On March 8 1998, AIM news service brought the following article by Arben Krasniqi from Pristina.
Over the last seven days protests have been organized in Kosovo almost daily because of the situation in the Drenica region. The Alliance of Women of Kosovo have rallied twice in front of the American Cultural Centre in Pristina, while doctors in white uniforms expressed their outrage over the non-implementation of humanitarian law, especially the refusal to allow local and international medical teams to enter the area and tend to the wounded.
The police brutally broke up large demonstrations organized by the Coordinating Committee of all Albanian political parties, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and the Independent Students Union. Further large demonstrations have been announced for the days to come and violent repression will not scare off the peaceful protesters.
What is especially worrying is the assistance given by some Kosovo Serbs to the police in breaking up peaceful protests. There were in particular young people with short haircuts, often in black leather jackets and carrying metal bars. They also appear at dusk and move around the deserted town in groups looking for victims. Are they Arkan's youth? After a glass or two of whisky they made some of the Serb owners of coffee shops play "Chetnik songs." Refusal meant the "betrayal of Serbdom" and had to be paid for.
Owners of shops and restaurants who closed their premises because of the lack of customers or the prevailing atmosphere of fear also had to pay for "disregarding working hours." Intellectual and civic oriented circles in Belgrade very clearly understand what is happening in Kosovo as it closely resembles the strategies applied in Croatia and Bosnia. And yet they are still waiting for the authorities to tell them what has really happened, although they hold Milosevic responsible for "shaming" Serbia and claim that sanctions would only consolidate his power. They call on both sides to open a dialogue but, as cynics say, not in order to resolve the situation in Kosovo but to "save Serbia." If they really felt strongly about the rights of the Kosovo Albanians they should have organized demonstrations in Belgrade throughout the last few years - when the autonomy of Kosovo was unconstitutionally abolished, when laws discriminating against the Albanians were adopted, when temporary measures were introduced in kindergartens, when students were denied access to schools and universities, when people were fired because of their political beliefs, when they were evicted from their flats in the middle of winter and Serb citizens moved in, when people were convicted to 20 years in prison without any evidence... These same circles call on the Albanians to vote in elections in order to topple Milosevic and hold them mainly responsible for his remaining in power, while a major part of the Serbian opposition itself refuses to take part in such elections.
It must, however be said that the organization "Women in Black" has held protests in Belgrade. They were immediately ridiculed by the state-controlled TV which of course does not show pictures of dead Albanians and destroyed villages. It only shows the dead policemen and their mourning families.
Despite the fact that there clearly are armed groups which call themselves the Liberation Army of Kosovo (OVK), local political circles and the public in general still advocate peaceful forms of political activity. Ibrahim Rugova, the Kosovo Albanian leader, called the OVK "frustrated men" and condemned their actions, refusing their claim to be a strong and well organized army. It is now clear to the international community also that they are villagers of the Drenica region who have had enough of "state terrorism" and have armed themselves to protect their villages.
The Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) claims that it has destroyed this "terrorist core," led by the "criminal" Adem Jasari, but says that there are some "terrorists" left. The action will therefore continue. According to the Pristina Board for the Protection of Human Rights, 25 members of the Jasari family were killed in the operation of 5 March. A MUP colonel stated to the press that the police offered all present at the Jasari estate an opportunity to surrender. He also said that humanitarian organizations were not granted access to the region because there were previous cases when such organizations engaged in supplying arms. He claimed that between 1991 and March 1998, 200 armed attacks were carried out in Kosovo in which 10 members of the police and 24 civilians lost their lives (excluding the recent operations).
Source: "AIM" News service, March 8, 1998