forward," says German Christian
Lindmeier, a spokesman for the UN administration in
Kosovo (UNMIK). Unnoticed by the public the Hague
tribunal has also opened an office in Pristina. Rumors
according to which the list of the Hague
investigators, in addition to Serb war criminals, also
includes three former KLA leaders and now influential
politicians - Hashim Thaci, Agim Cheku and Ramush
Haradinaj - have been neither confirmed nor denied by
the spokesmen of the tribunal. According to Hague
tribunal chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, in any case
indictments against some Kosovo Albanians will be
filed before the end of the year.
Shortly before the end of the war Thaci was sentenced
in absentia by a Serbian court in Pristina to ten
years' imprisonment. Belgrade presented the chief
prosecutor in The Hague with a disk with 27,000 pages
on the alleged war crimes committed by the top KLA
triumvirate. The extradition of at least one of the
former KLA leaders would be welcome for many Serbs to
explain the Serbian war crimes in the Kosovo as
defense of the state and population.
"We know a lot," says UNMIK spokesman Lindmeier, "but
our problem is witnesses. They have a gun pointed at
their head. Many withdraw their original statements
after threats by their former KLA fellow fighters".
The heroic elite which ended up in jail is guarded by
about twenty prison wardens from Germany flown in by
plane to do the job. Albanian guards received death
threats if they attempted to prevent escape attempts.
For many Albanians the imprisoned KLA leaders are
still war heroes. Every Friday demonstrators lay
flowers in front of the prison in Pristina. They
accuse UNMIK of developing "Milosevic tendencies". The
chairman of the journalist federation, Milan Zeka, has
even called on his colleagues to fight against the
"police dictatorship" of UNMIK chief Michael Steiner.
The German, they say, is insulting a whole generation
of Albanians.
But this will not discourage Steiner from further
arrests and extradition of Albanians to the Hague
tribunal despite rumors in Kosovo of a huge revolt by
the Albanians. He will carry out every warrant for
arrest of the Hague tribunal: "During my mandate we
will adhere to law and order in Kosovo."
RENATE FLOTTAU Der Spiegel 39/2002, "Grausamste Säuberungen", September 21, 2002 Source : http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,215990,00.html (<- click)
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