ALBANIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE

Fax- Newsletter No 2

1 -15 March 1998

The mandate of Multinational Advisory Police Element - MAPE - mission in Albania will be extended to another year. This was announced by the Secretary General of the Western European Union - WEU - Jose Cutilherio in a press conference during his visit to Tirana at the end of February. He added that the major work should be done by the Albanian Police, while the aid coming from WEU and other international bodies will not fail.

New chiefs were appointed at the police directorate of Shkodra, which was attacked and burnt down the other week, it was reported in the press on March 1.

Speaker of Parliament, S. Gjinushi, said that the Constitutional Court instead of being suspended by the Parliament, was self-suspended because it failed to do the rotation required by the Basic Constitutional Provisions. "Parliament has only reminded that, as long as the rotation is not carried out, any decision of the Court is illegal", Gjinushi added.

The State Secretary for Local Power, L. Perpali, said on March 2 that partial municipal elections will be held very soon in Spring time, probably even within March. He added that technically it is all done. The relevant decree is expected by the President of the Republic fixing the date of holding the elections. Perpali made sure that these forthcoming elections will involve almost one third of the whole population of the country. They will be held in the following now vacant municipalities and communes:

Municipalities of Vlora, Roskovec, Vora, Patos, Kucova, Shijak, Kavaja.

Communes of Dhiver (Saranda district), Zavalina (Elbasan district), Bushtrica (Kukes district), Sineballaj (Kavaja district), Lazarat (Gjirokastra district), Proger (Devoll district), Lure (Diber district).

The dramatic events in Kossovo on the beginning of March had a large echo in the public opinion all over the country. They caused an unanimous condemnation. It is worth mentioning that it was nearly the first time that the parties of the government coalition and those of the opposition reacted united by denouncing the Serb terror against the Albanian population and calling on the international community to intervene to prevent the enlargement of the conflict and to play a more significant role to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. Prime Minister, F. Nano, said that he has asked European and Balkan leaders for their valuable necessary and decisive contribution to calm situation. The opposition Democratic Party, led by the former President, Sali Berisha, also called on western intervention to prevent an escalation of the conflict. On its turn, the AHC issued a special statement in which all parties were invited to drop their differences and to form a united front against Serb violence. An appeal was addressed also to the similar organizations of HR in the outside world to sensitize the public opinion at large to condemn the repressive policy of the Belgrade Government.

Reports appearing in the press speak of a very disturbing phenomenon, that of children of school age not going to school. This concerns in particular the children of the country side, whose families prefer to send them to look after sheep instead of school. It seems that this is a growing phenomenon all over the country, despite the fact that eight-year education is an obligatory one.

According to press reports the chairman of the municipal council of Fier (Central Albania), D. Lekdushi,was seized by police while visiting Vlora. He claimed to have been heavily maltreated by 8 policemen of the Vlora commissariat. The AHC in a press release on March 3, reacted to this by asking for the competent authorities to verify the report and to take the necessary steps to put an end to use of violence by police. The day after the newspaper "Zeri i Popullit", organ of the Socialist Party now in power, published the version of the Commissariat in Vlora, which denied the incident and rejected any responsibility. The AHC reacted a second time on March 4 to this by underlining that the Commissariat in Vlora cannot be a credible source, once they are directly accused of and it belongs to the organs empowered by law to investigate the case.

During a meeting of some parties and groups of right wing on March 3 voices of extreme nationalism were heard on Kossovo events. Appeals to war with Serbia did not fail. "The political solution was buried in Drenice (the place of the killings by Serb police). The only solution is the war" - said one of the speakers. Some participants asked to open an office for registering volunteers for fighting in Kossovo, in case of the escalation of the conflict. Some others also asked that the President of Republic orders the mobilization of the army. On their part, the Albanian Government officials reiterated their position to use diplomatic means to reach a solution of the Kossovo problem.

The death penalty makes its new appearance in the Albanian judiciary. Recently the Court in Kruja (a town close to Tirana) condemned to death the killer of six members of his family. Now the Court in Berat (Central Albania) applied on March 3 the death sentence to the killer of two women: mother and daughter last January. This is in discordance with the commitment of Albania taken before the Council of Europe to abolish the death penalty until year 2000. The turning back of the death penalty is to be explained by the dramatic rise of criminality, there is a growing demand for that in the public opinion.

The chairman of the Commission for the Verification of Moral Figure of high officials, N. Bezhani, revealed in a TV broadcast on March 4, 1998 that the now chairman of the Constitutional Court, R. Gjata, has been for many years a "volunteer collaborator of the Sigurimi" under communist rule. According to a law approved by the Parliament in December 1996, high officials involved in this kind of activity must leave their post. The law also provides that the person concerned should be discreetly informed so that he offers his resignation. But it was reported that Mr. Gjata has resolutely opposed the Commission's evaluation of his case. He claims that this is politically motivated .

Prostitution is expanding. Press reports speak of hundreds of young girls as prostitutes and about 50 public houses in Tirana. Some sources claim that this most ancient profession is being practiced even in open air, for instance beneath the bridges of the capital, not far from the central official buildings. The municipality in Tirana and its Mayor Mr. Brojka are not paying any attention to the phenomenon.

At the same time, the following chronicle was made of the Albanian girls leaving for Greece and Italy to sacrifice themselves as prostitutes.

In Greece            In Italy

1991 100 girls    1992 750 girls

1993 2000 girls    1994 2000 girls

1994 2500 girls    1995-1996 4800 girls

1995-1996 3000 girls

A representative group of deputies of the opposition Democratic Party went on March 5 to take part in an extraordinary session of the Parliament regarding the latest events in Kossovo. A spokesman of the DP said this doesn't mark the end of the boycott of the Parliament by the DP. This is only a decision taken in relation to the Kossovo crisis. The final decision to return to Parliament is expected to be taken by the leading Council by the end of this week.

The AHC reacted by special statement on March 6 to the return of the death sentence in the judicial practice last time. It was reminded that Albania has undertaken to abolish death penalty until year 2000, at the moment of joining the Council of Europe in July 1995. Besides, in the meantime, the execution of capital punishment should be suspended. On this matter the AHC reconfirmed its previous position, according to which, given the state of public order, no direct demand will be formulated asking for the abolition of death penalty from the penal legislation, at least until year 2000. But as an organization of HR, the AHC is opposed in principle to death penalty and thus, on every occasion, it will call on the President of the Republic to exercise his constitutional power to commute death penalty to life imprisonment.

All Albanian political parties came together on a large rally in the central square of Tirana on Friday March 6, to protest against the police terror against the Albanians in Kossovo. The official representatives and the party leaders attending the meeting reiterated their demand for the international community to intervene to stop the massacre. The latest events proved that the Kossovo crisis is not an internal problem of Serbia. Therefore, all diplomatic means should be used to find a peaceful solution. Among the crowd some slogans were calling for armed resistance against the Serb aggression and even some panels were seen "We want weapons, Kossovo our pain".

It is reported from Geneva on March 7 that the United Nations Refugee Agency expressed deep concern at the violence in Kossovo. "This is ultimately a very, very scary scenario. We are alarmed because we have seen it all before. We have seen it in Bosnia", UNHCR spokesman K. Jovanowski told a briefing. A spiral of ethnic violence could destabilize the whole region, triggering waves of refugees, - it was added.

At our question to the UNHCR local office here in Tirana, a representative said they are alarmed on their turn and they remain on alert, fearing this kind of developments.

This was also the concern of the IHF, which in a statement published on March 7 warned that there are elements of a program aiming at ethnic cleansing, trying to push the Albanians to leave "to another political reality", i.e. to neighboring countries.

Press reports on March 8 speak of increased military presence on the borders with Kossovo. There have been movements of troops on the side of Serbia and that of Albania, as well. More military presence on the border area was urged by the round table of 18 political parties in Tirana. In an interview on March 8, Minister of Interior, N. Ceka, said that despite of high tension, the situation remains under control in the border area. He added that there haven't been any signs of refugees fleeing Kossovo up to now.

It was reported on March 10 that the National Council of the Democratic Party took the decision to put an end to the boycott and to turn to the Parliament. It was officially stated that the Council arrived at this conclusion taking into account the dramatic events of Kossovo and the consequent need for all the political parties to form a united front against the Serb violence.

OSCE Envoy in Albania, D. Everts, visited on March 10 the northern border of Albania with Kossovo. He met local officials in the border area, in Kukes and Bajram Curri. The OSCE Envoy remarked the "moderation of the army and the police forces, their strong intention not to be implicated in any activity that can be considered as a provocation by the other side and that can lead to violence on the civil population".

The Albanian Government expressed measured satisfaction at the conclusion of the meeting of the Contact Group in London on March 9, although it was remarked that tougher measures would have been more efficient to stop the Serb crackdown on Kossovo.

It is reported that very soon a municipal police will enter into action in Tirana. It is a unit of some of 1200 policemen whose task will be to look after a lot of problems in the capital. Among them the priority is the not licensed buildings going on everywhere. In this way one of the main demands advanced by the Mayor of Tirana is now fulfilled. Thus the local power here will be sustained by an executive branch.

The fever of the partial local elections, which are expected to be held soon, have seized both the opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the ruling Socialist Party (SP). SP considers these elections as a test for the 8 month long government's activity, while DP wants to check the people support to its fierce opposition stand.

The DP secretary for Organization, F. Beja, said on Tuesday, March 10 that his party considers as necessary these partial elections to be held in 7 town halls and 8 communes. It is to be reminded that officials of the local administration in those communes and town-halls have abandoned their posts following March 1997 unrest and have left for Greece and Italy. DP actually runs most of the municipalities and communes, as a result of the local elections held in October 96.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense, P. Teta, said in a interview issued on March 11 that Albania may ask NATO to send troops to monitor its border with Yugoslavia after the Serb crackdown on Kossovo. He added that "the presence of NATO would give more credibility to our statement that we don't allow shipment of weapons to the other side of the border, that we are oriented towards peace and not war".

A message of peace and good understanding was called the visit paid on March 11 to the northern city of Shkodra by the Speaker of the Parliament, S. Gjinushi accompanied by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the SP, P. Majko, as well as by a group of MP. Among them the deputy Chairman of the Parliament, J. Topalli of the Democratic Party, who entered into office precisely after the decision of the DP to put an end to its boycott of the Parliament. A meeting was held attended by the Prefect of Shkodra, the Mayor of the city and other local officials, as well. A wide range of topics were addressed with a particular attention to the restoration of public order and normal life after the latest disturbances. The Speaker of Parliament promised full commitment of the Government to improve the situation. An useful and normal exchange of views followed about the most acute problems of the local administration, as high rate of unemployment, the low performance of social assistance to needed people. Above all the reconstruction of the public buildings heavily damaged during the events of last February, was asked for. Ms. Topalli of the DP raised the long discussed relationship between the local power and central government, decentralization being the only way to realize in concrete terms the autonomy of the local power.

In a statement issued on March 13, the AHC welcomed the availability of the International Penal Tribunal in the Hague to deal with the war crimes in all the territory of former Yugoslavia, Kossovo included. On this occasion, the AHC called on the human rights bodies and organizations, both governmental and non-governmental in the outside world, to address petitions to the above mentioned Tribunal asking it to exercise its jurisdiction over the war crimes of the Serb army and police units committed during the latest events in Kossovo, where the basic norms of humanitarian law were heavily violated. Responsible persons should be identified and submitted to international sanctions as in the case of war crimes in Bosnia.

In an unexpected move the Cassation Court (High Court) overturned the decisions of the 1^st and 2^nd degree Courts on 11 persons arrested in relation with the incident of Milot last February in which police was defied. The Cassation Court decided house arrest for all them. General Prosecutor, A. Rakipi, and the Minister of Interior, N. Ceka, denounced this as an irresponsible act, "whose only purpose is to hinder the normal investigation of the case". Minister Ceka went too far when he said "the Cassation Court is a nest of criminals". On his part, General Prosecutor said "this is a clear case of corruption".

The AHC takes this opportunity to express its deepest acknowledgments to the Austrian Government - BKA, whose generous contribution made possible to renew the publication of the Fax-letter.